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Swimming pools use lots of energy for heating, lighting and ventilation
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The leisure sector is an energy-hungry industry. The demand for well heated, comfortable premises, often with 24-hour access, means the sector uses high volumes of gas, electricity and water.
All leisure organisations want to reduce the amount of energy they use, but it’s imperative that their customers also enjoy the experience of being there. Whether it’s a golf club, health centre or entertainment complex, energy managers must strike the right balance between saving energy and optimising the experience of the customer.
Fortunately, there are a number of steps that can be taken to effectively manage the energy that’s used without it having a negative impact on the enjoyment of the customer. Centralised, open-platform controls – or building management systems (BMS) – of all heating, ventilating, air conditioning, water and lighting systems will reduce energy when appropriately managed.
Where energy is wasted
Swimming pools
Typically, pools need to maintain a minimum temperature 24/7. As such, ambient pool areas can be no more than 1°C above or below this temperature. Consequently, the ventilation in the pool area also needs to run seven days a week. Large heating boilers are required to maintain this constant load, with fans being designed to handle peak load requirements.
Manual or automated liquid pool covers can be used to reduce heat loss during non-occupancy periods, as this will lessen the demand on the boilers heating the pool. Using these liquid pool covers will also allow vent controls to be ‘backed off’ due to the reduced heat from the pool. It also means that the air flow speed of fans can be reduced through the fitting of variable speed driver and controlled via demand controls.
As pools require constant heating, combined heat and power (CHP) engines can be installed to reduce costs. These can have a large upfront cost, but the paybacks can be achieved very quickly, due to the self-generating electricity reducing the need for supply. Other benefits of such a system include the generation of free heat from the process being fed into the boiler system to reduce gas usage. All of these steps can be monitored and controlled from the centralised BMS system.
Lighting
Lighting is generally enabled on staff arrival and disabled when staff leave, which can be anything up to 16 hours a day. Similarly, while aerobic studios only have a handful of classes per day (approximately 45 minutes each), rooms are often ventilated, air conditioned and lit throughout the day. The same can be said of offices, plant rooms, changing rooms and conference rooms.
Leisure managers should investigate if lighting in general areas can be reduced and still meet health and safety requirements. The same can also apply to offices, plant rooms and restaurants. Do all the lights need to be on, or can partial lighting be used – under specific criteria – at certain times of the day and night? Lighting controls, such as occupancy and lux sensors, can also be used in partially occupied common rooms and these sensors can control the air conditioning in the same room.
Using the most efficient lighting systems and types of light fittings – including dimmable lights, LEDs and at least T5 low wattage fittings – should also be considered as a way of reducing long-term spending on energy.
In addition, managers should consider that most modern facilities are built with large amounts of glazing, which allow natural daylight into a site. Often, this isn’t used in conjunction with lighting systems, but it could and should be. If a site has high amounts of glazing, window solar shade should also be installed, as this will reduce heat gain and glare from outside conditions.
Water
Due to the large number of water outlets within a leisure complex (taps, showers, toilets and urinals, etc), a huge amount of water is used – and wasted – every day.
Showers and taps may drip, or even be ‘allowed’ to be left partially on, which can add up to being a real drain on resources. All buildings are susceptible to leaks and if these occur onsite, they can prove very costly. It’s important that water is automatically metered to monitor for this and alert the leisure manager to the need for instant repair.
All taps and showers should be aerated, meaning that flow rates are reduced, but feel the same as appliances with a high flow rate. If all taps are push-type models, or are sensor controlled, this can typically save between 30 and 60% of the water that’s used on one site.
Urinals should also have sensor controls fitted to boost efficiency and, where feasible, WCs should have cistern bags fitted. In addition, it’s advisable that paper towels are removed and replaced with hand driers – a saving of approximately £1,200 can be made per year for each drier that’s fitted.
What next?
The first step for any company that’s considering an energy management solution is for an energy survey to be carried out. These surveys will analyse where energy is being wasted, where it can be optimised and propose solutions that will reduce the amount of energy that’s used and the money spent on it. Fees may be charged for these surveys, but in some cases, they could be free.
With rising energy costs and the introduction of new legislation, the hospitality and leisure industries should seriously consider energy management systems if they have not previously. They can be installed with the minimum of disruption and enable leisure organisations to develop as a sector and keep their customers happy.
Top tips for the leisure sector
- Adopt an energy policy for all staff
- Implement automated meter reading systems to report on energy usage on at least a daily basis
- Ensure large appliances only run where there is a demand for them
- Automatically control the lighting, heating, ventilating and air conditioning in partially occupied general areas
- Install controls in all studios that will reduce wastage when rooms are unoccupied
- Report and fix any dripping appliances and/or leaks as soon as possible
- Ensure that swimming pools have a manual pool cover as a minimum
- Implement an effective maintenance regime and an in-house engineer
- All members of the maintenance team to leave unoccupied areas with systems turned off
- Fit thermostatic valves to radiators.
Chris Norburn is managing director of NCS – a Manchester-based energy management company.
This article appeared in the January/February 2012 issue of Greenbuild magazine. For a free subscription click here.
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