FACILITIES - Energy Preparation for 2026

It’s that time of year when the 2026 budget for your facility needs to be mapped out. This often coincides with a better overall financial look at your expenses and the possible need to adjust your members' monthly dues. As you plug in the numbers, you review the payroll, insurance, supplies, and taxes, which are all somewhat easy to predict, but the one expense that will be the wild card is your utility cost. Having watched your energy cost skyrocket in the last few years, this number is the most difficult to forecast. All it would take is a cold snap or an international political incident, and your energy bill will be out of control.  

With competition among local tennis facilities growing as a result of a slowing tennis market, you need to find that balance between financially managing your facility and maintaining an image that shows your membership that you are continuing to improve the physical conditions of your facility. You can’t look cheap or come across as cutting corners, so the balancing of your budget and maintaining a well-kept facility is a tough spot for many managers.

Typically, sports facilities need a lot of energy in order to maintain a quality service. We need energy for lighting, heating, and cooling to accommodate the very long hours that we operate. In fact, take away any of these services, and a club cannot operate. Many facilities that provide indoor activities have found that the need for energy is so important that they have installed large backup generators in case they lose power.

The key to surviving these challenges is to address these future concerns now, not reacting to a sudden increase in your energy rates or loss of power. It’s fair to say that energy will cost more, and the frequency of outages will continue to be unpredictable, so what can facilities do to address these issues? Let’s start with the basics of designing your current facility to be as energy efficient as possible. Here is a list of steps you can take that are relatively inexpensive and will create immediate returns.

1. Insulate all hot water pipes.

2. Make sure all doors and windows are properly insulated. Where applicable, replace windows with double-pane glass.

3. Put in motion-sensitive switches for closets, infrequently used bathrooms, or isolated rooms to automatically turn off lights.

4. Use timers on lights when possible, i.e., parking lights, tennis court lights, pool lights.

5. Install pool covers and hot tub covers.

6. Use energy-efficient appliances and printers or computers with programmed sleep systems that kick in when not in use.

7. Adjust ventilation systems for seasonal changes.

8. Install instant hot water systems instead of water tanks that heat the water 24/7.

9. Install a solar system for the outdoor pools.

10. Use energy-saving light bulbs.

11. Install automatic door closers to avoid doors staying open and allowing either cold or hot air to escape.

These may all seem like very small improvements, but collectively they make a big difference, and remember, you're not cutting costs; you are becoming more efficient. Promote and sell your actions to your membership. If you are introducing an energy-saving step, announce it to the membership to promote the change as a healthy way of improving the club.

On a larger scale, there are several projects that facilities can look into to hedge against energy costs.

When taking on these projects, you will need to do a great deal of research, research that will include many complicated reports from your energy supplier. Understanding therms, kilowatt usage, meter readings, and a somewhat new category, delivery cost from your provider, may require the help of an expert. In most cases, your local energy provider can help you. Take advantage of these free services.

After an extensive review of your current costs, you will be able to assess what changes are profitable and what changes will not result in saving money. As an example, you need to change the heater for your pool and look into the idea of upgrading to a larger heater. At first, the numbers tell you that the larger heater will require more natural gas usage, but after evaluating the numbers, you realize that the larger heater will be more efficient and capable of doing a better job working fewer hours. More water can flow through the system, making it more efficient. This will also benefit your pool filtering by increasing the circulation.

In almost every case, when you look into ways of saving energy, the initial cost will need to be measured against the long-term savings. If you can install a solar system (also referred to as a photovoltaic system) on the roof of your building, you would have an initial expense that would be calculated against the savings over the coming years. If the payback is within a reasonable time, say six to eight years, this would be a good investment, because it would also hedge against the inevitable future increases in the cost of energy.

If you replace your parking lights with solar power, that can provide another savings, but you must make sure you have enough sunlight to charge the batteries that will run them during the hours of your operation when it is dark outside.

Again, every move to save energy needs to see both sides of the equation. What is the cost going to be for the installation? How much savings will be made over time? Is this change to your planning going to be outdated in a short period of time?  Will this provide the members with a better experience at your facility? Depending on your type of facility, location, and operating hours, there could be many more questions like these that should be reviewed.

When you evaluate this segment of our industry, it’s a natural fit to have an energy-efficient and environmentally conscious facility. It all comes under the umbrella of healthier living and a healthier lifestyle. After all, our new slogan is “Tennis is the Healthiest Sport in the World,” seems like having an energy-efficient facility would fit right in.