Towards Carbon Neutral

Ascot Vale Leisure Centre.

Alexia Morgan shares Ascot Vale Leisure Centre’s journey towards carbon neutrality

Recognising its sustainability work at the Ascot Vale Leisure Centre, which it manages on behalf of Moonee Valley City Council, Belgravia Leisure recently secured the Sport and Climate Change Award at the Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards.

Acknowledging individuals, not-for-profits, commercial, play, recreation and sport for their innovations to get more people active in the community and reduce the impact sport has on our environment, the Awards have been created by and are presented at the National Sports Convention.

The sustainability project at Ascot Vale Leisure Centre (AVLC) is believed to be the first aquatic and recreation centre in Australia to be certified carbon neutral by Climate Active under the ‘services’ method.

A proof that a business or brand, has achieved net zero emissions, Climate Active certification is available for organisations, products, services, events, buildings and precincts.

While there are some centres in Australia that are already certified carbon neutral under the organisation method, including the City of Sydney and City of Yarra, this has occurred where the whole organisation is certified carbon neutral and its aquatic and recreation centres are included in the emissions boundary of the organisation.

AVLC is different to this as when Moonee Valley Council became certified carbon neutral, its emissions were excluded due to the site being operated by an external management company.

As aquatic and recreation centres are traditionally the largest users of gas, water and electricity of all buildings owned by local government authorities, it is difficult for facility management companies who operate centres on behalf of councils to become certified carbon neutral with Climate Active under the organisation sector.

Nonetheless having commenced working with officers of the City of Moonee Valley and carbon and sustainability consultants Ndevr Environmental in November last year, AVLC expects to gain Climate Active carbon neutral certification as of late 2022.

To achieve this we calculated the greenhouse gas emissions generated by activities, such as fuel, electricity use and travel, with heating the pool, staff travel to and from work and refrigerants used on site all included in the emissions count.

Having reduced AVLC’s emissions as much as possible by investing in new technology and changing the way it operates, any remaining emissions can be minimised by purchasing carbon offsets. When the offsets purchased by an organisation equal the emissions produced they are carbon neutral, as explained in this diagram (See Figure 1 below).

The AVLC carbon neutral project began with determining the scope of emissions from operating leisure services from the site. This process requires analysis of the Centre’s operation to determine the scope of the emissions boundary, as explained in Figure 2 (below). Data gained from electricity bills, refrigerant usage on site, staff travel were all used to determine the emissions volume from each emissions scope.

Once the emission boundary is established and data gathered, analysis is completed to determine the volume of greenhouse gas emissions during the nominated period.

As a result of our efforts, the Centre is estimated to have emitted approximately 2,100 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the financial year 2020/21 and it is anticipated that AVLC will reduce this by approximately 1,000 tonnes mainly due to the purchase of renewable electricity which commenced in July 2021.

Additional work to reduce energy consumption has been completed over Belgravia Leisure’s management period including purchasing renewable energy, installing LED lights, installing a solar system, leak sealing of the building to help reduce heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) costs and operational efficiencies.

In addition, Belgravia Leisure reduced the UV system to ensure operational efficiency and improved management practices in the café including keeping its cool room door closed at all times.

Complementing these energy saving initiatives Belgravia Leisure have developed and implemented: 1.A five year sustainability plan 2.Launched the Green Team 3.Developed and completed an internal sustainability audit - covering energy usage, waste, procurement and operational practices 4.Banned the sale or provision of plastic straws, plastic cutlery and plastic bags. This has been in place since August 2019 5.The Ascot Vale Leisure Centre is a member of the Responsible Cafes program and promotes the use of Keep Cups and other sustainable practices 6.Reduced paper consumption through online digital feedback forms and online timetables (all white paper purchased is planet friendly) 7.Adjusted manual backwashing procedures to reduce potable water consumption 8.Provides Fair trade coffee – sustainably sourced with the coffee beans provided in recyclable packaging 9.Bio-degradable takeaway containers and coffee cups 10.Producing inhouse salad and food offerings rather than buying pre-packaged food for resale. Washable utensils are also used 11.Updated and strengthened the procurement policy and implemented decisions with sustainability and the environment in mind 12.Ensured our contract cleaner is using sustainable cleaning products and water efficient procedures 13.Strengthened our sustainability and environmental culture through new manager inductions, staff newsletters, upgraded Sustainability news section on our website and celebrated our actions through regular good news stories Personally, I am thrilled that this important sustainability project with the City of Moonee Valley, Ndevr Environmental and Ascot Vale Leisure Centre has been recognised with this prestigious award. Receiving this award, Belgravia Leisure Chief Executive, Nick Cox stated “we understand that being environmentally responsible makes good business sense. It’s important to not only us but our customers, communities, business partners and staff.” Alexia Morgan is Belgravia Leisure’s Group Manager - Business Improvement.

Solar panels on Ascot Vale Leisure Centre roof

What is a carbon offset?

A carbon offset is a credit that a person or organisation can buy to decrease its carbon footprint. When the number of carbon offset credits obtained is equal to an individual or organisation’s carbon footprint, that person or organisation is carbon-neutral. Revenue generated from the purchase of carbon offsets is often invested in environmentally friendly projects, like investments in green computing technologies.

More generally, carbon offsetting is any reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to make up for emissions that occur elsewhere. Carbon offset credits show that an organisation or person has reduced its emissions. The term carbon offset is used to describe both the credit and the act of carbon offsetting.

A carbon offset credit represents an emission reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide. The goal of carbon offsetting is to reduce all or a portion of a carbon footprint.

SPORTENG shares Sports and Climate Change Award 2022

Belgravia Leisure’s win for its sustainability work at the Ascot Vale Leisure Centre in the Sport and Climate Change category at the Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards was shared with SPORTENG (in collaboration with the City of Boroondara) for their work on recycled glass sand for natural turf sportsfields.

Competing with several other projects in other categories, SPORTENG’s award was about their research on the use of recycled glass sand as a growing medium for natural turf fields of play, and how this could lead to a major step forward in promoting positive environmental impacts.

SPORTENG explain “the use of quarried virgin sand for the construction of natural turf Fields of Play is not sustainable long-term. We cannot continue to rely on quarried material when recycled alternative materials are available. The potential to use recycled glass sand in place of the virgin material will help to close the circular economy loop and remove the industry’s reliance on virgin materials.”

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