The National Institute of Building Sciences is advising the owners of the nation’s estimated 1,500 professional, college and community sports venues to join in a collective effort to reduce energy and water consumption—and utility bills. But a lack of building performance benchmarking data is getting in the way of progress, says NIBS.
“Collecting benchmarking data represents the biggest challenge by far. … Without it, we cannot drive ahead,” says Ryan M. Colker, adviser to the president of NIBS, which recently released a 66-page study, “Taking the Field: Advancing Energy and Water Efficiency in Sports Venues,” produced for the U.S. Dept. of Energy by NIBS and the Green Sports Alliance.