Field Smart saves Odd Ballklubb hundreds of thousands of kroner every year

”In the past, the heating control of our two football pitches was expensive and not very energy-efficient,” begins operations manager Reidar Midtgaard of Odd Ballklubb.

As operations manager, his job is to ensure optimal training conditions, even in winter, on the two football pitches of the Eliteserien club.

He explains that the heating system previously required a lot of manual work.

”Before, I had to interpret the weather forecast and guess my way to the correct settings. During cold periods I had to get up in the middle of the night to check that the turf was maintaining the correct temperature.”

Underneath the artificial turf pitches there is hydronic heating.

”It is critical that our football pitches maintain the minimum temperature we have defined for our facilities. If the pitch is too cold, it is a bit like playing football on asphalt,” says Midtgaard, adding that the risk of injury increases on hard surfaces.

”In the worst-case scenario it can lead to injuries and training sessions having to be cancelled.”

It cost a million to heat the pitches

He explains that the lack of intelligent heating control was highly expensive for the football club.

”Previously the heating system was either completely turned off or running at full blast. This leads to costly peak loads. At its peak it has cost one million kroner to heat two football pitches. It was clear that we needed a smarter solution.”

He passed the ball to Guard Automation, which specialises in system integration, automation and smart control. The company has long developed systems for critical infrastructure.

In 2019 the company began developing a solution that optimises the control of snow melting systems for commercial buildings and the heating of artificial turf pitches.

Sensor-free solution

System developer and project manager at Guard, Niklas Bøe, explains that Skagerak Arena, the home ground of Odd Ballklubb, is among the first places in Norway to feature the state-of-the-art solution, Guard Field Smart.

”Guard Field Smart is specially developed to ensure optimal heating control of artificial turf pitches. Among other things, we have collaborated with astrophysicists to develop calculation models based on the weather forecast and the thermodynamics of the facility. With these models we can predict heating in the best possible way and completely without sensors,” smiles Bøe.

Midtgaard supports this:

”Guard Field Smart makes it easy for me to ensure optimal pitch conditions. The human assessment of the weather forecast and how the system should be set is eliminated and replaced with advanced prediction and intelligent control technology,” he says.

Simple installation

The system developer explains that neither heavy investments nor installations are required to better control the heating system, whether it is to ensure good training conditions on football pitches or to optimise snow melting around commercial buildings.

”Our technology ensures better control of the heating solutions that are already in place. We connect a brain to the heating system. This brain retrieves information from a variety of cloud-based data sources to control the system as cost- and energy-efficiently as possible.”

The system analyses weather data such as solar and wind conditions, temperature and cloud cover, and calculates how much energy is required. The goal is to use as little energy as possible for heating while maintaining good conditions.

”The technology ensures that you shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. For example, you start heating the asphalt before a temperature drop or precipitation in the form of snow. This uses less energy and cuts costly peaks in energy consumption.”

Worry-free operation

Operations manager Midtgaard explains that he now has full control over the ground heating system.

”I can log in with a mobile phone, PC or tablet and get a complete overview,” he says, and continues:

”The installation itself was efficient, and Guard has followed us up closely. We no longer have to worry about pitch conditions. We have reduced energy consumption, cut peak loads and saved costs,” says Midtgaard.

Saved NOK 600,000 in the first year of operation

The first year the solution was in use, heating costs were reduced by NOK 600,000.

”Prior to our peak year with energy costs of 1 million, we had average annual heating costs of 700,000. There is no doubt that the solution from Guard saves us large sums of money. I recommend Guard to anyone who wants better heating control,” says Midtgaard.

Niklas Bøe believes many can relate to the situation at Skagerak Arena.

”Many football pitches and commercial buildings have poor control of heating and snow melting today. This leads to spending a lot of time on operating the system. Often people rely on ground sensors that can be prone to damage, for example during snow clearing. Furthermore, such sensors will detect the heating demand too late, meaning more energy than necessary is used.”

”In addition to heating football pitches, the system works excellently for snow melting systems for commercial buildings and street heating. Our system predicts when snow will arrive and tells the heating system how much energy is required to melt the snow as efficiently as possible. The surface is fully heated when the first snowflake lands. It is sensor-free, runs by itself, and involves neither heavy installations nor investments,” concludes Bøe, who is ready to help others cut energy consumption and costs with the help of smarter control.