Why SEI?
Maximizing snow production while minimizing expenses is critical to a ski resorts bottom line. More than any other department, snowmaking spends the most money in the shortest time period. Optimization of the snow production process is essential for accountability of the process. To effectively accomplish this requires information management tools. They are obtained from an operational metric call SEI.
What is SEI?
The Snowmaking Energy Index is a performance measurement metric for the entire snowmaking process. The variables of energy use and water flow (snow) are compared to wet bulb temperature. This calculation results in an energy index value for every operating temperature per 1,000 gallons of water flow (kWh/KGal). The common range for SEI is 20-100, colder to warmer.
The benchmark or target SEI is calculated from a resort-specific database. Once established, the actual or operating SEI is compared to the target SEI, at the same temperature. Any variance indicates something in the snow production process has changed. The problem and energy waste is identified; and corrections are made. SEI variance is measured with performance margins and are shown in the SEI Example. The KPI is also included in our Daily Snowmaking Report
This knowledge empowers managers to optimize production during the process, instead of at months or seasons end, when the opportunity to correct inefficiency is gone – and the money has been spent. In-season actions result with improved SEI, which is more snow for per kilowatt of energy. The graph on page 3 of the Daily Snowmaking Report provides mangers with a quick and easy reference to snowmaking performance.
Note: The SEI is based on temperature correlation – and not last years outputs or allocated funds. This is a significant difference between this management tool and conventional snowmaking management.