Community » Environment
Essendon - The Green Precinct
Essendon is famous for wearing red and black but, in 2008, the club also went green.
Work began in October 2008 on $3 million worth of environment projects at Windy Hill to turn the famous sporting venue into a ‘Green Precinct’ (see detail below on the first project).
Essendon and the Federal Government have both allocated $1.5 million towards the three-year project.
Windy Hill is the first of 10 demonstration sites nation-wide to start work on an environmental project as part of a $15 million ‘Green Precincts Fund’.
“The fund is targeting high profile public sites that can be upgraded to be significantly more water and energy efficient. People using these sites will be able to see the technologies put in place to do this and be inspired to adopt these ideas into their own community facilities and homes,” Environment Minister, Peter Garrett said.
Essendon managing director, Peter Jackson said the club and Federal Government are committed to reducing the impact the Bombers have on the environment.
“We are proud to be the first of the Green Precinct demonstration sites to be funded and begin work and we believe Essendon will set a strong example to the community about the need to be environmentally aware,” he said.
“Windy Hill is an older facility - particularly the office space which is housed under historic stands - which creates a challenge but we are committed to making significant environmental improvements throughout our operations and setting a good example.”
‘StormTech’ Water Storage System
The first of the $3 million Windy Hill Green Precinct projects involved the construction of an 800,000 litre water storage system which was housed underneath the famed Windy Hill oval surface.
While the system has been used in America for many years, Windy Hill is one of the first sites in Australia to use the technology.
The system (called a ‘StormTech’ water storage system) will capture 5-8 million litres of water each year from existing roof structures, the oval and an approved bore. The water will be stored in massive underground cylinders for use around the club and, especially, for watering the oval.
Construction took just four weeks to complete.
“Essendon is unique in that our training facility, Windy Hill oval, is still a community facility. It is used by parents wanting to have a kick with their kids and organisations, including schools and other sporting groups, so this environmental water project will be supporting a popular local asset,” Managing director, Peter Jackson said.
“Many great sporting moments have taken place on top of the Windy Hill surface and it is historic that an important community project is now happening underneath.
“By using rain and bore water we can ensure the oval is in the best possible condition for our squad to train on without making a drain on Melbourne’s drinking water supplies. We are confident that being able to properly water the oval at anytime will help us reduce and avoid stress related injuries to players.”
Mr Jackson said that the StormTech system was perfect for Windy Hill as it provides effective, unimpeded water capture and distribution and can be maintained (eg. cleaned) over the long-term.
He said while the technology is American, all companies involved in the supply and installation were Australian owned and the system has undergone long-term strength testing of a minimum of 10,000 hours as is required under the Earth Retaining Structure code.
“While we looked at alternative storage systems, this one suited our needs best and the use of underground compacted gravel means the surface will settle well which was important considering it has been placed under the Windy Hill playing surface,” Mr Jackson said.
Federal Government Ministers Peter Garrett and Lindsay Tanner joined Mr Jackson and Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd for the start of work in October 2008.
“Over the next two-three years we will undertake other large and small projects to help the club halve its reliance on potable water,” Mr Jackson said.
“We hope our efforts inspire our fans to also reduce their water usage.”
Click here to view photos from the construction site!
Windy Hill gets the green light
The next major stage of Essendon’s Green Precinct Program - the installation of a building management control system and new lighting control system - has begun and is expected to be officially launched in December.
Essendon CEO Ian Robson said the program is part of a $3 million partnership between the Australian Federal Government and Essendon which aims to promote green initiatives and living for businesses and homes.
The lighting systems have already been installed across the major buildings on the Essendon Precinct over the past month including the football administration buildings, Windy Hill Venue and fitness centre. This involved the installation of best practice energy-efficient lighting fixtures and movement sensors.
“This new lighting system will significantly reduce our power usage and green-house gas emissions in two ways because the new globes are much more energy efficient and the sensors will automatically turn the lights off if no-one is in that area or if the natural light is acceptable,” Robson said.
Work on the building management control system is underway and will be completed at the end of November. Once completed, it will automatically manage air-conditioning, lighting, security and irrigation.
"The system will be fully integrated to connect the club’s numerous buildings and services throughout the precinct and will deliver benefits including real time reporting and monitoring of energy and water consumption," Robson said.
Full details of the environmental savings will be revealed at the official launch (expected in December) however the club can reveal it expects to reduce lighting consumption by almost 64%.
Other projects
Essendon recently completed an environmental audit of Windy Hill and now has a firm plan for, and understanding of, the areas that need improvement.
As part of the Green Precinct project, Essendon will undertake a number of projects/initiatives to further cut water usage and reduce green house gas emissions including:
- Printing the club magazine Bomber on recycled paper,
- Build monitoring systems through-out the Windy Hill (including smart metering),
- Potentially recycling pool water,
- Refitting of taps throughout Windy Hill,
- Generation of solar and/or wind power,
- Installation of solar hot water services.
“As a high profile AFL club, we have an opportunity to better educate our players, staff and fans about the importance of the environment and the ways they can help day-to-day,” Mr Jackson said.
To learn how you can save water at home click here.
Essendon fans should know that energy partner, Red Energy, uses renewable energy.
Red Energy guarentees that when you become a customer you will support renewable electricity, plus the company has a partnership with Landcare Australia to grow trees when customers pay their bill on time. The company also has special offer for Essendon supporters.
To find out more about Red Energy click here
