What is Cúl Green?
Cúl Green is an exciting joint initiative between the GAA and ESB, aimed at making Croke Park a carbon-neutral stadium. The GAA and the ESB are playing their part by putting in place a state of the art environmental-improvement programme covering the stadium's electricity, waste and water management systems.
So far, this work has resulted in:
- 11.69% less electricity used in 2009 compared to 2008
- 51.9% of waste being recycling and reused compared to 21% in 2008
- Saving of 312,000 litres of water per day
- ISO14001 Certification
- First stadium in the world to receive a BS8901 certification
Despite this success there is still work to be done to make the stadium carbon neutral so we need your help. Through this website you can show your support by committing to energy saving activities such as switching off lights when you leave a room, taking public transport instead of taking the car, not overfilling your kettle.
Fan Involvement
There has been a tremendous response from fans to Cúl Green with over 80,000 people visiting the website since launch and over 15,000 people having made a carbon saving pledge. In 2008 fan pledges saved 1,295 tonnes of carbon, in 2009 they saved 6,000 tonnes and in 2010 we are on target to reach 3,500 tonnes of carbon saved by fans. You can read our Fan Stories to see how energy saving pledges have reduced their energy bills, improved their health and helped us towards making Croke Park carbon neutral.
If you haven’t already made a carbon saving pledge please take a moment and make one today
Environmental Expertise
ESB are providing expertise in environmental management through ESBI and a specialist that joined the Croke Park team for 12 months to achieve internationally-recognised best-practice environmental standards at the stadium. The GAA President, Mr Nickey Brennan, said that ESB's track record on energy efficiency, respect for the environment and on delivery of major projects, makes it an excellent sustainability partner for the organisation:
"Both ESB and the GAA have a national presence and tradition of service and support for the community. This initiative will set a standard of responsibility towards the environment for all our supporters and is a showcase for what can be achieved through the active participation and behaviour of our fans".
ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, said Cúl Green will increase awareness about sustainability and climate change across, not just the GAA family, but a far wider supporting public, adding that:
"ESB's recently announced €22 Billion capital spend included ambitious carbon-reduction targets for the company, leading to an ESB that is net-zero carbon by 2035. Initiatives such as the Croke Park Cúl Green environmental project is a natural progression for ESB in pursuit of this radical climate-change agenda".
The Cúl Green project is supported and audited by the Carbon Reduction (CRed) Programme which was set up in 2003 by the University of East Anglia's environmental scientists. Its purpose is to support, monitor and evaluate progress towards a lower carbon future. CRed supports a range of community-based projects such as the Cúl Green initiative. To date around 50,000 people and 150 organisations have signed up to CRed making 150,000 carbon reduction pledges.
Industry Recognition
In May 2010 Croke Park recorded a global first by becoming the world’s first stadium to receive the coveted BS 8901 certificate making it one of the most sustainable sporting arenas anywhere. In May 2009 it was awarded its ISO14001 certification.
ESB, for their work on Cúl Green, were nominated for the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the All Ireland Marketing Awards in 2010. Other awards for Cúl Green included winning a Golden Spider for Best Charity and Community Website, the Marketing Award at the eGovernment Awards and the Green IT Project Award at the Inspired IT Awards.
Contact Us
If you would like to contact us please send an email to info@culgreen.ie and we will do our best to reply within 36 hours.
Useful Links
Join us at www.facebook.com/culgreen or further information about climate change can be found at the following websites:
Partner Websites
Partner Environmental Policies
Further Information on What You Can Do
Climate Change Publications and Websites