Five of the world's most sustainable stadiums

Sport brings people together; it inspires passion and commitment in equal measure and can also provide a beacon for more sustainable development and help to take action for the climate around the world.

E.ON

06/10/22

“Sport . . . provides a platform for tackling some of the gravest global threats to people and planet, like climate change. Athletes are among the most influential people on the planet and together with their managers, fans and others involved in organised sport, must contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.“ UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed

Just like the sport itself, venues and stadium arenas around the world are increasingly competing with one another on how they can promote greater environmental sustainability. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s fierce competition off the pitch, in areas like sustainability where stadiums look to outdo rivals in creating a combination of superior sporting spectacles as well as more environmentally friendly venues.

Although the key driver for sustainability is the climate crisis, more and more sporting venues and stadiums realise there are many other benefits to investing time and money into sustainability.

Initiatives such as rainwater collection and recycling could drastically reduce their water usage. By using alternative sources of energy, such as solar and wind, sporting venues can drastically lower their carbon emissions and costs. Using green building materials in the design and build of a stadium means there is less waste and pollution. Today for example, many stadiums are built using recycled materials, such as paper and plastics. Stadium 974 in Qatar has been built mainly from recycled or recyclable materials and will be taken down and moved after the 2022 World Cup ends next December, when the stadium is no longer needed.

Helping Nottingham Forest Football Club take Action For Climate

Closer to home, E.ON has been working with Nottingham Forest Football Club to offer them the opportunity to look at the ways they, and other like-minded businesses, can become more sustainable in the future.

Take a look at our video.

Whether it’s new state of the art buildings, or the modernisation of existing arenas, we’ve taken a look at some of the world’s most sustainable stadiums and what makes them such a beacon of a new, greener sporting world.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, USA

Home to the Atlanta Falcons NFL franchise and Major League Soccer team Atlanta United, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the State of Georgia was the first professional sports stadium in the United States to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Certification and is considered by many to be the most sustainable sports venue in the world.

The stadium has a strong focus on energy efficiency and renewables, even encouraging fans to bring aluminium cans and bottles to the stadium for recycling. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium was also the first professional sports venue to earn all possible credits in LEED’s water efficiency category and was recognised for its innovative water reduction programmes across the stadium. These include high-efficiency toilets that use less water than those required by government regulations and the 680,000-gallon rainwater cistern which supplies water for cooling and irrigation across the stadium.

Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, USA

Another US star is the strikingly named Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, seeking to be the first zero-carbon stadium certified by the International Living Future Institute.

Used for ice hockey and basketball, the venue is pursuing an electrification policy for everything from heating to cooking as part of its goal of using no fossil fuels in its daily use.

Its 'Rain to Rink' system also harvests water from the roof, which is collected in a 15,000-gallon cistern and used to make the ice on which the hockey is actually played. Innovations such as waterless urinals and ultra-efficient showers help optimise efficiency.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

On the other side of the Atlantic, in London, the first Premier League football game was played at the new £1bn Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April 2019. The club has signed up to the UN Race to Zero campaign, committing to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and become net zero carbon by 2040.

Sustainability measures include not just 100% renewable energy supply but also a single-use plastic reduction drive, as part a 'zero to landfill' waste management programme, with clear recycling instructions for fans. At its associated training facility, the club has even introduced a wildflower meadow, wildlife ponds, bug hotels and bat houses.

For a third year running, Spurs topped the Premier League sustainability table (jointly with Liverpool FC in 2021) run by the United Nations-backed Sport Positive initiative.

Europa Park Stadium, Freiburg, Germany

In a world first for major professional sport, the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), which governs the two German Bundesliga divisions, voted last December to make sustainability a mandatory licensing requirement for all participating clubs.

Located on the edge of the Black Forest, Freiburg is billed as Germany's greenest city and, not surprisingly, its home team is ahead of the game. SC Freiburg is in the process of installing a 2.4MW solar array on its new 35,000 capacity Europa Park Stadium, which also recycles waste heat from a nearby manufacturing plant via a pipeline.

Nef Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey

The Nef Stadium at the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, in Istanbul, Turkey recently broke the Guinness World Record for the most powerful solar power output from a sports facility. It is home to the capital’s football team Galatasaray SK.

Built over an area of 40,000 square metres, the massive 4.2MW rooftop solar farm, was both financed and installed by Enerjisa Enerji, part of the E.ON Group . It comprises more than 10,000 solar panels and generates renewable electricity equivalent to the amount consumed by 2,000 homes, saving 3,250 tons of CO2 emissions every year.

So, it’s clear that sustainability is increasingly becoming a focus for the sporting world and that there are already some leading examples for how this can be achieved.