Croke Park's new floodlights will improve energy efficiency by over 50%

UPGRADE: The new floodlights installed in Croke Park will improve energy efficiency in the set by over 50%. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

The new floodlights installed in Croke Park will improve energy efficiency in the set by over 50%.

The stadium’s sustainability report explains the €2 million investment last year will reduce electricity demand at the same time enhance lighting performance at the venue.

All electricity in Croke Park is now provided from certified renewable energy sources making it 100% green electricity powered.

Overall waste in the stadium was reduced by 8% last year. Food waste was down 24% and single-use plastic waste decreased by 50%. Water consumption almost fell by 10%. From their baseline of 2022, the objective is for its water consumption to be cut by 25% by 2030.

Croke Park already has in place a 1.5 million-litre storage tank that captures rainfall from the stadium roof and the harvesting supplies water for pitch irrigation, which accounts for 10-15% of the stadium’s annual water usage.

Across last year, 258,000 plastic bottles and cans were recycled via the Re-turn deposit scheme with over €38,000 donated to the Re-turn for Children charities.

It is the intention of Croke Park to source 85% of all produce from Ireland with 70% grown or produced within a 50-mile radius while reducing food-related packaging.

A goal of net-zero carbon omissions is the goal by 2050 and a decarbonisation roadmap has been formulated. The near-term target is to reduce purchased good and services and location-based greenhouse gas emissions by 50.4% by 2032 and downstream leased assets emissions by 30% within that same period.

Croke Park footprint including fan travel represents 95% of overall emissions and the stadium's authorities recognise the “critical importance of influence travel behaviours as part of our long-term decarbonisation strategy”.

The stadium is also exploring the possibility of purchasing a one megawatt air source heat pump for pitch heating to replace the current three megawatt gas boiler as a means of establishing a low-carbon pitch heating system.

“Our sustainability journey began in 2008,” states GAA stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna.

“Well ahead of many in the sector. Since then, we have made significant strides, embedding sustainability into how we operate, plan, and collaborate.

"Yet we know the journey is far from complete. The challenges we face, from climate change to resource scarcity, require continued ambition, transparency and action.

“Our commitment must not only deliver meaningful reductions in our own environmental footprint but also the millions who pass through our doors each year to play their part.”