Freedom Leisure, operator of Wealden District Council’s four leisure centres, has reduced its CO2 emissions by 90 tonnes since signing a new contract with the Council in 2012. This volume of CO2 is enough to fill 20 Olympic swimming pools.—Wealden District Council, 12 August 2016
The four leisure centres, at Crowborough, Hailsham, Uckfield and Heathfield, have reduced their energy consumption over the past four years as well as cutting their CO2 emissions by 5 % each year, which is fundamental in helping to reduce global warming.
“It is good to see that Freedom Leisure is leading the way in encouraging local business to adopt energy saving practises,” said Councillor Roy Galley, Wealden Cabinet member for economic development.
“It has been estimated that low carbon activities in Sussex generate around £2.7 billion in sales each year and supports 21,000 jobs and 1,550 businesses. These activities have a special place in Wealden where we prize our natural environment.
“Freedom Leisure has shown how incremental changes in what they do in their day-to-day activities can make a real difference to their carbon emissions.”
Simon Davey, Environmental Manager Freedom Leisure, says: “A lot of Freedom Leisure’s carbon emission savings have been achieved through good housekeeping. All leisure centre staff attended a workshop, which explained how small changes in working practices can make a real different to both carbon emissions and economic efficiency.
“An energy champion was nominated for each of the centres and energy management action plans were formulated. An element of healthy competition was introduced between the four sites, using a league table to encourage everyone to become involved and to adopt positive measures to reduce the amount of energy used. Each leisure centre also drew up its own travel plan encouraging staff to use public transport and bicycle racks were installed to encourage more people to cycle to work.
Davey continues: “Freedom Leisure has also invested in smart building management systems, replaced the lights in the sports halls at Crowborough and Uckfield with energy-efficient LED lighting and introduced sensors to ensure lighting is not left on when not required. More efficient programming of classes was introduced, allocating exercise rooms on the basis of the optimum temperature required for the activities.
“The overall result has been a fantastic 5% reduction in CO2 emissions across all Freedom Leisure’s Wealden sites.”
Wealden District Council is sponsoring the prize for the Most Sustainable Business at the 2016 Sussex Business Awards. The closing date for nominations is 31 August. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony at The Grand Hotel Brighton on Thursday 1 December 2016. Find out more about the completion at the Sussex Business Awards website: www.sbawards.org.uk.
