KEEPING IT GREEN

Sport has woken up to the importance of sustainability. The challenge for the industry now, at all levels, is to establish practices and operations that focus on long-term viability

DYLAN BARKER

In 2021, the BBC produced a series of articles and programmes outlining what sports may look like in the year 2050. The purpose of “Sport 2050” was to highlight the potential bleak future sports – from grassroots to elite level – may face as a result of climate change. The articles predicted a decline in sport participation as weather becomes more extreme and highlighted how golf courses in Scotland are likely to erode into the sea. The most concerning aspect of Sport 2050 was that some of the predictions were not even the “worst case scenario”.

Sports and recreation isn’t, however, an ‘innocent victim’ – sports facilities are estimated to be responsible for around 10% of the annual energy consumption in Europe. A single top-flight football stadium can consume up to 25,000 KWh during a 90-minute match – enough to keep more than a dozen homes going for an entire year.

The sports construction sector – from architects and planners to suppliers and contractors – is acutely aware of the need to curb the energy usage of the buildings it creates and has responded by increasingly focusing on environmentally sustainable practices. In recent years, an increasing number of projects and designs have not only been celebrated for their design, capacity or the atmosphere they create, but for their environmental sustainability. From the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and its goal of achieving carbon net-zero to St Sidwells PointLeisure Centre in Exeter becoming the UK’s first Passivhaus swimming pool, many modern projects prioritise environmental impact in planning. Take the ground-breaking Ravelin sports centre built for the University of Portsmouth, which sets a new benchmark for ultra-low-energy sports facilities in the UK with its fossil fuel-free design and an operational energy consumption of less than 100 kWh/m2 per year.

Progress

There is plenty of good work being done, however, to ensure that the future of sport isn’t as bleak as the picture painted by the BBC. So far, more than 270 sporting organisations and clubs have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which outlines a list of targets the signatories must comply with by a set date aligned with the Kyoto Protocol 1997. This has caused an increased effort towards environmentally sustainable practices as individual organisations strive to meet targets.

Major events are also playing their part – including this year’s UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany and the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. During Euro 2024, for each tonne of CO2e emissions produced during the tournament ¤25 was donated to the climate fund. This led to a total of ¤7m being made available for climate-protection projects. The money has been used, in part, to allow grassroots clubs in the host nation to request financial support for environmental sustainability projects. The funding will, in turn, be used by the clubs to improve their sustainability practices – from waste management systems to installing LED floodlights.

The 2024 Olympic games in Paris looked to reduce its impact on the environment during the construction of the Olympic venues. A huge majority of the facilities used during the Games were existing ones, while the redevelopment of those needing upgrades were focused on under-invested areas.

Paris 2024 also set a new benchmark for the level of sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices used in both the construction and management of its venues. The new aquatics centre – one of only two venues purpose-built for the Games – features a 4,680sq m solar panel roof, providing around 20 percent of the venue’s electricity needs and has seats made from recycled plastic bottle caps. Environmentally proactive construction methods were also used with the Olympic village, which was constructed with a 30 per cent reduction in carbon compared to similar constructions. In addition to this, 94 per cent of materials used were recovered from deconstruction. The Paris 2024 Games also used 100 per cent renewable energy sourced locally.

Building it green

The late Professor Charles J. Kibert, a pioneer in sustainable construction – and organiser of the 1st International Conference on Sustainable Construction in 1994 – defined the seven principles of sustainable construction as: sustainable design, durability, energy efficiency, waste reduction, indoor air quality, water conservation and sustainable building materials. Those principles have become a core part of the process in sports construction and can be seen across a number of new-builds within the sporting world.

One of the most recent examples of a “super-sustainable” design is Forest Green Rovers Football Club’s proposed Eco Park stadium. The 5,000-capacity venue is to be built almost entirely from wood, such as cross-laminated timber and glulam beams, which are more sustainable than steel or concrete. Plans also include for the stadium to have a rainwater capture system where the roof of the stadium seating areas collects rainwater, which is then filtered, stored, and recycled as well as being fitted with solar panels on the stadium’s rooftop.

Another sustainable design which is definitely happening is English Premier League club Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock in Liverpool. Designed by architect Dan Meis, the project focuses on its environmental impact from construction to operations. All 480,000 cubic metres of sand required for the initial dock infill process were transported to the site by boat from the sea-bed, 20 miles out in the Irish Sea. This prevented thousands of trucks being needed to provide the sand.

All 480,000 cubic metres of sand required for the initial dock infill process were transported to the site by boat from the sea-bed, 20 miles out in the Irish Sea

Improvements are also being made to buildings which were constructed before the drive towards more sustainable design and construction practices. These include the UK’s leisure centres, which can produce up to 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Everyone Active, which operates facilities on behalf of local authorities, is looking to have its 220+ leisure centres carbon net-zero by the year 2030. This will be achieved through a three-step plan that will include local authority partners, as well as central government. It is an example of how the sector is responding and coming up with long-term plans and projects to create and operate more efficient centres.

Everyone Active’s Group Development Director, Ben Beevers, said: We know the world is changing – and not necessarily for the better. That’s why we’ve developed a comprehensive net zero strategy to help us, as a company, become operationally net zero carbon emitting by the end of 2030.

“Leisure centres consume large amounts of energy and so are also significant carbon emitters. Therefore, we have an opportunity to put in place a strategy to tackle this and other issues to help make the company’s carbon emissions net zero. In order to achieve this, the strategy that we have formulated encompasses every facet of our business.” Sports organisations of all sizes are now waking up to the need for environmental sustainability and responsibility. Take The Wave artificial wave pool in Bristol, who are working to move the entire sport to be sustainable. The Wave already operates off of 100% renewable energy but aims to be self-sufficient and off-grid by the year 2030, meaning existing renewable energy from the grid can be directed elsewhere.

Governing bodies

A lot of the world’s sports governing bodies have claimed to be heading towards a net-zero approach by the year 2030 as part of their pledge to the UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris agreement. One of these is World Rugby, which has identified a number of clear goals in order to reducing the sports impact on the climate. These include addressing the carbon footprint of rugby, a focus on circular economy – such as managing materials and resources and addressing issues of single-use plastic – protecting the natural environment and using rugby’s platform to promote awareness around climate change. There is also the recognition that tackling climate change can help countries within the “rugby family” that are at high risk from climate change – such as Samoa and Tonga.

Closer to home, earlier this year Sport England launched its first-ever environmental sustainability strategy. Titled Every Move, the strategy includes major new investment to help the sport and physical activity sector respond to climate change.

The package, worth more than £45m of new National Lottery funding, builds on the already announced £80m joint investment in the Swimming Pool Support Fund to make hundreds of swimming pools across the country more environmentally and financially sustainable.

Sport England chair, Chris Boardman, said: “There is no doubt that our changing climate is already impacting our opportunities, motivation and ability to be active. Extreme weather is increasingly making it difficult for us to live healthy, active lives by creating a ‘doom loop’ where people become less motivated and more fearful of injury, with sporting opportunities increasingly cancelled and disrupted.

“Without change now, the government’s target to get 3.5 million more people active by 2030 is very much in jeopardy – and our children will be the ones to suffer most. The FA has estimated that 120,000 football games will be lost each year. A third of community pitches are already unplayable for two months of the year due to flooding – and it’s only going to get worse.

“If places to play are unavailable, people will go and do something other than sport and physical activity, leading to small clubs going under and vital community organisations disbanding.”

Five ways to encourage sports consumers to be more environmentally sustainable

l Use eco-friendly forms of transport - this can be anything from using public transport for away days as a fan to car sharing to a sporting event you participate in.

l Buy local - many companies outsource their products from all over the world meaning much of the sports equipment you may be using, most likely has a large carbon footprint. Using companies that manufacture locally or are native to you can help reduce your own carbon footprint.

l Join environment protection initiatives - this can be as little as raising awareness or signing a petition for change. A world committed to sustainability will be a lasting one.

l Join clubs or use companies that already practise sustainability - many sporting clubs and groups have already made the switch to becoming more environmentally aware.

l Consider buying second hand - recycling is a big part of the battle towards a more sustainable world, buying second hand not only reduces waste but also carbon for transporting new products.