Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord’s Cricket Ground, has been awarded Sustainability Campaign of the Year at this year’s Business of Cricket Awards, for its energy saving campaign.
Over the past year, MCC reduced its energy usage by 14.8% - surpassing the target of 10% - across gas and electricity combined, with a total approximate cash saving of £374,190.
The reduction in energy consumption came despite an increase of general activity at Lord’s. During 2023 to date, event revenue increased by 38.9%, general footfall at the Ground saw a rise of 29.9%, whilst overall matchday attendance rose by 6.59%. When measured against these factors, the case can be made that the reduction in energy consumption has been even more significant in relative terms. In reducing its gas and electricity consumption, MCC were also able to save 166.3 tonnes of carbon.
MCC’s Estates Department ran numerous schemes to achieve the reduction in energy usage, and engaged staff via regular communication and an incentivisation programme to ensure all electrical and gas devices were switched off when not in use.
Additionally, the Estates department worked with MCC’s Events and Experiences team to devise an energy calculator, which helped determine the profitability of all potential events at Lord’s when compared to the calculated cost of energy consumption.
The win comes after MCC released its Net Zero Strategy in September, which sets out the steps required to reach net zero by 2040, if not earlier. The Strategy received coverage from Sky Cricket and talkSPORT.