The way you use equipment can have a big impact.
The ski industry has gone through a significant transformation in the last decade as it relates to snowmaking. The concept is the same, mix air and water at the right temperature and you get snow. The trick is how to reduce your costs, with the two biggest components of the cost being labor and energy. The transformation that has taken place has been automation and reduction in energy. Here in North America, we haven’t quite put our arms around the automation part, but we have when it comes to energy use. One of the leading motivators in energy reduction is VEIC headquartered in Vermont.
VEIC is leading the way by providing a tool to improve snowmaking both from a cost and energy perspective. VEIC knows that the right tools can make the difference when it comes to making quality snow at the least cost. Their work with essentially all the ski areas in Vermont through their administration of the energy efficiency utility, Efficiency Vermont, has reduced energy consumption at ski areas by an average of 14% and has given them insight into the development of a modeling tool.
VEIC has created a snowmaking dashboard which can be integrated with existing snowmaking control systems. Their software will take the data, run it through their proprietary modeling program, and determine your breakeven point. The dashboard, against different metrics, can alert the system operator when the system is running in the green, below the benchmark or when it is operating in the red, at a cost point above your threshold.
The right tools can help snowmaking teams make smarter decisions.
The Snowmaking Dashboard can help to:
Optimize operations, without sacrificing a great snow experience
Mitigate the cost of snowmaking activities
Generate data and reports for management and sustainability teams
Quantify operational gains and identify areas needing improvement across a portfolio of mountains
Here’s what one Vermont snowmaking plant supervisor has said about the Snowmaking Dashboard:
“The Snowmaking Dashboard gave us detailed visibility of our operation’s energy usage that we didn’t previously have. This allowed us to modify our operating methods and reduce energy consumption.”
If you want to make improvements in your snowmaking, I strongly suggest you contact Adam Sherman at:
VEIC
128 Lakeside Ave.
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 540-7863
asherman@VEIC.org
www.veic.org
