Newcastle United Football Club – Eddie Rutherford, Facilities and Stadium Manager

With the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), rising energy prices and the corporate need to be more responsible regarding our environment, the board at Newcastle United decided to set achievable targets to reduce the clubs environmental impact.

We engaged the services of a reputable consultancy in Energy Impact, as we found their business model very attractive and refreshing. By utilising funds from our energy contracts, they were able to invest considerable amounts into the Sports Direct Arena and realised energy savings from day one. After completing our initial energy audits, we began to make informed decisions on how to make small changes that did not affect our operational requirements but reduced our energy consumption.

With the introduction of the Burner Management units into our heating system, we experienced immediate gas reduction and we now have several other projects completed and many more planned over the coming months. Energy Impact energy management software package (Energy Impact) has given us full visibility on our day to day consumption and this has allowed us to focus on areas of abnormal and unnecessary consumption. This has enabled us to ensure the Building Management System (BMS) is optimised and meets the operational patterns of the building on a daily basis, again bringing savings.

Working with Energy Impact, we have devised a five year plan for Newcastle United and we are confident that we will meet and probably exceed our targets set both internally and by the CRC. Our goal is now to achieve the Carbon Trust standard to make the Sports Direct Arena and Newcastle United as energy efficient as possible.