Thyagaraj Stadium: India's first eco-friendly sports complex

DELHI CHIEF Minister Sheila Dikshitinaugurated India's first eco-friendly sports complex Thyagaraj stadium Delhi, which will be the venue for Netball competition of the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Designed by Australian firm Peddle Thorp, the stadium, has been made in a rectangular shape. Peddle Thorp currently operates from Brisbane, Cairns, Jakarta, Gold Coast and Shanghai. Built over an area of 16,000 square metres, the Thyagaraj Stadium has been built with the latest green building technologies and eco-friendly material. It is the only stadium in the country constructed on the green building concept. Not only the stadium has been constructed using fly-ash bricks, it also boasts of features like water conservation through use of recycled water, rainwater harvesting system The idea behind all of this is to leave behind minimal carbon footprint. The turbine, which was imported from the United States of America and assembled in Switzerland, costs Rs 19 crore and piped natural gas (PNG)run turbines will generate 3.5 megawatt power to run the entire stadium. Currently solar energy is being used for lighting purposes. Solar energy will also be harnessed and used on a large scale. The broad roof of the stadium (107X185m) enables generation of no less than 1MW of solar energy, which will be used within the building and also put into the grid. The stadiums green aspects are several and varied. From specialised double-glazed glasses that allow high light transmission but low heat transmission, to brick walls that have cavity to act as acoustic and thermal barriers there are several firsts in the stadium. The sports complex has a parking for 450 vehicles. The multi-purpose Air Conditioned Indoor stadium has a seating capacity of 5,823. The stadium has been built at a cost of approximately Rs 300 crore. The stadium would be handed over to the education department after the Common Wealth Games will over, this stadium can be used to host badminton, table tennis, basketball tournaments. The stadium has even applied for a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification. The application is for the gold certification, while the goal is to attain the platinum.