Southampton FC might not have been the most successful football club on the pitch over the last few years, but they’re certainly excelling in one important area. All sports clubs need to consider and reassess their energy consumption, but this one is taking the concept very seriously. Throughout the course of this article, we’re going to spend some time discussing all the alterations that have been made, and how they help to save the planet. Hopefully, other clubs will soon follow suit and the true importance of making changes like that will become apparent to all.
Believe it or not, the actions taken by Southampton are not that difficult or expensive to implement. Indeed, all football clubs could do the same with little investment. At the end of the day, all these processes reduce energy consumption, so they pay for themselves over a long enough period of time.
LED Floodlighting
Floodlighting is one of the most expensive bills a football club has to deal with. In the past, it would not have been unusual for them to spend thousands of pounds every single month on the luxury. Southampton FC plan to install LED floodlights at St Mary’s stadium. That would make it the first stadium in Europe to utilise the technology. Not only will they save a lot of energy, but they’ll also improve visibility for TV viewers. Halide floodlights used in the past had a much higher flicker rate, meaning it was more difficult to capture perfect footage for TV broadcasts. LED floodlights should increase the picture quality considerably as they have a low flicker rate of only 0.2%.
Energy Auditing
In a recent survey, two major high-street banks discovered that over 85% of UK businesses were worried about rising energy prices. Only 25% of them perform regular audits though. Southampton FC intends to adopt an audit schedule that will ensure they’re constantly aware of their consumption, and any alterations that can be made to reduce it. You can find more information on that over at the Love Energy Savings site and other places online.
Other Small Improvements
Southampton FC understands that tackling the big issues is only part of the job. Sometimes it’s all the small things that add up to cause the highest energy consumption. For that reason, every single lightbulb in the stadium will be switched to energy saving alternatives. They’re installing programmable thermostats that change the temperature inside based on that outside too. That will reduce the amount of wasted energy during every season.
Keeping Rooms Airtight
Small drafts can encourage people to turn the heating on. Considering that, Southampton FC are going to make a special effort to keep their rooms airtight. They also plan to add insulation wherever possible and will ask employees to do their part too.
As you can clearly see, the owners of Southampton FC are deadly serious about their commitment to saving the planet. Let’s just hope other football clubs start to take the same approach very soon. After all, they’re profits are high enough.
