The NFL’s Minnesota Vikings franchise is aware what a heavy accumulation of snow can do. Late in the 2010 season, the Twin Cities were hit by a blizzard, and 17 inches of snow came to rest on the Metrodome’s air-supported Teflon and fiberglass roof. All the weight and moisture caused the roof to puncture and collapse. The stadium was repaired the next summer for $22.7 million.
For the team’s new stadium, which was designed by HKS Architects and is set to open next fall, the team is ensuring that the roof will hold up to rough northern conditions. U.S. Bank Stadium will have an ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) pneumatic roof, a durable, flexible material made of a polymer similar to Teflon, as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. ETFE is 1/100th the weight of glass and can stretch three times its length without losing elasticity.
The ETFE pillows are still supported by air, but they are also backed by a steel structure and won’t sink due to a loss of air pressure. The panels can be punctured by sharp objects but are easy to patch, and the nonstick surface and steep angle will help prevent snow from piling high.
ETFE also is lightweight and translucent, allowing natural light to enter for a sense of openness. Domed stadiums of the past, like the Metrodome, were known for being dark and cavernous.
Roughly 248,000 sf of the roof will be composed of ETFE; the remaining portion will be a steeply-pitched hard roof, but sunlight will still angle over the entire field. According to the Vikings’ website, ETFE will not degrade when exposed to UV light. Altogether, U.S. Bank Stadium will cost just more than $1 billion to build.
ETFE has previously been installed at venues like the Beijing National Stadium in China, the Eden Project in Cornwall, U.K., and Allianz Arena in Munich.
Related Stories
| Sep 30, 2011
Design your own floor program
Program allows users to choose from a variety of flooring and line accent colors to create unique floor designs to complement any athletic facility.
| Sep 16, 2011
Largest solar installation completed at Redskins' football stadium
On game days, solar power can provide up to 20% of FedExField’s power.
| Sep 12, 2011
First phase of plan to revitalize Florida's Hialeah Park announced
This is the first project of a master plan developed to revive the historic racetrack.
| May 25, 2011
Olympic site spurs green building movement in UK
London's environmentally friendly 2012 Olympic venues are fuelling a green building movement in Britain.
| Apr 11, 2011
Wind turbines to generate power for new UNT football stadium
The University of North Texas has received a $2 million grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install three wind turbines that will feed the electrical grid and provide power to UNT’s new football stadium.
| Apr 5, 2011
U.S. sports industry leads charge in meeting environmental challenges
The U.S. sports industry generates $414 billion annually. The amount of energy being consumed is not often thought of by fans when heading to the stadium or ballpark, but these stadiums, parks, and arenas use massive quantities of energy. Now sports leagues in North America are making a play to curb the waste and score environmental gains.
| Mar 25, 2011
Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’
Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Mar 11, 2011
University of Oregon scores with new $227 million basketball arena
The University of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena opened January 13 with a men’s basketball game against USC where the Ducks beat the Trojans, 68-62. The $227 million arena, which replaces the school’s 84-year-old McArthur Court, has a seating bowl pitched at 36 degrees to replicate the close-to-the-action feel of the smaller arena it replaced, although this new one accommodates 12,364 fans.
