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Everyone's talking about: Green tech
Investment in green technology and best practice is a pressing priority. Kath Hudson looks at some of the options available to operators
The time for action on energy has definitely arrived if more facility closures are to be avoided. Government support is a sticking plaster over a problem which won’t go away any time soon and although the wholesale price of gas is now falling, this trend will take a while to filter through to the markets. In the meantime, volatility in the sector and skyrocketing prices are making green options more attractive than previously.
Exeter City Council has set a benchmark with its St Sidwell’s Point Passivhaus leisure centre, a standard which the rest of the industry should aspire to for new builds, while other local authorities are investing in reducing carbon use with green energy tech.
After an £89,000 investment in a solar thermal system to heat the swimming pool at Easton Leisure Centre, Bristol City Council and Everyone Active are looking to do more installations across the city, and Everyone Active is speaking to other partners about similar projects. Sustainability manager, Peggy Lee, says the solar thermal system reduced the centre’s reliance on gas to zero in the summer and lowered energy costs and carbon emissions overall throughout the year.
If investment of this level isn’t feasible for you at the moment, there are still alternative actions that can deliver savings. We ask the experts for more insights.
Exeter Council in the UK has led the way in energy saving with its investment in St Sidwell’s Point – built to Passivhaus standards, and the most energy efficient leisure centre in the UK – which is predicted to use up to 70 per cent less power and 50 per cent less water than a ‘standard’ leisure centre.
Passivhaus standards also require the presence of highly efficient heat recovery, high levels of insulation to the thermal envelope with exceptional levels of airtightness, high performance windows with insulated frames, thermal bridge-free construction and the use of mechanical ventilation.
The centre features energy-saving innovations, such as the water source heat pump used to recycle the waste heat from the backwash water to top up the water heating.
Once the heat is recovered, backwash water is also recycled to flush the building toilets, contributing to water savings.
A 40Wh/m3 energy target for the filtration system has been delivered through use of micro-filtration and considered pipe runs and sizes. In addition, all the pipework has been installed within the thermal envelope of the building to eliminate unnecessary heat loss.
This system of microfiltration has contributed to further energy savings, when compared to traditional sand filtration systems, because it requires less backwashing contributing to the water saving.
Increased thermal performance of the building envelope and elimination of cold bridges also enable an increase in pool hall humidity, reducing evaporative energy loss and replacement water heating costs, while also enabling reduced air change rates, as less dry air is required. Evaporation is reduced further by the overnight drain-down facility that has been installed under the pools.
Free energy generated by participants in the studios and gym is captured through polyvalent air source heat pumps and used to pre-heat water to the pool and showers. This is supplemented by heat recovered from backwash and discharge water. All these features ensure the building runs efficiently, with minimum energy loss or reliance on non-renewable sources.
The building was created with the vision of being 2080 Climate Resilient, which ensures it can adapt to increasingly frequent weather extremes in the UK.
Built in line with standards defined by the Institute of Building Biology, the leisure centre provides a healthy hub for all users. Microfiltration technology in the swimming pools, for example, means that the water is of drinking quality.
We advise businesses to become an Energy Conscious Organisation (EnCO). This is a joint initiative run by Energy Services and Technology Association (ESTA) and Energy Institute (EI), endorsed by Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has set up its own Behaviour Change Unit.
There are more than 140 behaviour change interventions that reduce energy consumption and in a recent decarbonisation plan, we identified 39 per cent savings – a massive cost and carbon reduction – without the need for any new technologies.
Alongside no-brainers like replacing lighting with LEDs, the quickest and least expensive win for saving energy is to study your consumption profiles and ensure everything is turned off when not needed. Changing behaviours to embed and maintain a good energy culture can make savings equal to, or more than, traditional technical improvements.
Most waste is invisible, but an energy audit by an independent energy consultant can identify and prioritise energy-saving opportunities, which need little capital investment. These savings opportunities can offer fast paybacks, sometimes instantaneous. It’s necessary to optimise not just your Building Management System but also the complex systems it controls, many of which will be seriously inefficient.
Decarbonisation to reduce the rate of increase of climate change is, along with the energy crisis, a twin driver for energy efficiency. Every building requires a different combination of solutions, but the savings can be substantial.
As green technology goes mainstream, we expect it to get more cost-effective. Materials inflation and supply disruption are driving up costs, but energy prices are increasing more quickly, so payback periods are dropping, making now the ideal time to invest.
Designing gyms with LED lighting cuts the energy consumption by between 60 to 80 per cent, when compared to traditional lighting such as fluorescent or incandescent. Adding controls which create uniform light schedules for multiple sites from a single dashboard, can reduce operational costs by a further 10 to 15 per cent, as well as ensuring compliance and allowing efficient maintenance planning.
Our Interact connected lighting system includes multi-site management capability, providing centralised lighting control for all the gyms. The cloud-based platform collects data from all light points, via a connected lighting infrastructure displayed on a centralised dashboard. This enables better comparison, monitoring and management of lighting across multiple locations.
We’ve been appointed by Frasers Group to design and supply the lighting for all 69 Everlast Gyms across the UK. The lighting will add to the look and feel of the clubs, while boosting environmental credentials and cutting energy costs. Using different types of lighting to create individual zones is an integral part of the upgrade. For example, soft light in some areas, and chevrons, lines and squares on the ceiling, which direct members to the different zones and identify individual areas.
One of the barriers to implementing energy saving measures is the significant capital outlay, however Arloid AI technology is available with no upfront costs.
A monthly charge – either based on the savings made or the size of the building – is applied once savings are evidenced, which usually takes a month.
The system brings about a reduction in energy use by designing a virtual building with identical construction materials, location, climate and personnel attributes as the real one. Once the digital twin is complete, the technology begins to learn. During this period, we run millions of iterations of a simulated year, gathering live data on the correct response to different conditions and occupancy levels.
Buildings are divided into microzones and we work out a nuanced plan for each zone, reducing coolant, energy, and fuel consumption, minimising comfort index deviation and aligning with carbon targets. We calculate current costs and the costs with AI implemented. The result is energy savings of up to 22 per cent in 60 days and a 30 per cent reduction in carbon footprint.
We’ve worked with Woodgreen Leisure Centre in Oxfordshire to implement solar thermal technology to bring energy costs down and keep the open air pool viable. The renewable technology that’s been installed will save the leisure centre thousands of pounds a year in running costs, as well as 22.5 tons of carbon emissions annually.
Around 500 solar thermal collectors will generate 122k+ kilowatts of thermal energy annually, replacing the need for natural gas. Outside the peak swimming season, the installation provides hot water for both showers and heating.
Our Virtu product range has been designed to enable businesses to integrate the technology seamlessly with existing systems, including heat pumps, existing solar panels and traditional gas boilers.
Woodgreen already had a solar installation which provided electricity, but used natural gas to heat its outdoor pool, and we were able to adapt our design plans to fit around the technology already on-site.
Renewable technology can generate savings of thousands of pounds a year in running costs and as the price of fossil fuels increases, these savings will increase and the return on investment will be even quicker.
