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 ).

Speaking at the announcement, Football Manager and former Republic of Ireland International, Roy Keane, said: “Everybody has a duty to help save energy and Croke Park has shown great leadership on this issue. A similar green project at Ipswich also worked because of the involvement of fans. The fans in Ireland have also played a vital role in helping Croke Park reach this ambitious target. It’s an example of how supporters who are passionate about sport can bring some of that commitment to ensuring a cleaner environment for all of us”.

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. 

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