Upon returning to school from summer break, students enjoyed the familiarity of the distinctive Fieldston environment. But there was one glaring change: the new turf field, with its gleaming green turf and brand new paint job. Questions abounded as to why, when and how the new field was installed.
The old field, installed in 2002, demonstrated the practicality of turf in that it was conducive to year round play and required little maintenance. However, according to Eugene Kivlan, former Director of Facilities, who oversaw the new field installation, “turf fields are only expected to last 8-10 years.” By year 11, the artificial polyethylene grass was worn out and there were frequent complaints by parents of the “black dots”(a.k.a. crumb rubber infill), pried loose from eleven years of cleats, covering students’ shoes and socks.
Fieldston chose to honor its commitment to the environment by choosing to use Thermo Plastic Elastomer (TPE) as infill, despite the additional costs. Howie Waldman, our Green Dean, who was influential in the decision to choose the more inert plastic of TPE for the infill, cited a number of reasons for why “The new turf field is definitely an upgrade.” The new TPE infill will be much easier to recycle when it to eventually has to be replaced. Thus the TPE is more sustainable. Additionally, the material in the old infill had a tendency to powder up, which led to a risk of inhalation of dangerous chemicals by players. Lastly, the green infill absorbs far less heat than the black infill, which can reach 140˚F in the summer. This keeps the players cool, and helps Fieldston do its part in reducing urban heat islands.
However, all of the benefits come with costs; the TPE plastic infill cost the school $100,000 dollars more than had we installed a similar product to the old one, according to Fieldston CFO, Michael Hwang. Even though the final cost has yet to be determined, estimates are approximately $500,000. Determined to play its part in the Green School Alliance, Fieldston was willing to pay about 25% more for the safer, “greener” field.
So what has the response to the new field been? The athletic department consensus has been positive. Diane Toth, the field hockey coach, excitedly declared that, “The new turf is terrific…give us some time and we will be unstoppable on it!” Players on the football and field hockey teams agree that the new field is an improvement over the old. Quarterback Henry Miller believes the new field is “better the than the old turf because it’s smoother,” and Field Hockey Midlfielder Robin Saidenberg says “After two or three days of struggling during preseason, we have gotten the hang of it and now really enjoy the field.”
The players and coaches are pleased. The Green Dean is happy. The gleaming orange “F”, on the “50” yard line, highlighted by the green of the turf shines brightly as a reminder of the tremendous job the facilities department did to get the new field installed. Let’s hope they can do an equally good job redoing the track, a job planned for this march break or this summer. In the words of football coach Scott Sousa, “So far so good.”
