Luton Town’s new stadium will include a range of sustainability features, according to detailed plans unveiled this month.
The indoor areas of the stadium will be heated and cooled using air source heat pumps “strategically located in the roof space of the North Stand.” A separate set of heat pumps will produce hot water.
Ventilation will come through a heat recovery system that will capture heat on the way out of the building, and use it to warm incoming fresh air in winter.
To power these electrical systems, the developers propose an extensive solar PV system on the roof. A proposal in the planning documents suggests there is room for 1,784 panels. This would reduce carbon and would also reduce the running costs of the stadium in the years to come.
The development is aiming for an ‘excellent’ rating on the BREEAM standards for sustainable construction. There aren’t many stadiums that meet that standard. Tottenham’s new ground does, and so does West Ham’s Olympic retrofit. Everton are aiming for an excellent rating for their new stadium.
Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was recently named the greenest in the Premiership, in part because it has added an enormous battery bank in the basement, but its BREEAM rating is the next one down at ‘very good’. If the final build lives up to the ambitions in the planning documents, then it looks like Luton Town’s new home would be joining those clubs in the top five.
Zero Carbon Luton 