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Bonus Article: Sustainable Highlights

Nike has taken exhaustive efforts to reduce other potential impacts of the operations of its World Headquarters. Throughout the north campus expansion, the following measures were adopted:

• Whole building energy analysis.
• Building commissioning.
• Daylighting in all work areas, reducing artificial lighting and increasing productivity.
• Higher efficiency lighting in place of incandescent light sources, mainly controlled by occupancy sensors and systems that “sweep off” the lights when not required.
• Concrete-framed buildings, increasing earthquake resistance and decreasing overall energy usage.
• Occupancy sensor controlled lighting and ventilation in conference rooms.
• White buildings that minimize cooling requirements.
• The R&D labs in the Mia Hamm research and development building, using process-cooling water recycled through a closed-loop chiller system.
• Electronic controls and economizers on HVAC to promote efficient heating and cooling.
• Low energy, high-efficiency glazing and thermally broken frames on exteriors to minimize heat loss and gain.
• Campus wide energy and environmental measures included the following:
• All facilities built to Portland General Electric’s EarthAdvantage standards, saving over 2,500,000 kWh annually.
• Construction indoor air quality management plan.
• Smoking ban.
• Bioswales and compost filters to remove sediments from storm water runoff and onsite before discharge to natural watercourse. These bioswales, along with integrated pest management practices (organic fertilizer, beneficial nematodes, salt, and cinnamon oil pesticides), compost filters, and series of six pond filters prevent potential pollution to surrounding natural ecosystem.
• On-site shuttle buses between campus, off campus locations, and the light rail station to cut down on vehicle trips. Additionally, approximately 18% of all Nike employees use some form of alternative transportation to work.
• Interior water efficiency.
• Comprehensive recycling program, including initiatives for: batteries, steel, glass, plastic, aluminum, transparencies, CDs, paper and cardboard, Tyvek, toner cartridges, wood pallets, yard debris, and video and audio cassettes.
• Low emitting building products (six products or more).
• Fresh air ventilation.
• Construction waste management plan.
• Recycled content building materials.
• Certified wood products.
• Window frames, 30% of wall exterior panels, and wall framing constructed from recycled aluminum.
• Nike Grind in floor coverings and fatigue mats, and low VOC paints and carpet glues.
• Bo Jackson “Field Turf” soccer field, which uses no water and does not have to be mowed, incorporated 100,000 pairs of used athletic shoes from Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program.
• Michael Johnson five-lane, 400-meter Nike Grind running track made using more than 50,000 pairs of recycled shoes.
• Minimized material use.
• Regionally produced, manufactured, or locally extracted materials.
• 50% of campus is powered using renewable energy. Corporate Facilities purchases renewable energy (technically referred to as ‘”Tradable Renewable Credits”) from a biomass facility in Washington State. This purchase eliminates 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and is enough to power 1,100 average Northwestern homes.
• 100% of landscaping debris (grass clippings, tree branches, leaves, etc.) is composted at a facility about two miles away from campus.
• The green ‘gator landscaping vehicles are powered using a mix of regular diesel and biodiesel made from used soybean oil.
• The pool in the Lance Armstrong Sports and Fitness Center is cleaned using ozone. The advanced cleaning system keeps the pool extremely clean in an environmentally friendly manner.

Online Exclusive Bonus: The Building Names

At Nike World Headquarters, each named facility is branded. When a building nears its completion, Nike determines which athlete will get the distinction of having a building named in his or her honor. These places are unsurpassed in the way they reflect the athlete’s passions and ambitions.

Building branding includes several things, most notably themed graphics that revolve around the athlete or that particular sport. Then there are the “Hero Cases” that include memorabilia from the athlete’s career.

For instance, in the Nolan Ryan building, artist Leo Sewell took bits and pieces of memorabilia from the pitcher’s garage—a shotgun, flashlight, and other items “donated” by Ryan’s wife—and created a 15' high statue for the building. After the building was completed, Ryan came out to the campus for a tour—and a surprise. Petsche, who conducted the tour, says, “He had no idea these things had been taken. When he started looking at the finished statue, he said, ‘I was looking for that flashlight!’ It was great.”