City of St. Albert Servus Credit Union Place REALice Retrofit

OVERVIEW

As part of the MCCAC’s Recreation Energy Conservation (REC) program, the City of St. Albert installed a REALice system at the Servus Credit Union Place. Servus Credit Union Place has three NHL-sized ice arenas – the Go Auto Arena, the Mark Messier Arena, and the Troy Murray Arena. With over 320,000 square feet of leisure and fitness space, there is a children’s playground, fitness, and wellness center, track, aquatic Centre with over 25 spray and water features, including a river ride and two giant waterslides. The ice surfaces welcome skaters of all ages and abilities, the two soccer field houses are home to a variety of team sports and exercise classes. The project was commissioned in February 2021.

APPROACH

This newly installed REALice system will help to reduce the costs of heating the water used to resurface the ice as well as the electricity costs associated with cooling the ice following resurfacing. This system eliminates the need for hot water when building and resurfacing ice by removing micro air bubbles from the incoming water resulting in lower natural gas consumption from water heaters and a decreased load on compressors.

RESULTS

The REALice installation resulted in a reduction of 80 tCO₂/year and an energy cost saving of $11,044.43/year. The system enabled the water heater setpoint temperature to be dropped from 125 F to 40 F. The project resulted in a 13% GHG reduction from the existing system and a 1% reduction facility-wide from the baseline.

“Environmental stewardship and efficient energy use are priorities for the City and part of the new long-range Municipal Development Plan. These projects demonstrate the action being taken to conserve energy and are big steps forward for our plan.”

City of St. Albert Mayor, Cathy Heron

“The City learned about the system from the City of Leduc and decided to test it out at the Mark Messier and Troy Murray arenas. By using this system, you eliminate the requirement for hot water and reduce the power needs of your cooling plant.”

Christian Benson, City Environment Manager

“With these projects, the City of St. Albert demonstrates their commitment to reducing energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and operating costs. These are great examples of how thinking differently about existing assets can lead to real savings.”

Trina Innes, Executive Director of Sustainability Services with Alberta Municipalities.