The grass isn’t all that’s “green” on Opening Day at Major League Baseball’s newest stadium.

 Nationals Park in Washington DC will open this spring as the home of Major League Baseball’s DC Nationals, and it may be the country’s first stadium to receive the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification for environmentally friendly design.

Permaloc Corporation, manufacturer of GeoEdge, was responsible for providing the edge restraint for the 6,300 square foot green roof above the stadium’s concessions areas.  The GeoEdge restraint will retain the special soil used on the green roof, as well as allow drainage for storm water runoff.

The 41,000-seat state-of-the-art baseball stadium design was created by HOK Sport of Kansas City, MO.  The $611 million dollar price tag includes many other environmentally friendly features in addition to the green roof, which contribute to the possibility of Nationals Park becoming the first LEED Certified professional sports venue.

“Everyone got behind it, or it would never have happened,” says Susan Klumpp, project manager for HOK Sport. “It was a new experience for a lot of people on this job. There’s no blueprint that says, ‘This is how you do a certified ballpark.’ We had to figure it out.

McDonnell Landscape, an award-winning landscape contractor based in Brookville, MD, was responsible for installing the green roof.  “Since the green roof is located over the concession stand, lightweight soil and materials had to be used. For this reason, the architect (HOK) recommended using Permaloc 4” GeoEdge for the gravel divider strips on the roof.  We couldn’t have been more pleased with the product’s performance,” said Jon Fritz, Executive Vice President at McDonnell.

As an integral part of the green roof installation, GeoEdge will help assure the green roof not only helps the environment, but also keeps the green roof visually pleasing for the thousands of people visiting the stadium each year for many years to come.

Permaloc Corporation has dedicated itself to creating products that are environmentally friendly and beneficial to sustainable design.  “We strive to provide products that encourage sustainable design, minimize environmental impact, and relate people with the natural environment through our manufactured products and corporate culture,” states Permaloc Vice President Bob Anderson.