ENERGY
Sports Centre de Scheg in the Netherlands offers a 400m ice skating rink Solar photo-voltaic panels have gained
a lot of publicity in recent years. As their name suggests, they generate electricity from the sun, resulting in no fuel costs and virtually no maintenance costs. Installing Solar PV panels is supported by the government’s Feed-In-Tariff scheme, and while the rates for the scheme have dropped over the last three years, this has been more than matched by falling implementation costs. However, any health club considering
going down this route should fi rst ask themselves whether they have the rights to put panels on the roof, and also consider the direction their roof faces. Put simply, the closer the alignment to south, the more electricity will be produced. Finally, they should check there are no obstructions, such as adjoining buildings, that will block the sun from hitting the panels. Microturbines are becoming more and
more popular among larger sports and leisure sites under pressure to reduce energy bills and minimise their carbon footprint. A microturbine is similar to a miniature jet engine and is contained in a case the size of a standard refrigerator. It has a single moving part supported by air bearings, and can operate on a variety of gaseous or liquid fuels. The Sports Centre De Scheg in the
Netherlands – which has a 400m ice skating track as well as a sub-tropical pool, sauna and competition pool – was struggling to cope with a 17-year-
old reciprocating engine. When that eventually gave up, the centre opted for a Capstone C200 microturbine linked to a gas compressor, heat exchanger and industrial ventilator. Hot exhaust air from the microturbine is diverted through the heat exchanger to increase overall effi ciency and deliver ultra-low emissions. Other benefi ts include low noise levels, low maintenance costs and increased reliability. The Quellenhof Sport and Wellness
Resort in Italy is another convert to microturbines. With 150 rooms, 20 spas, eight saunas and 20 swimming pools, it’s a signifi cant energy consumer. Having relied on traditional boilers and local utility companies for its heating requirements, the family-owned fi rm took the decision in 2010 to install two Capstone C65 ICHP microturbines, with heat recovery modules installed on each unit to capture any wasted heat. Not only has the resort reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 800
tonnes a year, but it’s also saved €75,000 a year – some €10,000 of which is in reduced maintenance costs. The return on the initial investment was achieved within three years.
And if you can’t afford that? While these state-of-the-art systems look set to provide benefits to places like De Scheg and Quellenhof for years to come, just because you’re not in a position to make a similar outlay doesn’t
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Quellenhof and de Scheg’s microturbines allow for heat recovery and exchange
mean you can’t do anything about your energy consumption. What many owners and managers don’t realise is the controls managing and operating these systems can be every bit as important as the systems themselves. The most advanced system in the world will still yield disappointing returns if it’s not managed properly, while the intelligent application of controls can squeeze savings out of the most antiquated boiler. The Carbon Trust, a government body
set up to advise businesses on ways of reducing carbon emissions, estimates that up to 90 per cent of heating, ventilation and air conditioning building control systems are inadequate in some way, at an annual cost to industry of over £500m. According to its fi ndings, fi tting a full set of controls to an older heating system that previously had none can save over 15 per cent on energy bills. Controls can range from a simple
timer bought from a DIY shop to a full building control system. Increasingly, facility managers and those responsible for maintaining large buildings such as
May 2015 © Cybertrek 2015
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