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Green Building Saracens rugby club 4/4 you have the environmental aspect and community usage on top of that," adds Banks. Because of the robust nature of the pitch the stadium hosts far more rugby matches than is possible on a regular grass pitch. "We played four games of rugby backto-back here, three RFU academy games and then we hosted the British university trophy final. You can't do that at other stadiums. We also have signs around the outside of the pitch saying 'Keep on the pitch' rather than 'Off the pitch' because unlike most stadiums, using our pitch will not cause any damage and we want it to get maximum usage," he says. "Even we were surprised by how good the pitch was. What we have developed is a bespoke rugby surface so we knew we were investing in the best product available. The blades of grass are oil coated so there is less friction and they are 65mm long rather than the usual 50mm, which gives you a deeper infill. The shock pad under the carpet is twice as thick as the standard artificial pitch that you might play five-a-side football on for example". Banks says that "doing things differently" from other sports clubs has paid off commercially and environmentally but the biggest win has been the knowledge transfer to other clubs. Although there is very little legislation in place for sports clubs to incorporate sustainable practice into their stadiums and venues, it could be "just around the corner", says Banks. "Applying these initiatives puts us ahead of the game and motivates other clubs to consider their environmental impact. We have learnt from other clubs that have used environmentally considerate measures – we have just gone a step further. But hopefully others will now follow our path and so far it looks like it has sparked significant interest across the UK". itment With a comm g its to minimisin l impact, environmenta e only is th the stadium country adium in the st ed been design that has AM REE and built to B rds. cellent standa Ex Pushing the boundaries has been Saracens objective from the start. The stadium is likely to drive innovation, particularly around pitch and surface technology. But the aim is to set a benchmark for all sporting venues when in the midst of the designing and building phase.