Sugar Bowl Ski Resort CASE STUDY

Sugar Bowl Ski Resort Case Study

Listen: Sugar Bowl Case Study
by Verdafero Software

Utility Optimization Software Provider Verdafero Helps Sugar Bowl Ski Resort Analyze Their Sustainability Efforts and Save Money

Ski resorts face unusual utility-management challenges. Energy and water demands change with snowfall, weather, guest volume, and operating schedules, making simple month-to-month comparisons difficult.

Sugar Bowl Resort implemented Verdafero’s utility-monitoring software to bring its electricity, natural gas, water, waste, and fuel data into one reporting system. The platform gives resort management clearer visibility into utility use and helps the team account for seasonal and weather-related variations when evaluating performance.

“With a resort of this size, visibility into utility use and costs is important across our entire operation,” said Rebecca Meyerholz, Senior Project Manager at Sugar Bowl Resort. “Verdafero helps us compare performance across seasons and account for differences in weather and snowfall. That insight is important when we evaluate capital investments.

“As an example, with our commitment to sustainability, we started to track our energy usage and accurately compare it year-to-year and season-to-season using Verdafero InSights. Variations in weather and snowfall can make it difficult to compare performance across reporting periods. Verdafero helps the resort account for those variables when evaluating utility use and planning capital investments.”

Alastair Hood, CEO of Verdafero Inc., said, “As government legislation and public opinion drive the need for a more sustainabile future and as a market leader in ski resorts, Sugar Bowl Resort now has the unique ability to track, analyze and report their utility usage and cost comparisons in real-time using Verdafero InSights. This tool now gives the resort management the ability to analyze, compare and report on all sustainability metrics across the mountain, not just energy but water and waste and fuel.”

As part of their ongoing upgrades Verdafero has now implemented carbon-footprint reporting into Verdafero InSights, thus enabling ski resorts to analyze and report their carbon-footprint on a real-time basis. The implementation of the carbon-foot printing methodology is a very important addition to Verdafero’s software platform. Ski resort management now has up-to-date, accurate and informative data at their fingertips to make the best financial and sustainable decisions. This is very important for the future of our industry.”

How Verdafero Helps Sugar Bowl Analyze Utility Performance Across Changing Seasons

Utility reporting can be difficult for a large resort. Providers use different billing cycles, billing periods may not align, and several providers may supply the same type of resource. Weather, snowfall, and visitor volume add further complexity. 

Verdafero gives Sugar Bowl one place to track and analyze electricity, natural gas, water, waste, fuel, and emissions data. Management can compare performance across seasons, evaluate results against established baselines, and account for operational and weather-related variables. 

Centralized reporting also reduces dependence on manual spreadsheets and helps the resort identify potential billing errors, equipment problems, and scheduling irregularities.

During our initial discussions with Sugar Bowl Resort they had some very important questions that needed answers:

  1. How are we doing this season compared to last season?
  2. How are we doing compared to the same month last season?
  3. How does current performance compare with the baseline established before the resort’s efficiency upgrades?
  4. Has the difference in weather affected my usage?
  5. What about ski count over the seasons, does this affect my usage?
  6. Given our usage over the last year what is our carbon-footprint?

Now, with the use of Verdafero InSights, all these questions can be answered quickly and conveniently from any web-connected device. Sugar Bowl Resort now has the ability to track, analyze and report their utility data and carbon-footprint simply and easily.

Using the Verdafero InSights system they no longer need to dedicate a spreadsheet expert to the task of manually gathering, assembling, analyzing and reporting their usage in a long-hand format. This not only saves significant costs in personnel time during the season but they also now have the ability to catch billing errors, equipment failure, and scheduling irregularities quickly and efficiently.

Verdafero Inc. combines patented utility-monitoring software with sustainability consulting to help organizations turn complex utility data into clear reporting and actionable insights. Across multiple properties, Verdafero securely monitors electricity, natural gas, water, waste, and fuel data to help organizations identify efficiency opportunities, track environmental performance, and make better-informed operational decisions.  For more information about Verdafero InSights, visit www.verdafero.com, or call Alastair Hood, CEO at (650) 206 2441.

Sugar Bowl Resort is a ski and snowboard area in northern Placer County near Norden, California along the Donner Pass of the Sierra Nevada, approximately 46 mi (74 km) west of Reno, Nevada on Interstate 80, that opened on December 15, 1939. Sugar Bowl Resort is a medium-sized ski area in the Lake Tahoe region, and is well known for its long history, significant advanced terrain, high annual snowfall and being one of the closest ski areas to the San Francisco Bay Area. Sugar Bowl’s terrain is 17% Beginner, 45% Intermediate and 38% Advanced. For more information about the resort, visit http://www.sugarbowl.com, or call (530) 426-9000.

Contacts

Alastair Hood
Verdafero Inc. (650) 206 2441
Alastair@verdafero.com

Rebecca Meyerholz
Sugar Bowl Resort.
(530) 426 6709
rmeyerholz@sugarbowl.com

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