Ricoh Arena Uses MRI Energy to Raise Awareness of Energy Management & Reduce Energy Usage By 15%

Set within a site of more than 40 acres including a 32,000 seat stadium, 15,000 square meter exhibition and conference centre, a bar, hotel, casino and health club, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry is unlike any other development of its kind in the UK. Attracting over one million visitors every year, energy management quickly became a task for its facilities management team.

The requirement

The Ricoh Arena required an energy management system capable of capturing energy consumption data across all areas of the site, including over 200 water, gas, electricity and flow meters. The key aim was to monitor all energy usage across the site in order to effectively target and reduce energy consumption.

Another key aim of introducing energy management at the Ricoh Arena was to convey the entire site to the large number of public visitors as a “green” venue, while delivering its corporate social responsibility policy.

The Ricoh Arena was looking for specific tools to target energy usage including the ability to raise alarms to identify usage anomalies, utilising dashboards to easily monitor energy, and automatic production and distribution of reports.

The facilities management department was keen to find a solution which was simple-to-use, in order to allow non-energy users to access relevant data across different departments. The Ricoh Arena also required a tenant billing system in order to accurately charge tenants for their energy usage.

The Ricoh facilities management team wanted to normalise energy data against changes in temperature, made possible through MRI Energy’s calorific and degree day data import services.

The solution

The Ricoh Arena chose MRI Energy to manage energy throughout their site specifically because of its compatibility with existing infrastructure, its ease-of-use and the specific product modules required.

Immediately after installation, auditing of the site’s consumption began, in order to accurately assess for energy-saving opportunities. Formation of an Energy Policy and a trained energy management team occurred to undertake reporting and targeting responsibilities.

Utilising an energy management system quickly freed up time by removing the need for manual meter readings. The provision of accurate, up-to-date data and automatic reporting tools enabled weekly tasks such as board reporting to become more efficient.

Another key area MRI Energy assisted in was automatically billing tenants of the site based on energy consumption data.

Using MRI Energy, the Ricoh Arena was able to quickly identify and target areas requiring attention such as lighting and air conditioning which were contributing 73% to total energy usage. Once new, more efficient equipment was installed, energy savings data was recorded, and ROI could quickly be calculated.

The energy management team was also able to instantly identify, and rectify, anomalies in usage, and reduce energy loads in specific areas.

MRI Energy has been instrumental in allowing us to automatically monitor energy usage across our large, multi-use site. We’ve been able to quickly identify and dramatically reduce our energy usage & effectively convey this to staff & visitors.

 – Alan Pickering, Deputy Facilities/Energy Manager at Ricoh Arena

Benefits of using MRI Energy

In the first year of using MRI Energy, the Ricoh Arena has achieved significant energy savings:

• Reduced electricity consumption by 15%
• Reduced gas consumption by 6%
• Reduced water consumption by 13%

This was achieved through targeted investment in new technologies, such as boiler replacement and control, and more cost-effective energy procurement.

MRI Energy has also assisted the Ricoh Arena in preparing for the UK Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme.

In April 2010, the Ricoh Arena achieved the Carbon Trust Standard, for real carbon reduction achievements and commitment to on-going reductions.

Also, in 2010, the Ricoh Arena was awarded the prestigious task of hosting events for the 2012 Olympics.

Energy Management for the Future

A recent addition to the Ricoh Arena has been eZdash, MRI Energy’s interactive touchscreen energy dashboard. Located in the arena foyer, opposite the main reception, eZdash is providing up-to-date energy savings information to visitors alongside news, weather and travel feeds. This provides visitors with information on how the Ricoh Arena is effectively managing energy and lowering its carbon footprint.

The Ricoh Arena also plans to install dashboards at other locations across the site including in the facilities management offices.

The Ricoh Arena will be using MRI Energy to work towards ISO14001 for Environmental Management, and to assist in CRC Reporting.

With planning permission for a 200-bedroom hotel, this expanding site plans to continue to target and reduce utility consumption despite its growth and increasing visitor numbers. One future improvement planned by the Ricoh Arena is the installation of LED lighting to assist in further reducing electricity consumption.