Press release

Croke Park becomes one of the world's first net-carbon neutral stadiums

1st May 2009: Croke Park has become one of the first net-carbon neutral stadiums in the world. ESB and the GAA announced today (Friday, May 1st) that the stadium - which attracted almost two million visitors last year - has reduced its carbon footprint by 4,500 tonnes, reaching the standard required to deem it a carbon-neutral venue.

Cúl Green is a major energy efficiency partnership established last year between the GAA and ESB aimed at making Croke Park a carbon neutral stadium. The target has now 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 last year. 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. 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; 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 Ipswich FC 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".

Padraig McManus, ESB Chief Executive said "Achieving a net carbon neutral facility on the scale of Croke Park and in less than a year has involved an enormous amount of expertise and skill as well as public participation. The project has shown us what can be done with the right mixture of technical knowledge and public commitment. Croke Park serves as an exemplar and blueprint for how carbon neutral status can be achieved against considerable odds."

Peter McKenna, Stadium Director Croke Park, said "Our net carbon neutral goal has been achieved through the collaboration and commitment of the GAA, ESB, and Croke Park along with the support of fans and the general public in making carbon saving pledges. We are very proud to be the first carbon neutral stadium in the country and all visitors to the stadium, museum and conference centre appreciate the efforts that are being made. We look forward to achieving even more ambitious energy efficiency targets in the years ahead."

Ends

Note to editors

Net carbon neutral: The carbon footprint of direct stadium activities at Croke Park was calculated at 4,500 tonnes. By net carbon neutral is meant that these emissions have been reduced or offset by energy efficiencies at the stadium, by pledges from fans and by Croke Park's renewable energy supply agreement. The pledge based carbon calculations have been independently audited by CRed of the University of East Anglia who have an acknowledged expertise in this subject.

ESB: The ESB Board has approved a Strategic Framework to 2020 that will see major company investments in renewable energy, the halving of its carbon emissions within 12 years, and the achievement by ESB of net carbon neutral by 2035.

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