Making Croke Park Carbon Neutral

Cúl Green is a joint initiative between the GAA and ESB, aimed at making Croke Park a carbon-neutral stadium. The GAA and the ESB are playing their part by putting in place a state of the art environmental-improvement programme covering the stadium's electricity, waste and water management systems.

The Cúl Green initiative set ambitious targets to help Croke Park reduce its carbon footprint. In May 2009 Croke Park announced it has become one of the first net-carbon neutral stadiums in the world. The partnership between ESB and the GAA has helped the stadium reduce its carbon footprint by 4,500 tonnes, reaching the standard required to deem it a carbon-neutral venue.This initial carbon saving target, covering internal stadium activities, has been reached through a major overhaul of energy management at the stadium and through fans pledging reductions in their own carbon footprint.

As part of the Carbon Management Plan for the stadium, ESB engineers carried out an environmental audit to establish how Croke Park could maximise energy efficiencies and reduce its overall energy consumption. A new energy monitoring system was put in place at the stadium that has resulted in it reducing its energy consumption in the first three months of 2009 by over 10% compared to the same period in 2008. The stadium is also sourcing its electricity from a renewable wind farm source.

Fans played a crucial role in the delivery of Cúl Green’s targets. A total of 33,000 energy saving pledges were made on the Cúl Green website www.culgreen.ie. Pledges involve fans pooling their travel arrangements to and from Croke Park, using public transport, switching off lights and electrical appliances when not in use and installing enhanced energy insulation in their homes and places of work. These efficiencies were netted against the residual carbon footprint for Croke Park using a methodology accredited by an independent assessor (CRed - University of East Anglia ).

Cúl Green has now set an increased target that covers the energy consumption involved in fans travelling to and from Croke Park. We need your continued support to reach these ambitious targets so please take a moment to make a carbon saving pledge. Work continues on achieving the internationally recognised best practice environmental standard, ISO 14001, which was first awarded in May 2009 and the Croke Park Environmental Management Group continues to work on key projects. 

Environmental Management System - The introduction of an Environmental Management system ensured that in 2009 Croke Park reduced its electricity usage by 12% and gas usage by 12.5%. This reduction was made possible by the installation of a Stadium–wide building management system (BMS). The BMS is designed to maximise energy efficiency. This is a computerised system for centrally managing and operating energy using systems within the Stadium. The day to day electricity consumption was reduced by using the BMS to control the lighting, electrical heating and air handling units according to the scheduled activities taking place within the Stadium. Passive Infrared (PIR) lights were also introduced in some of the areas that are used on a daily basis. These lights detect motion and then activate a switch to turn on when required and off when no motion is detected after 15 minutes.

Energy Monitoring System - An Energy Monitoring System (EMS) was also introduced which ensures that the Stadium can monitor all gas, electricity and water usage and implement tighter controls in areas where usage is soaring.

Waste Management - In 2009 Croke Park also managed to divert 47.95% of the waste generated on site from landfill. The weight of this material would equate to the equivalent of 2,365,356 Sliotars. This is an increase of 26% in comparison to results from the same period in 2008. The increase in the tonnes of waste diverted from landfill in 2009 is due to the introduction of cardboard baling on site and composting of all food and grass. Recycling stations were placed on all floors in the Stadium and all staff and contractors received training. Patrons are also encouraged on event days to contribute to our waste management procedures.

Our processes in waste management continue to deliver, as evidenced by our receipt of the Repak Partnership award for 2009. The Repak partnership award is given to the business or organization that has achieved outstanding results in the areas of recycling and waste management.

Water Management - With the rollout of solenoid valves on urinals in public levels, this water saving enhancement allowed the stadium to save 312,000 litres of water on match days. The overall saving made from the introduction of these valves equates to approximately 166 swimming pools (25m).

2009 was a very successful year in Croke Park Stadium and we are hoping to make 2010 as successful if not more.

www.culgreen.ie keeps fans up to date on developments at the stadium and also facilitates fans who want to help offset overall carbon output by pledging to undertake a number of energy saving activities to reduce the amount of carbon used on a daily basis. A range of pledges that relate to simple everyday tasks are listed on the website together with the amount of carbon that can be offset when the task is completed. Fans are also encouraged to consider how they travel to Croke Park and, where possible, to consider using public transport options, walk or cycle!

To see how you can play your part.

Visit www.culgreen.ie or email sustainability@crokepark.ie