Chase Center: Winning on and off the court

It is a home fit for champions. Chase Center, the world-class state-of-the-art arena that sits in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, delivers a fan experience like no other. On the court, the seven-time NBA Champions, Golden State Warriors, are changing the face of basketball.

The Warriors claimed their fourth NBA title in eight years in June 2022, and they will defend their crown at the spectacular arena when the new season gets underway in October 2022.

It is little wonder that there is such demand for one of the 18,064 seats. Excellence is everywhere, both on and off the court.

When Chase Center opened in 2019, it immediately set the bar as an unrivalled destination where memories are made. Whether watching players launch three-pointers or the world’s biggest rock stars in electrifying form on stage, event-goers can rest assured that the arena is setting the highest of standards when it comes to their health, safety and comfort.

San Francisco’s buzzing new neighborhood
Chase Center is surrounded by Thrive City, a newly developed and dynamic waterfront district in Mission Bay. With 11 acres of top retail stores and quality dining experiences, as well as several inviting public plazas, it has become one of San Francisco’s buzziest neighborhoods.

Thrive City and Chase Center have become a beacon for the Bay Area’s sports, culture and entertainment events. The entire development is also at the cutting edge of technology and sustainability, with smart connectivity playing a central role.

As a result, Chase Center has enviable operational efficiencies and low energy emissions. In 2020, it achieved the prestigious LEED Gold certification - a designation enjoyed by just a few NBA arenas. Technology has been put in place to ensure the most efficient and sustainable use of resources, monitored by smart building controls that can evolve with time and adapt to future demands.

At the forefront of sustainable transformation
Chase Center was designed with one goal in mind: to create a place that would provide people with unforgettable memories. It is much more than a venue - it’s a beacon for the entire Bay Area community. The vision was to create an arena and district that would not just thrill fans, but also become synonymous with energy efficiency, adaptability of use and sustainability. When looking for a building technology partner with similar values and aspirations, Johnson Controls proved to be the perfect fit and was involved in the early stages of the design process.

“With these types of projects, each client starts with their actual desired outcomes,” Jim Nannini, Vice President of Technology and Solutions Engineering at Johnson Controls said in an interview with Athletic Business. “For this venue, those desired outcomes were really centered around three areas: the comfort of the participants, fans, players, employees and community; the security of the building; and the sustainability of the elements, including the construction and ongoing life-cycle of the facility itself.”

Those desired outcomes did, indeed, come to fruition. The result is a smart, secure, healthy and sustainable entertainment complex which hosts nearly 200 events each year.

Pandemic poses a challenge
Centralized building automation and security systems combined with an innovative intelligent platform ensure that Chase Center can quickly adapt to any circumstance. Those qualities were severely tested with the arrival of a global health crisis in early 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit just months after Chase Center opened. The Warriors were forced to play an entire season without fans in the arena, eventually bringing spectators back in limited capacities under the guidance of the City of San Francisco.

Committed to protecting the health and well-being of spectators, visitors, players and employees, Chase Center looked to Johnson Controls healthy buildings expertise to prepare for the safe return of live events.

From the start of the pandemic, Johnson Controls provided expert assistance to Chase Center leaders to implement a plethora of safety measures.
The arena was better equipped to provide clean air through improved ventilation and increased filtration. The camera system at Chase Center helped with contact tracing and customer safety.

The Metasys® game-changer
Connecting it all is the Metasys® building automation system, which controls and monitors equipment and system performance, and can make real-time adjustments based on variables like attendance. With its predictive analysis, Metasys® can also identify issues that might otherwise reveal themselves at critical points during an event.

Warriors Vice President of Arena Operations, Matt Balk, explains: “Having one intelligent platform allows us to make smarter building decisions to enhance fans’ health, comfort and safety, as well as reducing our energy usage and the arena’s carbon footprint.”

Built for the future
Chase Center is shaping the future of sports and entertainment, marrying innovation with creativity to deliver an immersive fan experience that’s also comfortable, safe and sustainable. The technology systems implemented ensure that Chase Center is equipped to meet future enhancements as technology needs evolve and Thrive District continues to expand.