With the start of the operation of Heroica Group SAS at the Pacific Valley Events Center, the most important environmental sustainability initiative of the site arises: to be energy efficient. A big challenge for the Infrastructure team that consolidated their project in the midst of the pandemic; developing a plan that was based on resource optimization and constant measurement.

Today, we have reduced our annual energy consumption by almost half; positioning ourselves as a reference to energy efficiency and betting on a sustainable operation of major events.

The Pacific Valley Events Center has been operated since 2018 by Heroica SAS Group, a company that operates two other venues: the Cartagena Convention Center of Indias and the Costa Rica Convention Centre. Environmental sustainability is one of the fundamental pillars of Heroica Group, so energy efficiency projects are a priority in all its operations.

Juan Manuel Medina, Infrastructure Leader

“As we arrive in 2018, we find a building that is energetically unbalanced. It had electrical connections that made the power consumption very high. We started the project by generating a base line; throughout the first year we measured consumption and that was the starting point,” explains Juan Manuel Medina, electronic engineer and leader of the Infrastructure team at the Pacific Valley Events Center.

In 2019 we continued with the dynamic of measuring consumption and a further step was taken: the installation of equipment responsible for measuring 24 hours a day at the high-consumption points previously identified. This allowed a consumption matrix to be drawn up for 2020, the year in which the implementation of the two-year energy efficiency plan was planned to begin, as the scheduling of national and international events that were already scheduled had to be respected.

“During the pandemic, the building remained completely alone and we dedicated ourselves to implementing the energy efficiency plan, which took us six months rather than two years as planned. From what we had identified in previous years, we already knew very clearly which areas were inefficient. We realized that we had areas that demanded a lot of unnecessary energy,” adds the engineer Medina.

The results

Since the Pacific Valley Event Centre started operations in 2008, our average annual energy consumption has exceeded one million kilowatts. In 2020, when the energy efficiency programme began to be implemented since March, the consumption was reduced to 460 thousand kilowatts, with the peculiarity that during the months of confinement no event was allowed.

However, in 2021 started the gradual operation of events, and it was the decisive year to check the results of having implemented energy efficiency: our annual consumption closed with 425 kilowatts after having attended a lot of events in our site, which is the most modern and best equipped in the Colombian southwest. According to the projections, 2022 will close with a consumption of less than 600 thousand kilowatts, which indicates that energy efficiency has enabled us to save about 40% of the annual energy use.

“This measurement continues because we can always be more efficient. Today we already have 25 energy meters installed that will give us the information to know what we can adjust. For example, we managed to turn off circuits that were not needed when we had no operation. We shut down transformers that were at 5% or 10% of their capacity, generating inefficiencies,” explained engineer Medina.

Why is energy efficiency important?

The environmental crisis that the world is experiencing has prompted us to think of conservation as a priority. Engineer Juan Manuel Medina explains that the urgency at this time is not to find the way to generate more energy, as happened a few decades ago, but to propel for the rational use of it, without affecting the activities for which it is required.

Electrical Substation Valle del Pacífico Events Center

“It’s not about going around the office disconnecting computers or turning off lights. What we do is define what the minimum required consumption is and reach it, eliminating other consumptions that are not required. That is what energy efficiency is about, and it is achieved after analysis and measurement, it is a conscious process that goes beyond the idea of saving money,” says the engineer Medina.

While optimizing resources is a well-known need worldwide and Colombia has adhered to this discourse, there are no public policies or national measures that drive companies to implement energy efficiency programmes, and few do so on their own initiative.

Therefore, the Pacific Valley Events Centre is a reference in the region when it comes to energy efficiency and we have a replicable model that Grupo Heroica will implement in its operations and, even, in other events centres or buildings in the country through consulting processes.

“The work developed by the Infrastructure team is admirable. Being energy sustainable is a topic we are passionate about and fills us with pride. We know that this model of energy efficiency has the potential to be replicated, not only in our sister venues but also in buildings with similar operations. Additionally, our commitment to the environment and sustainability continues to advance, and we will soon begin installing solar panels,” states Gissell González, General Manager of the Valle del Pacífico Events Center.