Fiserv Forum has been awarded with the prestigious LEED® Gold Certification. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence.

“The Milwaukee Bucks seized an opportunity to guarantee Fiserv Forum ensures a more sustainable, energy-efficient and healthy environment to allow our visitors and employees a healthier quality of life in our building,” said Dennis Williams, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fiserv Forum. “We are very proud of our efforts and stewardship in the community while providing first-class entertainment and championship basketball at Fiserv Forum.”

Prior to receiving the LEED Gold certification, Fiserv Forum earned USGBC’s LEED Silver certification in 2019, a year after the arena opened. Now, with the LEED Gold certification, the Bucks continue their commitment to ensuring the arena is performing as designed. 

“Fiserv Forum has set the bar for the sports and entertainment industry by demonstrating how sustainable design, construction and operations not only reduce energy costs and the impact on the environment but enhance the fan experience with a state-of-the-art facility,” said Nate Manning, President, North America Building Solutions, Johnson Controls. “Johnson Controls is proud to provide the energy efficient equipment, technologies and OpenBlue solutions that help drive forward Fiserv Forum’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality.”

Monitoring the performance metrics for energy, waste and water has allowed Fiserv Forum to guarantee optimal building performance. Working closely with Greenwood Consulting Group, a certified women’s owned sustainability consulting firm with over 16-years of experience, Fiserv Forum decided to pursue recertification of both buildings using the Arc platform to get a more comprehensive understanding of how the buildings continue to perform in other areas beyond energy use. 

“Now more than ever, the benefits of investing in high quality, healthy buildings are critical to the community at large,” said Sara Greenwood, Principal of Greenwood Consulting Group. “Fiserv Forum has demonstrated a commitment to transparency when it comes to health and building operations, which is very commendable!” 

Arc allows projects to track and report energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience to evaluate a building’s performance and understand how it compares to similar structures. Arc aligns with the LEEDv4.1 for Building Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings rating system and is considered a performance scoring tool examining data over a 12-month timespan to inform a building’s performance in key areas. Arc also allows owners to understand the carbon impact associated with a building’s performance over time and gives an initial score of 0-100 which can be improved throughout the years.

“Fiserv Forum’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, USGBC. “LEED was created to make the world a better place and revolutionize our buildings and communities by providing everyone with access to healthy, green and high-performing buildings. Fiserv Forum is a prime example of how the innovative work of project teams can create local solutions that contribute to making a global difference.”

Fiserv Forum achieved LEED Gold certification with a score of 75, which makes it among the leaders in sports and entertainment venues. Fiserv Forum is leading the charge to transform the market when it comes to sustainable building performance. In addition to energy efficiency and water conservation, Greenwood Consulting Group conducted air quality testing throughout the buildings resulting in confirmation of healthy indoor air quality. Visitors can feel safe coming to Fiserv Forum knowing their health has been prioritized. Moving forward, the arena is working closely with local manufacturing firm SC Johnson to explore ways in which waste can be reduced.

“Plastic waste is one of the great environmental challenges we face today, which is why we are proud to work with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Fiserv Forum to implement a closed-loop recycling process starting this season. It’s especially gratifying that this work contributed to Fiserv Forum’s LEED Gold certification,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “By working together, we will collect the roughly 1 million plastic cups used at Fiserv Forum each year and directly recycle them into bottles for our Scrubbing Bubbles brand. This keeps a significant stream of plastic waste out of our environment, and we hope it encourages even more recycling for fans at home.”

Specific initiatives that contributed toward Fiserv Forum’s certification include:

• Building efficiency is one of the most affordable ways to curb climate change.
• Building efficiency can significantly reduce illness and death related to air pollution.

Fiserv Forum would also like to recognize Populous, Mortenson, EUA, Johnson Controls, SC Johnson and GFL Environmental as important contributing partners to this certification.