Going green

Steve Bambury, Head of Energy Management at Leisure Connection says: “We are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of our estate and working in partnership with our clients. We are working at both a strategic and a local level to deliver specific tactics, which can make a significant impact across the board. “As a business in an energy-hungry industry, we need to be positively addressing environmental issues, so we’re not only reducing our effect on the environment, but also paving the way for future greener generations.”

In 2009/2010 Leisure Connection committed itself to reduce energy consumption by a minimum 5% each year, a target we have exceeded. The leisure industry consumes high levels of energy and water, which is not only costly, but also has a significant impact on carbon emissions from the sector. Pool temperatures across the estate are carefully controlled and are in line with Sport England’s recommendations. Pool covers have been introduced as part of an ongoing investment programme, which can reduce energy consumption in the pool hall by up to 20%.

Leisure Connection also wanted to drive a cultural change across the business and has introduced a sophisticated education and training programme, which is vital to achieving sustainable energy reduction success. Leisure Connection has made significant investment across the estate to manage proactively energy consumption and the following are some of the key investments in the last year:

• £300,000 spent on pool covers across 15 leisure centres
• £100,000 spent on staff and partner training
• In excess of £100,000 spent on other smaller projects such as lighting schemes and building management system optimisation.