The NHL has a costly ice problem - and AI is about to take over arenas to fix it

Energy costs are rising for heating and cooling homes, but operating hockey arenas is far more expensive. The NHL has partnered with Honeywell to improve efficiency across arenas, practice facilities, and community rinks in the U.S. and Canada. Honeywell will analyze facility energy use and provide AI-enabled automation technologies to reduce power consumption and improve climate control. Managing ice is difficult, especially when arenas host many other large events such as basketball games and concerts. Energy cost increases of 11–17% are creating financial pressure, making it hard to sustain current operations. The partnership aims to address these challenges through automation and efficiency measures across different facility types.

"The primary issue the partnership seeks to address is a lack of energy efficiency in NHL arenas, practice facilities, and community rinks across the U.S. and Canada, and as such, Honeywell will analyze, address, and then provide AI-enabled automation technologies to lower power consumption and help with climate control. Ice is a difficult thing to manage, particularly in buildings that are also hosting tens of thousands of people for basketball games, concerts, and other events-Honeywell's tech, hopefully, will help make it easier to control costs related to energy usage."

"This week, the NHL announced a new partnership with Honeywell aimed at increasing the efficiency of hockey facilities around the country in an attempt to lower operating costs. The multi-year partnership makes Honeywell-a massive company that provides products and services to many different industries-the "Official Building Automation and Energy Management Partner of the NHL.""

"Greg Turner, chief solutions officer at Honeywell's Building Automation unit, says that arenas and hockey rinks are facing 11-17% increases in energy costs, and that makes it "pretty hard to sustain." But Turner also notes that increasing sustainability measures and lowering costs across a spectrum of different facilities isn't necessarily something that can be solved by "writing a giant"

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