The incredible environmental innovation of SoFi Stadium

When the then-St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers announced they would relocate to Los Angeles, several innovative techniques went into building a new state-of-the-art stadium, combining the best qualities of both outdoor and indoor stadiums -- plus a few extra features.

The future location of the Super Bowl LVI, SoFi Stadium, cost $5.5 billion in total to build and is the largest and most expensive NFL stadium ever constructed. A place that would go on to host several large events, including Los Angeles' first Super Bowl since 1993, it had to be built to last.

When the construction of SoFi stadium began in 2016, one of the considerations was to take earthquakes into account. Crews dug a 100-foot hole to construct the stadium partially underground, then lined the excavated area with what officials called a "mechanically stabilized earth" wall. Reinforced Earth (RECo) helped construct this 100-foot tall wall, which acts as a stress relief for the area around the stadium footprint.

"Due to high seismic considerations in the Los Angeles area, it was necessary to design a bowl wall that would alleviate potential dynamic forces from the stadium structure," RECo said in a statement posted on its website.

The walls constructed by RECo were designed to withstand extreme seismic criteria. Watson Bowman Acme (WBA) also aided in the design and installation of the seismic wall and floor covers for SoFi stadium.

"The custom state-of-the-art expansion joint system will save lives and protect property in the event of an earthquake. This is a huge success for the WBA design team, installers, owners and any attendees of the facility," WBA said in a statement posted on its website.

Another big innovation featured at SoFi stadium is the spectacular roof. The translucent canopy that drapes over the stadium help give the feel of an outdoor venue while still having the flexibility you'd see at other domed stadiums. The canopy was built with a fluorine-based plastic known as ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), and it also features the largest cable-net system in the world, according to Coliseum.

General view of SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

The edges of the roof are able to open to the outdoors along the sides, with the aerodynamic shape pulling the ocean breezes into the stadium, according to the Los Angeles Times. The roof features a 60 feet by 60 feet adjustable opening that can slide in and out. The opening in the roof can "tune" the wind flow to allow better cooling. The translucent plastic roof shields fans from about half of the sun's heat.

However, due to the stadium still being partially open, lightning can still cause delays to games. In October 2021, lightning caused a Monday Night Football game in SoFi stadium to be delayed due to lightning. But the rain caused by storms helps SoFi in another way.

One of the revolutionary environmental spectacles of SoFi stadium is the stadium also acts as a water conservation project. Known as the SoFi Stadium Recycled Water Project, the cooling systems inside the stadium collect rainwater and then store what it collects into man-made lakes. Once in lakes, the water is dispersed into the neighboring wetlands. The project saves about 26 million gallons of water per year and even helps migrate stormwater from rainfall events.

The Los Angeles Rams play the Detroit Lions at SoFi stadium during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The Los Angeles area was given another helping hand in environmental projects through NFL Green after the NFL announced SoFi Stadium would host Super Bowl LVI.

NFL Green was launched 30 years ago to help environmental initiatives around the league including events such as the Super Bowl.

"We...work to offset our environmental impact by doing things like recycling, repurposing all the materials from Super Bowl and offsetting our energy use," NFL Green Associate Director Susan Groh told AccuWeather Senior On-Air Meteorologist Geoff Cornish.

NFL Green invested in a few projects in the Los Angeles Metro area this year, one being a kelp forest restoration project in San Pedro, California.

"There are some invasive urchins that come in and they just destroy these kelp forests and in a lot of areas off the California coast, they've lost as much as 90% of these kelp forests. These are vital to the habitat and the environment," Groh said.

NFL Green worked with Force Blue divers and marine scientists to remove the invasive urchins so kelp could grow back naturally on the California coast. Groh said a significant kelp forest is expected to be seen within six months.

Dolphins swim along the side of a boat off the coast of San Pedro, Calif. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

The goal is to restore a football-sized area of the kelp forest, she added.

NFL Green has also helped start projects outside environmental restoration. For nearly three decades, the company has hosted an event that is more accessible and relatable to people in any neighborhood.

For 23 years, NFL Green has hosted "Super Kids Super Sharing" at Super Bowl host cities. This program involved people donating gently used books, school supplies and sports equipment to those in need. In years past, a big event was held to celebrate.

This year, modifications had to be made due to the coronavirus. NFL Green hosted a drive up and drop off program and despite not being able to have all the kids together, about 20,000 items were donated in just one hour.

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"The Chargers and Rams jumped in to make this really, really fun with the Chargers drumline out there to greet cars and that Rampage was out there along with the cheerleaders who had a mariachi band," Groh explained.

When Super Bowl LVI kicks off on Sunday, fans will be greeted with another way to help out the community. KN95 masks will be handed out to those in attendance along with a free take-home rapid COVID-19 test kit.

Temperatures in Inglewood, California, where SoFi stadium is located, is forecasted to be 84 degrees when Super Bowl LVI kicks off Sunday at 3:30 p.m. local time.

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