Recorrido por T-Mobile de AEE Nevada

Our members and guests of the Nevada Chapter of the AEE, took a sunny Friday afternoon to go inside the new $375 million dollar T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. An overview of the buildings energy practices and management techniques were provided by  the on-site team.  This facility has been open about one year and has already hosted many events that larger, more famous arenas would love to host, including many televised, world recognized events. The arena was built to hold sporting events, music concerts and awards shows.  The  facility and its team are ready and able to handle the operations and energy demands that require experienced, top notch professionals.  The team that hosted our group included the Facility Manager, Director and a representative of the electrical contractor.  (Thanks for the super tour…!)

Our first stop was the chiller room where ice making operations and chilled water inflow from the Aria central plant. New facilities often retain the “new car smell” and even the back of the house at this facility looked sharp and we saw water distribution equipment and the primary heat exchanger that appeared brand new.   The control center for HVAC was modest and located within this mechanical area.

Our second stop was overlooking the “Bowl” of the arena on the uppermost level where a posh night club is located.   This stop took us into the details of lighting, controls, best practices and general operations for energy practices.   Some tidbits from this part of the tour included:

• Prácticamente todos los equipos mecánicos estaban basados en variadores de frecuencia (VFD).
• Virtually all lighting is light emitting diode (LED) and as a result, even the central scoreboard (69,000 lbs. and enormous…) has very low heat generation.  The scoreboard has a vertical garage where it retracts upwards when not in use.
• Los artistas tienen una gran influencia en la temperatura del aire ambiente que se mantiene en las instalaciones y los términos de sus contratos a menudo estipulan límites de temperatura cómodos para la banda o los artistas.
• Los doce ventiladores de 50,000 CFM que se usan para expulsar el aire cerca del techo a menudo se usan para eliminar la neblina teatral (humo) y para cambiar rápidamente las temperaturas de la arena.
• Los sensores de dióxido de carbono se utilizan para mantener la calidad del aire y su objetivo es mantener los niveles muy por debajo de 1100 ppm.

The two last stops on our tour were of the arena floor that was currently vacant and a “Bunker Suite” used by the well-heeled sponsors that can afford a VIP experience with proximity to the floor, leather arena seats, well-appointed rooms used for restaurant and bar services and even exclusive viewing of athletes entering the arena.   The design and finishes of these suites were finer than most luxury homes.

When asked what was on the wish list of our hosts, they indicated more lighting controls would help, but with such a new facility, they were pleased with the responsive and modern design of the facility.  There are two other arenas – Mandalay and MGM Grand in the portfolio of the company, but this was clearly the flagship site.

Algunos datos divertidos sobre el sitio incluyen:

• Los eventos de hockey tienen un laboratorio dental en el sitio durante las operaciones del juego.
• El espacio libre interior para esta arena de 17,000 asientos (ya metieron 19,000 una vez) es de 112 pies.
• La Liga Nacional de Hockey requiere una temperatura del hielo de 23 a 25 grados y un nivel de humedad específico.
• Five full time facility engineer positions are planned for this site.   They currently operate with three.
• Cuando llega Pro Bull Riding, simplemente colocan una capa de tierra sobre el hielo para acomodar el tráfico de animales y humanos.

Esperamos volver a este sitio en el futuro y verlo nuevamente con nuestros amigos de la energía e incluso como clientes que buscan deportes y entretenimiento de la mejor calidad.