Electricity is always in the top three largest expenses for any sports venue. The key difference with this line item is that it is highly manageable and can help a team make some noise to boost CSR and public profile. With the high dollar sums involved, going green when it comes to power has never made more cents. Here’s a few success stories with hard numbers that you can reference in your pitch to management or stakeholders to go green.
Pocono Raceway:
Now this is the crown jewel of sustainable energy savings, and we are usually all about finding incremental gains that are within existing budgets and result in immediate and lasting value, but… a sports and sustainability management firm can dream! This project not only reduced the venues energy impact to Zero, it supplied enough power into the local grid to power 1000 homes a year with green energy.
- 25 Acre Solar Panel Installation
- Owned by Pocono Raceway and managed by energy partner and sponsor enXco
- Wrapped in other NASCAR partners such as, Coca-Cola, Sprint and UPS, to extend CSR benefits and develop Sponsorship Opportunities
Energy Savings: OK probably priceless! We’ll get into the real hard numbers below.
Seattle Mariners:
These guys get it, and all the money that comes with it. Energy is just one aspect of their overall sustainability management program but the savings are significant.
- New energy efficient billboard saves 1,000,000 kWh/Year or $50,000/year
- LED lighting retrofits in team store, hallways, and suites
- New policy/processes including – Adjust temperature set points, Utilize lighting controls, Reduced infiltration (keep doors closed) and a focus on turning off equipment.
- Reduced overall electricity use by nearly 30%
Energy Savings: $240,000/year achieved within 3 years
Canlan Ice Sports:
These savings are compounded across a number of venues but the principle is shown. Most of these successes were not found through large investments but rather through a general corporate cultural shift towards sustainability and energy conservation.
- Established Local/departmental Energy Champions
- Utilized detailed Goal setting to achieve overall success
- Committed to training staff and creating a company culture of energy conservation and best practices
- Retrofit existing facilities with LED arena lighting
- Focussed on finding success in a key business indicator, Revenue/eGj energy consumed
Energy Savings: $250,826/year savings achieved within 3 years
Finally, here’s a study, supplier, and early adopter for you to check out. They have good numbers and some great feedback that will help put any manager or owner over the edge when it comes to power savings.
Study on introducing power saving measures in Scotland sport venues:
- Controlled door access systems
- Low energy lighting system with PIR controls
- Heat recovery ventilation system
Energy Savings: 34% over the life of the study
- Improved reflector technology and implementation
- Automated scheduling on-off
- Increased lighting efficiency = less lights/sq.ft
Energy Savings: $58,850 over the life of the product. Saved just from Lights!
- Installed CO sensors in sports facilities parking lot exhaust fans
- Reduced fan run time form 24/7 to 1-2 hours/day
Energy Savings: 154,000kWh/year = $17,000/year = project pays for itself in less than 2 years!
These are just a few examples of the vastly different approaches that sports venue’s can and are taking to go green, save money and more deeply appeal to their stakeholders and fans. The Mariners were able to invest in retrofits and new billboards to immediately cut costs and save money, Canlan made it an organizational prerogative to conserve and Pocono Raceway shot for the moon. Anyone can reap the rewards of going green, the trick is finding the right mix and approach for your own budget, organization, audience, and goals.
Please let us know what you think about the approaches above, or let us know about your own approaches, which approach do you think is the best, or what has worked well for you?
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