Stabæk Fotball tests intelligent heating control

Sandefjord-based Guard Automation has been given the task of ensuring better heating control of the artificial turf pitch «Tobbe banen», named after former academy and Eliteserien player Tobias Børkeeiet.

”The artificial turf pitch has to be heated in order to be used during the winter. The heat comes from the municipal district heating network. That has made controlling the system a headache,” begins Kjetil Ekeli, who works at Stabæk Fotball.

He explains that in practice the club has had no ability to control or regulate the heat supply.

”Training sessions have been cancelled because the surface is rock hard. The control centre for the system, where everything is managed, is located in the basement of Nadderudhallen. We do not have keys to it, and once frost has formed it takes a long time before the pitch becomes playable. Now we are looking forward to lower costs and automatic control.”

Ekeli knows of several sports clubs that switched off their under-soil heating systems this winter because of high costs.

Connecting an advanced brain to the system

Project manager and systems developer at the technology company Guard Automation, Niklas Bøe, explains that there is a great need for smarter winter operation of artificial turf with under-soil heating.

”Many can save significant amounts through better energy management. The heating is often running at full blast even when the weather is mild. That leads to high energy costs, and a lot of energy is used unnecessarily.”

Bøe explains that Stabæk will now have full control and the assurance that pitch conditions are optimal.

”Put simply, we install a smart cloud-based brain that controls the heating system automatically based on weather data. This means Stabæk gets an app and a dashboard that provide control and a complete overview. The system will operate automatically and remains connected to the municipal district heating network.”

The technology company has worked together with weather specialists to develop the solution, which is called Guard Field Smart.

”The service takes into account sun and wind conditions, temperature, cloud cover and the specific characteristics of the pitch, and calculates how much energy is required. The goal is to use as little energy as possible while keeping pitch conditions optimal. That will save the club large sums,” says Bøe.

Norwegian-developed innovation

The technology has only been tested at a handful of locations in Norway, with particularly good results. Odd Ballklubb has adopted the service on two artificial turf pitches and saved as much as NOK 600,000 in the first year of operation.

”We recently signed a partnership agreement with Unisport, the largest supplier of sports facilities in the Nordics. That will ensure that more artificial turf pitches can be operated more energy efficiently,” says Bøe.

He believes it is a major advantage to be able to start heating the pitch before the temperature drops.

”These are slow systems and it can take many hours to heat up the pitch. Ground sensors, which are normally used, give imprecise control of slow systems and can be exposed to damage if they are mounted too high in the pitch. At the same time, it is difficult to read the actual pitch conditions if they are mounted too far down.”

”Basing the control on weather data makes installation simple and efficient, and ensures optimal pitch conditions even during sudden temperature changes. Stabæk now also gets an easy overview of the heating, which provides confidence that everything is working as it should,” Bøe explains.

Ekeli believes the solution will give the club more money to create joy in sport:

”We want to spend as much money as possible on sport. Ideally we would not have operating costs at all, and we are now looking forward to the next winter season when we get to test the service properly. We are always on the lookout for smart solutions that give us more money to create joy in sport,” Ekeli concludes.