Energy Demand Characteristics and the Potential for Energy Efficiency in Sports Stadiums and Arenas
Abstract
A professional sports stadium can use 5-10 MW of electricity during an event, the
equivalent of 5,000 American homes. The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) classifies
these buildings under the broader "entertainment and culture" sector, but very little
institutional knowledge or data exists in terms of the unique energy use characteristics
of these structures. While sports venues have attracted some investment in energy
efficiency and renewable energy, facility managers are often unaware of their energy
use breakdown or the potential savings from comprehensive efficiency measures. Further,
market barriers exist that hinder the full implementation of energy efficiency.
This masters project investigates the progress of U.S. stadiums and arenas in energy
management and energy efficiency investment. In order to deeply understand and quantify
the energy use characteristics and energy savings potential of sports venues, over
40 leading stadium energy efficiency experts were interviewed and data was collected
and analyzed from primary and secondary sources. Interviews requested information
on energy use per year (electricity and natural gas), energy use breakdown, energy
efficiency investments, and realized returns. General information on the structure
and inner-workings of energy management programs at stadiums and arenas was also requested
in order to learn how leading facilities approach implementation.
The results of four in-depth stadium case studies found that energy retrofits costing
between $85,000 to $350,000 had simple payback periods of less than or equal to 5
years. Lighting retrofits were found to have a considerable impact on cost reduction
with a 1 to 2 year payback (including rebates, incentives, and reduction of “overlighted”
areas). We developed a model for analyzing energy savings through lighting for a
prototypical MLB stadium. This model reveals that the greatest opportunity for cost
reduction lies in the improvement of building controls and behavior change to reduce
operating hours of lighting equipment. A 1M square foot stadium can expect to save
up to 33% of lighting energy costs per year. Additional savings of 21% can be achieved
from lighting technology upgrades. In particular, upgrading to T8 fluorescents from
T12 fluorescents provides a considerable return. LED upgrades require longer paybacks
and are more favorable in areas where the cost of electricity is high as well as in
new build facilities.
Lastly we considered market barriers limiting investments in energy efficiency and
proposed solutions, including best practices in energy use benchmarking. By utilizing
a kBTU/square feet measure and normalizing for weather, we were able to generate a
U-shaped curve from our case studies. We believe such a comparison could be beneficial
to the industry to provide a broadly applicable benchmarking metric that can help
stadiums discover to further reduce energy. Lastly, we recommend the establishment
of a GreenFund at the league level to increase access to capital, foster competition
for high return projects, and spur investment in energy efficiency in sports venues.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4942Citation
Dietrich, Andrew; & Melville, Corinne (2011). Energy Demand Characteristics and the Potential for Energy Efficiency in Sports Stadiums
and Arenas. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4942.Collections
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