GE Treasure Hunt Reveals – How to Cut Energy Spend in Half at Citrus Bowl

The city of Orlando, Florida recently joined the ecomagination Treasure Hunt program, in which GE, in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, finds and measures sources of energy waste and then recommends solutions. The famed Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium was the site of Orlando’s second energy hunt, and the results were impressive: it uncovered ways to reduce the stadium’s energy spending by 50 percent annually. Performed over two-and-a-half days — before, during, and after the annual Florida Classic football game on November 20 — Orlando’s facility employees and GE technical experts studied the Florida Citrus Bowl’s energy usage at three different periods: At rest, at start-up, and in full usage. The treasure hunt process actually began weeks in advance, with a team from GE Capital’s Access GE program — which shares tools and insights from across GE’s divisions to help other businesses tackle tough problems. (Over the past 10 years, Access GE has completed more than 8000 projects for approximately 6500 companies globally.) Using GE’s lean methodologies, the Capital team guided Orlando’s sustainability staff through a planning process, which included calculating the Citrus Bowl’s energy spending and usage so that a baseline could be formed. Overall, the ecomagination Treasure Hunt identified 25 potential savings opportunities. In addition to the cost savings, the suggested improvements could reduce the stadium’s carbon dioxide emissions by 617 metric tons, the …