Energy and climate action

Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and increasing energy efficiency is a priority. We are doing this in several ways:

• Solar on the Hilton: A 515kW solar array was installed on the Hilton Hotel roof in August 2024. Since then, it has supplied around 17% of the hotel’s energy consumption.
• Upgrading our under-pitch heating system: Originally the under-pitch heating system was powered by heating oil, requiring the storage of 150,000 litres on site. In 2023 we upgraded to a modern, efficient gas system which is now monitored and optimised through our building management system (BMS). While this has increased our gas consumption, it has eliminated our use of heating oil.
• Modifying our logistics operation: Three Lions Yard was a new facility, opened in 2024, to bring our logistics operations in-house and reduce off-site travel. This change has removed the need for 20 journeys a month to a third-party warehouse. It also became the first building on site to operate entirely without gas, running on 100% electricity. Additionally, we have transitioned to electric logistics vans.
• EV charging: Electrical vehicle charging points have been successfully installed on site for customers and employees to utilise.
• New metering: New metering has been installed across the site to capture more granular data across our electricity, gas, and water usage. All data is integrated into a central utility management platform, giving us full visibility to support day-to-day efficiency.
• LED lighting: Work is complete to retrofit LED lighting to all areas of the National Football Centre including all offices, changing rooms, 3G pitch, floodlights, and Futsal Arena.  These have made a major contribution to reducing our electricity consumption.

Progress to date: These combined efforts have helped decrease our electricity consumption by 39% in 24/25, compared to the 18/19 baseline.  

Resource efficiency and waste

Where possible, we try to reduce waste  in the first instance by making smart choices in how we run our operations and make our purchases. At our facility:

• We try to keep resources in use for as long as possible. For example, our logistics team give hundreds of items annually a second life through reselling surplus assets via a local third-party.
• Where we cannot reuse resources, we have installed a compactor on-site to reduce the number of waste pick-ups required and have appointed a local waste management supplier.
• The waste removed from site is either recycled or used as a fuel in a local waste to energy plant, ensuring zero waste to landfill, and green waste from the Grounds & Estates team is also recycled with a local supplier. We have also recently introduced additional waste streams including food waste.

Water

Water use across the site is driven primarily by bathroom facilities, irrigation, and grounds maintenance. We have introduced several initiatives to better monitor and manage our consumption:

• Increased maintenance to ensure grey water systems are operating effectively.
• Upgraded irrigation controls to give the grounds team more precise control over pitch watering.
• More efficient irrigation heads installed to reduce water use without compromising pitch quality.
• Use of central utility management software to monitor water consumption and detect leaks more quickly, including successful early interventions on both irrigation and under-soil heating systems.

Looking ahead: we are exploring further investments aimed at reducing water consumption, supporting our pillar target of achieving a 30% reduction by 2028, across St George’s Park and Wembley Stadium. 

In addition to being the proud home to all 23 of England’s national football teams, SGP is also home to a diverse range of wildlife. Set within 330 acres of Staffordshire countryside, the site includes open grassland, mature trees, wooded groves, and managed habitats. SGP’s Biodiversity Action Plan is now in its second iteration, having been updated in 2022, and provides us with a clear framework for progress. 

Our Estates team leads year-round efforts to maintain and develop biodiversity across the site, including:

• Nature Protection:
  • Careful consideration is given to protecting local ecology, including species such as great crested newts, bats, badgers and a wide variety of birds.
  • Landscape features such as ponds, swales and dedicated newt passages were constructed to ensure that operational activity would not negatively impact the surrounding ecosystems.
  • We have a veteran tree management plan and work with external partners to ensure we regularly monitor the ancient trees across the site.
  • In winter 2024, we carried out bird surveys at three sites across the estate to better understand the bird population. The survey identified 36 bird species, including 13 with a Birds of Conservation Concern amber status.

• Education and Communications:
  • We work with education institutions, supporting field studies for conservation and ecology students. This provides students with valuable real-world experience, and in return, we benefit from access to the data they collect on-site.

• Nature Regeneration:
  • In 2023, we planted over 4,000 trees on the estate in partnership with the National Forest, as part of the Changing Landscape Scheme, supporting long-term biodiversity improvements.
  • While we manage large areas, we also recognise the value of smaller pockets of land. We continue to improve planted areas across the site, adding not just colour but also habitats for invertebrates and pollinators.

St Georges’ Park Sustainability Working Group

The responsibility of the SGP Sustainability Working Group is to deliver against our sustainability objectives at SGP in alignment with the FA’s wider sustainability strategy. This group includes key operational roles across the estate and typically meets three times a year to monitor and drive progress.