One of our recent projects at EKA was supported by the Swedish Energy Agency, where technical inventory and analysis of energy consumption were done for Tegera Arena in Leksand and Löfbergs Arena in Karlstad. Both facilities are by Swedish standards bigger ice hockey arena complexes, which can host around 8000 spectators approximately for larger events.
We at EKA concluded that by taking 3-5 measures in both arenas their total energy consumptions could be lowered by 15% and 30% respectively.
Visits were made to both arenas in order to collect information about the technology used in the buildings and also to retrieve information about their energy consumption. A typical challenge when working with ice rinks is determining where the energy ultimately ends up being used, since energy consumption is often only measured on a source-level (generally total electricity and district heating). However, by combining EKA’s expertise and methods for analyzing ice rink energy systems together with the requirements set by the Swedish Energy Agency for the project, a high-quality study of both ice hockey arenas could be produced where the performances of their respective energy systems were estimated.
The results of the study were presented to the owners of the ice rinks, along with recommendations on how to make the facilities more energy efficient. Based on our findings, we at EKA concluded that by taking 3-5 measures in both arenas their total energy consumptions could be lowered by 15% and 30% respectively. Life-cycle costs (LCC) were calculated where the results indicated that the estimated yearly savings would also cover the estimated investment costs from an LCC-perspective, making the recommended measures profitable options for the owners.
We’d like to add that it has been a pleasure working on this project along with our clients, since they have shown an eager interest in finding ways to minimize the energy consumption of their ice rinks!