Plant Plans: How Co-op Live Aims To Become The Most Sustainable Building In Europe & UK

From the outset, OVG chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke emphasized that Co-op Live would become the most sustainable arena outside the U.S., and the first to run entirely on electricity. The building has been designed without any gas supply serving the site. It will use electricity for everything, from air-source heat pumps for heating, cooling, and catering, to LED lighting used throughout. Gas boilers, commonly used in traditional arenas, are nowhere to be found inside Co-op Live. 10,500 square meters of rooftop solar panels will power day-to-day activity. The only fossil fuel used in the building relates to backup generators in case there’s a power shortage, and the emergency generators, which are a regulatory requirement.

The aforementioned air-source heat pumps are also utilized to heat the domestic water, as Stephen Collins, president of global venue development & special projects at OVG, explains: “Instead of just pushing all of that heat from the bowl outside when we’ve got a show, that heat is actually recovered as it leaves the air handling units, into water coils, which then feeds units that heat the domestic hot water. So, instead of dumping that heat outside of the building, we’re pulling it out of the air before we discharge it, and use that as part of our overall hot water heating strategy.”

Toilet flushing will use 100% rainwater and through efficient water usage in bathrooms and water-efficient catering, the team at Co-op Live believes it will use around 40% less water than a comparable building. On waste management, the building’s environment and sustainability factsheet, accessible on the Co-op Live website, states: “We will minimize waste and packaging, reduce single-use plastic and implement responsible waste management practices, including a target of sending zero waste to landfill. A key part of this will be early engagement with our supply chain to reduce avoidable packaging and waste. Avoiding food waste and supporting local food donation programs will also help us towards this target.”

Locality is a key factor in all things sustainability. “About 80% of the construction work has been done by local businesses from Manchester, and from the Northwest, and the majority of that from the Greater Manchester area,” James Wimpenny, executive director of construction company BAM, explained at Co-op Live’s topping out ceremony last summer. He added: “Alongside our team at BAM, we welcomed 386 local suppliers, 40% of which have been based within 5 miles of this development, and a further 36% from the Greater Manchester area.”

Speaking of locals, for those who live close enough to the arena to use Manchester’s public transport system, a ticket to a show at Co-op Live includes travel on the city’s Metrolink tram network and dedicated event shuttle buses. Thanks to a partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), guests with a valid Co-op Live event ticket can hop on the tram up to four hours before the show and for up to four hours after (depending on the timing of each event). And for anybody traveling to a show by bike, there are 240 covered cycle spaces available on site.

Last but not least, the green spaces around the building form a key part of OVG’s plans, improving the quality of the areas where visitors can walk, sit and relax during both event and non-event days. Leiweke is particularly “jazzed about our walking paths from Piccadilly station to the campus. That one-mile walk is going to turn out to be something, I think, historical, important, and at the heart of our sustainability effort. More on that soon.” The spaces around the arena will support diverse vegetation and local wildlife, “including a variety of tree species and wild flowers to enhance the natural biodiversity of the area,” according to Co-op Live’s environmental fact sheet. The plans also feature a “green screen” of plants on the side of the venue itself.

Leiweke says the city of Manchester, represented by Mayor Andy Burnham and City Council Leader Bev Craig, are “equally passionate and committed about sustainability as we are.” The city has pledged to become a zero-carbon city by 2038, which would be 12 years ahead of the UK government’s target of 2050. Aside from a deep-rootedness in music, it’s another area both OVG and the city are aligned on. Leiweke believes Co-op Live will become “the second carbon-neutral arena built after Climate Pledge Arena [in Seattle]. We will operate this building through GOAL [Green Operations and Advanced Leadership], our sustainability operations company. It will help us get past the critical hurdles to become the second carbon-neutral arena in the world.”