REPORTING FROM ATLANTA — Technology is an important factor to consider when opening or reopening a facility. Building automation systems, facility management systems, ticketing, Wi-Fi and security are all changing with new technology, and the data that comes along with those systems is an important new player that is replacing gut feeling.
“Whether you’re working specifically in the professional sports industry or not, all decision making comes from data,” said Mike Wooley, partner, Venue Solutions Group, who spoke at a IAVM Region 5 chapter meeting here. “As managers and workers of public assembly facilities, we are expected to migrate to using data for our operating decisions. In this business, we’re prone to rely on our gut feel in decision-making, but that is no longer acceptable. We have to be able to defend our decisions with data we generate.”
Utilizing your data involves tracking historical information, such as measuring performance month-to-month and event-to-event. This record keeping can then become a powerful tool to justify operational expenses, justify the way you do things and create confidence in the staff from senior leadership. By gathering utility bills and organizing the data, operations staff gain the ability to know where in the building they’re consuming the most energy and water.
“I think it affects them in a positive way,” said Wooley. “All of this technology makes their jobs easier. I think it allows them to be more efficient. Using technology in the field eliminates paper as it relates to preventative maintenance and really is an efficiency tool. On the other hand, it also makes your organization more accountable. You may have certain situations where staff may not want to be more accountable, but that’s what it does.”
Some facilities, like the Toyota Center in Houston, breaks down annual consumption by event type to determine which events consume the most energy and figure out where cutbacks can be made. They also use a monthly scorecard to score how efficient they were in energy consumption as an accountability tool.
“Where the challenge is in our business is we still have a lot of older facilities,” said Wooley. “We still have facilities whose operations are underfunded and decisions to invest in infrastructure that’s costly is a challenge for people, because they don’t have the ability to tell the story of what the ROI is. In newer facilities it’s easier to do. You just have to have someone there operationally to talk about the benefits of why you need these things. I think it’s in the older buildings where you subsist day to day, because they’re battling for budgets right along with the fire departments and the schools and things like that. They’re not going to have the resources to incorporate some of these technologies, but I think we should be looking at those opportunities.”
And often those opportunities can be found at a lower cost to the facility through local partners.
“It’s your ability to figure out where those partners are in your community that can help you underwrite some of the infrastructure improvements that would allow you to operate more efficiently with better technology,” said Wooley. “You just have to know where to look for them.”
Data also comes into play when it comes to sustainability at a facility. When Tim Trezfer, director of sustainability, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, started in his role there were only two other people at convention centers in similar positions for him to talk with. Today, he said he coordinates a monthly call with about 20 other facility peers in North America. This is helpful, because sustainability and data collection in convention centers is different from an arena or other public assembly facility.
“There are still challenges that we see,” said Trezfer. “When you think about it, our venue type can’t really compare year-to-year energy consumption or water consumption, because attendance varies and types of events vary. If you’ve got a volleyball tournament versus a consumer electronics trade show, you’re going to be using different levels of
energy.”
Different tools, such as Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager, can help mitigate some of those factors. Sub-metering, software monitoring and real-time data are used to capture the information, which can then be used for strategy, forecasting and innovative decision-making.
“All of this information at the end of the day provides a better opportunity to tell your story from a budgetary standpoint and gives you the opportunity to better defend your requests for resources, whether that’s materials or personnel,” said Wooley. “When you can demonstrate where you spend your money and how you spend your money and it’s not just you telling them, but you can demonstrate it based on the data you have. You have a better opportunity with your request when you can demonstrate that.”
Interviewed for this story: Mike Wooley, (615) 484-2565; Tim Trezfer, (404) 223-4000