Unnecessary heating during mild weather or empty shifts may soon be a thing of the past. The EU-funded ERKKI project has developed a system to optimize energy consumption at the Töölö football field based on real-time occupancy and reservation calendars. This marks a significant leap toward data-driven and energy-efficient urban infrastructure.
Football is a year-round sport for Helsinki residents, but heating artificial turf in winter is extremely energy-intensive. As part of the EU-funded ERKKI project, the IT company Wapice Oy is piloting how Töölö’s “Field Number Three” can transition from traditional temperature-based control to dynamic smart control based on actual usage and weather forecasts.
Töölö football field number three is in active use year-round. Traditionally, its heating has been based on relatively simple logic: outdoor temperature and manual adjustments. This can lead to wasted energy during mild spells or when the field is empty. In the pilot, Wapice introduced its IoT-TICKET® platform as a solution to explore possibilities for making the field’s heating control proactive.
From Data to Smart Situational Awareness
Wapice utilized a diverse range of data sources in the pilot to create a comprehensive situational picture of the field’s operations. Two cameras were installed on-site to identify the number of players in real-time using computer vision. This occupancy data is critical, as the field does not necessarily need to be heated at full capacity if there are no users. The system only counts the number of users on the field; individuals are not identified.
In addition, data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s weather stations was integrated into the system, allowing the solution to utilize weather forecasts for proactive heating control. Data from the city’s reservation calendar was also incorporated, enabling heating optimization according to upcoming shifts.
“In the pilot, we focused on collecting and combining data so that heating requirements can be assessed more reliably in the future based on actual use, reserved shifts, and weather conditions. Energy is easily wasted, especially during unused shifts and mild periods, if the control system doesn’t account for them. In a city the size of Helsinki, which has several energy-intensive outdoor sports facilities, control based on more accurate data could mean a savings potential of up to half a million euros during the winter season,” says Akseli Kataja, Account Manager at Wapice Oy.
Benefits of Data Expand Across Industries
The pilot demonstrated that high-quality data serves multiple stakeholders, and combining data sources can promote cross-industry collaboration. Weather data helps in predicting maintenance needs, while accurate occupancy data supports the general planning of sports facilities and resource allocation. In the future, computer vision could also be used, for example, to identify maintenance needs and automatically adjust lighting according to the number of players.
Through the pilot, the City of Helsinki gains the tools to calculate the actual costs per visitor. Furthermore, real-time occupancy data could free up reserved but unused shifts for other clubs and citizens, improving the efficiency and accessibility of sports facilities.
The pilot was implemented as part of the ERKKI project (Optimization of Energy Efficiency in Challenging Public Cultural and Leisure Properties), which is co-funded by the European Union. The project aims to develop innovative technological and digital solutions to improve the energy efficiency of challenging public buildings and facilitate their maintenance. At the same time, it creates new operating models for more energy-efficient procurement and strengthens the industry ecosystem.
Additional information
Ville Santala
Project Manager
+358 40 661 6614
ville.santala@forumvirium.fi
