Economic Analysis of Natural and Synthetic Sports Fields Final Report

By Dr. Eric Lyons, Guelph Turfgrass Institute

The purpose of this project was to compare the 30-year costs of building and maintaining synthetic and natural fields in Western Canada.

Methods:

The project began with a simple costing model that was sent to different municipalities for input. The numbers received from this process were highly variable. The survey results led to a number of obstacles that had to be overcome, not the least of which was education on the maintenance practices of synthetic fields. In order to collect reliable data, interviews with installers, contract maintenance and a round table discussion with municipal and school board turfgrass managers was hosted by the WCTA.  A more complex costing model was then developed and populated with more realistic numbers for each of the parameters.

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