As one of the capital’s 19,000 listed buildings, Alexandra Palace is identifying opportunities of support from the Mayor of London’s Zero Carbon Accelerator, which offers help to London-based organisations on their journey to decarbonisation.
From expert advice and training to knowledge sharing and finance information, the Accelerator aims to help London meet its Net Zero target.
Last year, in response to the climate change emergency, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust set out a new vision for future of the ‘People’s Palace’: to become a ‘Sustainable Home’ for culture, heritage and learning. This vision includes the aim of taking the historic Palace off grid within a generation, as well as reducing energy consumption and harnessing Ally Pally’s award-winning, 196-acre park to build climate resilience.
Sustainability initiatives have already cut the Palace’s carbon emissions by 29% in the last five years. However, the charity is now utilising the Zero Carbon Accelerator to identify the long-term improvements, and funding, that are required to realise the Net Zero target.
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Mete Coban, said:
"Retrofitting listed buildings to make them greener is no easy task, so it’s fantastic to see Ally Pally, the People’s Palace, leading the way with bold environmental targets and making use of our Zero Carbon Accelerator to help achieve them.
"Their sustainability efforts aren’t just about protecting an iconic venue; they’re delivering real, tangible benefits for Londoners - cutting emissions, improving energy efficiency, and creating a greener, fairer city. And that’s exactly what the green transition is all about - taking action today to build a more sustainable London for everyone."
Haringey Council is supporting Alexandra Palace as part of efforts to make Haringey net zero carbon by 2041.
Cllr Peray Ahmet, Leader of Haringey Council, said:
“It has been fantastic to the join Deputy Mayor and see first-hand the major sustainability improvements being implemented at this iconic building.
“Ally Pally has been home to major technological advances and is now determined to play its part in tackling the ongoing threat of climate change by reducing its impact on the environment.
“I am delighted that our partnership is inspiring the community to turn carbon cutting ideas into reality and is helping us to deliver on our pledge to become a net zero borough.”
Cllr Emine Ibrahim, Chair of Trustees at Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, says:
“We’re proud of the affection people have for Ally Pally, and have successfully developed our spaces and programmes so that they are benefitting more people than ever before.
“However, being 150 years old comes with its challenges. We’re older than the invention of the lightbulb and bigger than Buckingham Palace, and like so many of London’s famous landmarks, we weren’t built with the climate crisis in mind. We firmly believe we can be part of the solution though. We don’t just want people to think of us as the big, fun Palace on the hill; we want to be the big, fun, green Palace on the hill.
“As a charity we’ve already begun taking the action we can to reduce our impact on the environment. But the next step is to identify the long term, truly transformational projects. It’s an exciting opportunity and we’re grateful to the Deputy Mayor and the GLA team for their support through the Accelerator. It recognises the symmetry between our own Net Zero plans and the Mayor’s visionary targets for London.”
Recent sustainability initiatives at the Palace include updating heating systems, reducing gas consumption, replacing lighting with low energy LEDs – via funding from Haringey Council’s Community Carbon Fund – and upgrading lighting systems in the Palace’s ice rink and West Hall.
The Deputy Mayor tour of the Palace incorporated these projects, as well as visiting the venue’s restored Victorian Theatre, which features an exemplar passive cooling system.
For more information visit alexandrapalace.com
