English Premiership rugby team Saracens have opened what they say is the most sustainable and energy efficient stadium in the UK.
The 10,000 seater Allianz Park in North London incorporates 500 Solar PV panels generating 50kWp (kilowatts peak), ground source heat pumps to provide hot water and lighting controls to reduce electricity consumption.
Uniquely for a rugby ground in the UK, it boasts an artificial pitch, which is expected to reduce water consumption and save the club £100,000 a year on turf repairs.
The design has been awarded an ‘excellent’ BREEAM environmental assessment rating, which is based on a building’s energy and water use together with pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes.
“For a club that hasn’t had a home crowd for a very long time, to have a home ground which is advanced in so many areas – in terms of the greenness of the stadium, in terms of the technology within the stadium – I think in all these areas Allianz Park is well ahead of the field,” Saracens CEO Edward Griffiths said.