The Deutsche Bank Championship reaffirmed its commitment to environmental sustainability today, announcing the 2009 edition of the Championship will once again be carbon neutral. The Championship and its Founders Club Partners also expanded the extensive sustainability program it launched in 2008, and for the first time will feature a solar power installation and a new Sustainability Tent.
The Deutsche Bank Championship was the first and remains the only carbon neutral event on the PGA TOUR. For 2009, the Championship also has extended its extensive on-site recycling program, establishing a volunteer committee in partnership with TPC Boston and Pritchard Event Services to collect and sort all of its redeemable bottles and cans, with proceeds benefiting local food banks. Additional reductions also have been made in the event’s paper consumption and carbon emissions.
The Deutsche Bank Championship’s new Sustainability Tent, located near Kids’ Village, will feature a replica of DB Climate Change Advisor’s Carbon Counter, the world’s first scientifically valid,
real-time carbon counter. This marks the first appearance of the “virtual” Carbon Counter since the original, a nearly 70-foot-tall digital billboard displaying the running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, was launched in New York City in June. The Sustainability Tent also will feature an exhibit and working model of Solar Impulse, a pioneering project aiming to complete the first manned flight around the world in 2012 in an airplane powered only by the sun, without emitting any pollutants. Deutsche Bank is one of the main sponsors of the project, which the European Union became the patron of last year.
The Deutsche Bank Championship also will for the first time feature a solar power installation provided by Evergreen Solar, a Marlboro, Mass.-based manufacturer of STRING RIBBON™ solar power products with its proprietary, low-cost silicon wafer manufacturing technology. The solar system, which is housed between the ninth green and 10th tee box, was designed and installed by Alteris Renewables and demonstrates to the public a typical photovoltaic (PV) system that produces enough energy to power the average American home. The energy produced by the installation will be put back into the local power grid to help offset some of the power used throughout the Championship.
“Deutsche Bank has long been a leader in environmental sustainability and is committed to be carbon neutral firm-wide from 2013 onward, so it was natural to extend that commitment to the Deutsche Bank Championship,” said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas. “We are achieving our goal to continually reduce the environmental impact of our event, and to offset any remaining impact, so that the Championship can be enjoyed by generations of fans to come.”
“We continue to build on our substantial progress in our approach to protecting and preserving the environment,” Championship Director Eric Baldwin said. “We are committed to being good stewards of the earth, and the Championship and all of our Partners and vendors encourage our fans to join us in this effort.”
Because it is not possible to entirely eliminate the environmental impact of the event, Deutsche Bank and the Championship are investing in carbon-offsets to finance programs that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount that is estimated to be equal to those generated by the event. The program was validated by environmental consulting expert First Climate, one of Europe’s leading carbon asset management companies.
TPC Boston is adjacent to 150 acres of local conservation land donated by the development partnership of the club to the towns of Norton and Mansfield. The golf course, although a challenging test for PGA TOUR Players, was also designed to complement its natural surroundings. There is a dedicated effort to preserve and enhance the environment by managing grassland and forest edges for the benefit of wildlife around the golf course. The foundation of environmental stewardship begins with utilizing natural products like composts and organic fertilizers that are recycled from biosolids, poultry litter, wood and paper. This practice helps achieve the building of quality soil, which allows the club to judiciously use water and other resources for improved plant health. The club has been the recipient of three Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards for environmental stewardship and is designated as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.”
The 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship, which features a $7.5 million purse and a $1.35 million winner’s check, takes place Sept. 1-7 at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. It is the second of four stops in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and will feature the top 100 golfers on the PGA TOUR.
