Leading the way with LED: sustainability, energy saving and quality increasing at the Johan Cruijff ArenA

The Johan Cruijff ArenA is a highly enclosed stadium, which poses challenges in providing natural light and other environmental elements such as wind and rain for optimal pitch growth. This makes it difficult to maintain a top-quality playing surface. Even on the longest day of the year, sunlight only reaches the pitch until 4:00 PM. While the stadium’s retractable roof offers the advantage of closing during bad weather, it also introduces its own set of challenges, particularly in managing the balance between protection and natural elements.

The Johan Cruijff ArenA operates year-round as a multi-purpose venue. Last season alone (2023/2024), the stadium hosted 32 football matches from mid-August until June. This included not just games for the home team, AFC Ajax, but also matches of the Dutch National Team and Ajax’s women’s team.

However, when the football season ends in June, the pitch is removed to make way for a series of large-scale concerts. International superstars like Taylor Swift and P!NK take center stage, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans. The concert season runs until late July or early August, depending on when the Dutch premier league kicks off.

With the help of a detailed light transmission analysis, it was determined where – and to what extend – natural sunlight reaches the stadium pitch. Based on this analysis, calculations were made on how long extra lighting with grow lights is needed to achieve the desired, high-level grass quality that the Johan Cruijff ArenA aims to achieve.

Dealing with almost no sunlight is a tough challenge, but the grounds team of the Johan Cruijff ArenA have nine LED440 and two LED50 units to their availability, which they use throughout the season. These lighting units go on as soon as the pitch is laid. This is possible because of the separation of light and heat, which is featured in the LED grow lighting technology. This allows the grounds team to leave the heat turned of as long as the temperature stays above 8°C, saving energy in the process.

Data plays a crucial role in the pitch management strategy for the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The team collects data on climate and playing characteristics, uses four soil sensors, six SGL TurfPods, and multiple sensors, including a weather station on the roof. In addition, the grounds team receives player feedback after every home match, evaluating aspects like hardness and grip. This comprehensive data provides the grounds team with all the information necessary to make informed, efficient decisions about resource use.

The grounds team at the Johan Cruijff ArenA took on the challenge to save significantly on energy usage while maintaining the desired high level of pitch quality. With heath being one of the main energy consumers, the trick is to precisely align the infrared usage with the grass’s needs. Because of the closed stadium design and the retractable roof, the Johan Cruijff ArenA is able to preserve a lot of heat within the stadium. Therefore, they required only little additional heat from the infrared system on the lighting units. This resulted in a 20% reduction of energy consumption on the grow lights! This amazing result led to a 6% decrease in the stadium’s total annual energy consumption, equivalent to the yearly power usage of approximately 150 Dutch households. These energy savings contribute to the Johan Cruijff ArenA’s ambition to be net positive in 2030. The sustainable stadium wants to completely turn its impact into a net positive contribution to society and the climate.

Download the infosheet to learn more into detail about Johan Cruijff ArenA. From key pitch features and the light transmission analysis to every detail about the grounds team’s equipment. A unique insight in the work of the grounds team at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Highly recommended for groundsmen!