Energy Efficiency
Features
NRCan initiative to make ice rinks more efficient
Facilities could reportedly reduce energy consumption by 60%.
July 9, 2019 By Peter Saunders
Photo courtesy Arena Guide. Arena Guide, an initiative supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), has developed a ‘go green’ framework to help make the country’s ice rinks more energy-efficient.
No other country in the world has more ice rinks than Canada, but while many of them are modern facilities, the majority are very inefficient with respect to their energy consumption. In 2014, Statistics Canada estimated arenas in Canada consumed 17.2 million gigajoules (GJ) of energy.
NRCan reports ice arenas fully optimized with today’s available technologies could cut up to 60% of their current energy consumption. With that in mind, Arena Guide’s go green framework gathers comprehensive information for arena operators on how to improve their facilities’ performance through a systematic approach.
By way of example, replacing the arena slab above the embedded brine tube network (example pictured) as part of energy-efficiency upgrades can save on both electricity and natural gas bills.
The framework’s nine categories feature 55 ideas and suggestions for reducing energy use and, thus, operational costs, which in turn should help keep hockey, figure skating, curling and other ice sports affordable for the public.
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