AMF Bowling strikes with energy savings

Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom – As one of the largest operators of Tenpin Bowling Centers in the UK, AMF Bowling uses an abundance of energy to operate its thirty-three bowling complexes and head office building. As with many other hospitality and leisure establishments, a vast proportion of this energy is used for heating and lighting - a necessity for any hospitality or leisure establishment.

With the price of energy continuing to fluctuate, AMF Bowling found themselves with predicted energy overheads for electricity and gas in excess of £1.5 million. This amounted to a colossal increase of 50% over the previous year. With this sharp realization, a commitment to look at the organization’s energy consumption became a top priority. Health & Safety Manager, AMF Bowling, said, "We had been receiving estimated energy bills and paying them without really questioning the accuracy of our energy data. There must be millions of companies up and down the country doing exactly the same thing: paying estimated bills without actually evaluating how accurate they are!"

Looking Back to Go Forward

With no historic requirement to look at this side of operation and no specified person responsible, AMF Bowling found itself in unfamiliar territory. Their first step was to attend seminars organized by The Carbon Trust who promote and recommend initiatives to improve energy efficiency. One recommendation that they took was the way in which they collected their energy data. Furthermore, how were they using it to make informed decisions? It was at this point that AMF Bowling recognized they had no reliable means to monitor their energy use. The only energy information received was that from their energy bills.

AMF’s Health & Safety Manager decided to take a long, hard look at the source of data collection - the metering. With the help of IMServ solutions, he discovered that sixteen out of the thirty-three bowling complexes were already registered in the half hourly market, which means that the data collected is done so automatically every half hour.

The IMServ Solution

With IMServ energy data collection, information was now readily accessible within 24 hours of actually consuming the energy - this means educated energy decisions can be made sooner rather than later, something that could never have been achieved before. Providing the data via Energy DataVision (EDV), the simple online tool, gives a comprehensive view of the total energy being used across all of the complexes.

With the remaining seventeen complexes registered as non-half hourly, they lacked the ability to have access to accurate energy information through automatic collection. To overcome this issue the old non-half hourly meters were replaced with IMServ smart metering: enabling the same benefits of automatic, accurate collection to take place.

The benefits are two-fold: with accurate energy information estimated bills can now become a thing of the past and with a complete view of all the energy consumed across all of the complexes, AMF Bowling are now in a strong position to start taking action towards energy efficiency.

"Thanks to Energy DataVision we have identified some alarming anomalies," said the Health & Safety Manager.

At one complex AMF Bowling found that between 6am - 8am every day of the week there was an exceptionally high peak in energy usage, a time when only the cleaners are in the premises. On some days, this peak accounted for the highest energy consumption throughout the whole day even when the complex was open for business and all staff and machinery was in operation. Now they’re looking to rectify this to reduce and better plan their energy usage. Without access to energy usage data, this information would never have come to light.

"Furthermore, any new energy savings initiatives that we implement, for example, efficient lighting, will allow us to see precisely how much energy we are saving and more importantly how much money," explained the Health & Safety Manager.

Going into the Tenth Frame

AMF Bowling is now looking to take energy management to the next level - through tailored energy management reporting. Through benchmarking sites they will be able to identify their top and bottom energy performing complexes and monitor their performance. Each Site Management Team will have access to EDV which will help make Energy Management and efficiency not just a single handed role but a whole organizational approach.

There are environmental benefits to be gained as well. Through a focused approach to energy, AMF Bowling is now demonstrating a stronger commitment to the company’s environmental policy and all stakeholders involved, including their customers. With the annual energy costs for the hospitality sector in excess of £1billion, resulting in CO2 emissions of more than 12.5 million tons per year (http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/ 2008), they can now play their part in reduction of CO2 in the hospitality sector.

In essence AMF Bowling is a first-class example of a company that has emerged from the darkness of the unknown and is succeeding in its quest for energy efficiency. The IMServ solutions from Invensys Operations Management offer a flexible menu-based approach to Energy Management and Carbon Control: from complete outsourcing to individual targeted services.