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February 08, 2024

Allegiant Stadium and Las Vegas Raiders drive sustainable operations with Microsoft technology

Maintaining comfortable temperatures inside the massive venue without exorbitant cooling costs requires extremely efficient operation of the stadium’s chiller plant and infrastructure. The stadium relies on sophisticated technology to achieve this, including a sustainability dashboard driven by Microsoft Power BI. When I can quickly get all the data I need at a glance, I can be sure that the building stays at a comfortable 70 to 73 degrees, even when it’s 114 degrees outside in August.

Las Vegas Raiders

“Microsoft is a one-stop shop for technology, with respect to sustainability, and I think our future together is really bright.”

Sandra Douglass Morgan, President, Las Vegas Raiders

Staying sustainably cool in the middle of the desert

Just blocks from the non-stop spectacle of the Las Vegas Strip, Allegiant Stadium is a striking black oval. The stadium is home to—and owned by—the National Football League’s Las Vegas Raiders and is also the venue for a wide range of other sporting events and top-tier concerts. Capable of hosting up to 65,000 guests, Allegiant is a cool oasis in the harsh desert environment and temperature extremes of southern Nevada.

Allegiant Stadium was built from the ground up with sustainability in mind. In a region where commodities like water are precious, the stadium has received numerous accolades for its commitment to responsible use of resources, including LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. At the same time, Allegiant Stadium places a premium on exceptional guest experiences, and this means providing visitors with a pleasant climate in the stadium, regardless of how hot it may get outside—it’s not unusual for summer days to reach well past 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the climate challenges, in October 2023, Allegiant Stadium became the first NFL stadium powered exclusively by renewable energy.

Maintaining comfortable temperatures inside the massive venue without exorbitant cooling costs requires extremely efficient operation of the stadium’s chiller plant and infrastructure. The stadium relies on sophisticated technology to achieve this, including a sustainability dashboard driven by Microsoft Power BI.

We spoke with the Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan, Raiders Senior Director for Corporate Partnerships Scott Erdmann, and Allegiant Stadium Senior Director of Facilities Operation Joseph Wright about the facility’s ambitious sustainability initiatives, the use of the dashboard to streamline climate control, and the impact this has on the business, the community, and the thousands of fans who enjoy sports and concerts at Allegiant Stadium.

Sustainability is clearly an important priority for Allegiant Stadium and the Raiders. Can you tell us about your sustainability initiatives?

MORGAN: Absolutely. Allegiant Stadium is committed to sustainable policies, and we constantly strive to make them more effective and efficient. In addition, we work hard to connect to our local community’s eco-efforts, and we actively engage team members and guests in our sustainable practices. We want to show our fans, customers, employees, players, and community that we’re responsible corporate stewards for the environment.

Our programs include waste diversion to minimize our impact on local landfills through repurposing, reusing, or donating a wide range of materials. We also sort all trash to isolate recyclable materials so they can be properly processed. On-site biomass machines process 650 pounds of collected items in a 24-hour period.  

We’ve also built energy efficiency into the stadium’s infrastructure, fixtures, and landscaping, and we’ve optimized our building management system with a Power BI dashboard that ensures that we keep our guests comfortable in the most effective way possible.

What led the stadium to work with Microsoft to optimize chiller plant technology?

MORGAN: Microsoft has been an incredible teammate ever since we transitioned to Las Vegas. Microsoft understands our commitment to the community, and I think the two companies have shared values when it comes to how we treat our employees and a greater sense of responsibility to be good corporate partners to our community.

ERDMANN: Sustainability is a big focus for Allegiant Stadium and the Raiders, and it’s also a big focus for Microsoft. When we realized that alignment, it only made sense to get Microsoft on a call and figure out how we can make all this happen together. After a series of workshops, it was clear that this collaboration was meant to be. Microsoft has deep expertise and experience that really helps us unlock the value of our data, and we know that Microsoft is always developing new, leading-edge technologies like the Cloud for Sustainability that we’ve started exploring.

How does the Power BI dashboard work?

WRIGHT: We’ve got a very large chiller plant here, with six cooling towers, and it’s a huge undertaking to keep this big, black, glass building cool in the middle of the desert. So that’s become our initial focus. With the Power BI dashboard, we can take into account the weather, the forecasted temperature, and the electrical consumption rate for the day and make an informed decision about how we’ll run the plant for the day to set the stadium up for the day’s events.

The dashboard takes raw data from our building management system and combines it with the electrical and climate data to deliver the information we need in an easily consumable, real-time way that helps us take the right actions at the right time.

What impact does the Power BI dashboard have on day-to-day operations and the many fans who visit the stadium?

WRIGHT: The biggest impact, for me, is that it makes my job as a facilities operator a whole lot easier. When I can quickly get all the data I need at a glance, I can be sure that the building stays at a comfortable 70 to 73 degrees, even when it’s 114 degrees outside in August. The Power BI dashboard also gives me trend analyses and substantiating data to go back to senior leadership and make suggestions about how we can best and most efficiently operate the stadium in ways that save the organization money.

As for the fans, one of the most rewarding parts of my job is standing inside the stadium on one of those 114-degree days and watching people enter the building with a sigh of relief on their face as they step into a cool, pleasant 73-degree environment.

What is the future of your sustainability journey with Microsoft?

MORGAN: We want to continue to grow our commitment to fans, players, and our community, and the energy dashboard built on Microsoft technology is going to be a great way to benchmark as we strive for a greener future. It’s something that the Raiders, Allegiant Stadium, and Microsoft are proud of and dedicated to, and something that helps us make good on our commitment to the environment. Microsoft is a one-stop shop for technology, with respect to sustainability, and I think our future together is really bright.

Find out more about Allegiant Stadium on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Find out more about the Las Vegas Raiders on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

“Microsoft has deep expertise and experience that really helps us unlock the value of our data, and we know that Microsoft is always developing new, leading-edge technologies like the Cloud for Sustainability.”

Scott Erdmann, Senior Director, Corporate Partnerships, Las Vegas Raiders

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