green
initiatives The UK leisure
sector is a massive consumer of water and energy – we spend around £700m on
energy a year
Houghton-Le-Spring Primary Care and Leisure Centre has 350sq m of PV panels
Greening up for the future Here are a few options for leisure facilities to consider going forward:
Energy-generating equipment Gym equipment coming onto the market aims to benefit both the body and the environment by harnessing energy generated by human activity. In the US, PlugOut markets a range of bicycles and a cross-trainer that export energy back to the grid. And earlier this year SportsArt Fitness, which sells the energy-saving EcoPowr treadmills, launched its Green System for gyms, a pod of up to six fitness products attached to an inverter. Reports vary on how much of a
difference this equipment can realistically make to a gym’s energy bills, but the technology is developing rapidly, which makes it worth keeping an eye on innovations.
Energy-generating fl oors On the European club scene, the next big thing is to have a dance floor that converts the movement of dancing crowds into electricity. The first club to feature the technology was Rotterdam’s Club Watt, which incorporates a floor from Sustainable Dance Club and uses the energy produced to power lights in the floor itself, which change colour and pattern. At the moment, the dance floor technology is as much a design feature as an energy saver, but technology and interest are developing fast.
46 UK manufacturer Pavegen produces
an energy-producing paving slab made of recycled tyres that harvests energy from footfall.
Alternative heat sources Redditch Council’s new Abbey Stadium leisure centre and swimming pool, which is set to open next spring, will be the first in the UK to re-use waste heat from the crematorium next door. A few people found the idea distasteful, but it makes sound environmental sense as the waste heat will meet more than 40 per cent of the centre’s annual heating demand and save the council £14,500 a year in running costs, as well as the cost of a new heating system. Stroud District Council is looking at
the potential to use local food waste to heat Stratford Park Leisure Centre, as well as a range of other local amenities. The council is considering siting an anaerobic digester (a machine in which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material) next door to the leisure centre to convert local food waste into heat, not only reducing heating costs for local amenities but also cutting the cost of food waste disposal in the district. Community heating projects like
these are likely to become increasingly popular in the future.
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
the day using flow through the plenum, keeping temperatures down in the summer. In the winter, the system uses lower power fans to mix cool air from outside and warm interior air, avoiding the need to pre-heat fresh air. The centre’s other sustainability
credentials include exporting redundant heat to a neighbouring sports and leisure centre, electric car plug points, a sedum roof and rainwater harvesting, cutting running costs by more than 30 per cent. I believe the leisure sector should
make more use of solar panels to help supplement heating for swimming pools. There’s a large expanse of roof over a swimming pool that could be put to very good use, and this month the government is expected to introduce the Renewable Heat Incentive, which will provide help towards the cost of installing renewable heating systems such as solar thermal panels. It’s therefore set to become an attractive option. Generating electricity using your roof
will create opportunities for earning income from the feed-in tariff – your roof area could become a goldmine!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rob Lambe is MD of
Willmott Dixon Re-Thinking, the sustainability arm of Willmott Dixon. Willmott Dixon is the UK’s second largest privately owned capital works, regeneration and support services company –
www.willmottdixongroup.co.uk
september 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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