Media Coverage on REALice

  • 03.07.2025

    Great news for Alberta arena operators! The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) is still offering funding through the Recreation Energy Conservation Program  (REC)—but these funds won’t last forever. Now is the perfect time to upgrade your ice maintenance system with REALice and benefit from both improved ice quality and significant ener...

  • 30.01.2025

    Join our first Operator-to-Operator call of 2025 to meet several REALice Ice Meisters. They will discuss how their ice needs to run warmer, especially when the weather is cold. This Zoom call is scheduled for February 6, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time / 11:30......

  • 23.10.2024

    The village of Boyle, Alberta, just published a media release about their latest energy savings retrofit project. This accompanies the LED lighting and REALice cold water ice flooding projects already completed at the Boyle Millview Arena to further reduce energy costs and meet the challenges......

  • 04.12.2023

    The Winston-Salem Journal reports on REALice: These days, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex hockey rink is popping. Sure, it helps that the Carolina Thunderbirds are consistent winners in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and will contend again this season for the championship. The actual viewing of......

  • 30.10.2023

    The City of Airdrie announced the installation of a higher-efficiency ice system (REALice) at Ron Ebbesen Twin Arenas. A release from the City stated this allows the ice to be flooded with cold water instead of hot for increased energy savings and improved ice quality.......

  • 06.10.2023

    Uxbridge saves money and reduces C02 emissions with a new way of flooding ice rinks The Township of Uxbridge was able to reduce its annual CO2 emissions substantially just by making one small change. The town stopped its reliance on hot water to maintain its......

  • 30.08.2023

    “We reduced the Town’s annual CO2 emissions by 29 tonnes just by implementing this one small measure. It also impacted our energy spend by $24,000 less this season compared to the season before, with a payback of less than two years.” Kristi Honey, CAO Township......

  • 30.03.2023

      Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert, AB is a true multipurpose community facility with a large variety of leisure and fitness spaces. It In January, the last of three indoor ice rinks within the 320,000 sq. ft facility was converted to the REALice floodwater treatment system.......

  • 22.08.2022

    The Bonnyville and District Centre has a new and greener way of making ice that utilizes new technology allowing for cold water to be used in creating hard ice surfaces at the facility’s arenas. “Instead of filling our Zambonis with extremely hot 71-degree Celsius water,......

  • 16.08.2022

    The Lakeside Leader just published this story about REALice by Joe McWilliams: A new system of ice-making in Slave Lake’s Multi Rec Centre (MRC) looks as if it will deliver the lower costs that it promised. But if what we’re hearing is accurate, it’s much more than......

  • 10.12.2021

    My Lloydminster Now reports on REALice: The City says a new ice-making system at the Russ Robertson Arena will cut the bills and reduce the environmental footprint. The Russ Robertson rink now has a REALice floodwater system which the City says has annual savings of $3,600......

  • 09.12.2021

    What’s the “better bang for the buck” – an HVAC retrofit or REALice? The answer might surprise you. The energy lead had a couple of options but found that going to REALice was the hands-down choice. More in the Pincher Creek Echo. Read it here...

  • 02.12.2021

    Here is a great article published today by the Toronto Star written about the REALice floodwater technology. The town council in Pincher Creek, Alberta, passed a motion to sign an offer letter for grant funding for a REALice system to lower greenhouse gas emissions at Pincher Creek MCC......

  • 26.08.2021

    Read the latest press release from the City of Leduc:   AUGUST 24, 2021 – The City of Leduc’s Alexandra Arena has said goodbye to its reliance on hot water to create and resurface the ice rink to reduce cost, and will be running cold......

  • 12.07.2021

    Okotoks, Alberta (July 09, 2021) – Rinks at the Okotoks Pason arenas and Recreation Centre recently got an upgrade in the form of new cold water flooding systems. The town’s climate change and energy specialist Sheri Young says it’s actually a pretty cool process. “This......

  • 25.06.2021

    Lacombe, Alberta (June 17, 2021) – The City of Lacombe has purchased and installed a cold floodwater treatment system for their arena ice maintenance at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex to reduce the facility operating costs and its environmental footprint. The City’s operations team......

  • 01.03.2021

    This is the most comprehensive article written about our floodwater technology to date, published by St. Albert Today. The City of St. Albert recently installed REALice and journalist Kevin Ma spoke to a number of people about the installation, the energy savings, the reduced CO2......

  • 25.02.2021

    Village of Donnelly were successful applicants of the Recreation Energy Conservation Funding Program through Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC). The grant funding (totalling $25,227) allowed the Guy-Donnelly Sportex to install a de-aerator designed by REALIce on the facility’s ice making system to help reduce......

  • 29.01.2021

    How much brighter will your indoor ice arena be with LEDs? That’s hard to visualize. But at the Mayfield Recreation Complex in Caledon, ON they tracked their changes when they did their LED retrofit which took them from 66-T5 fluorescents to LEDs. As you can see in......

  • 28.01.2021

    The Journal of Commerce reports on the REALice installation at the Family Leisure Centre (FLC) in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Residents of Medicine Hat are skating smoother and faster thanks to the installation of a new water treatment system at the city’s Family Leisure Centre (FLC).......

  • 06.11.2020

    Congratulations to the District of Summerland for its efforts to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in municipal operations. Specific actions taken by the District include completing detailed energy audits on all 12 major municipal buildings (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers -Level......

  • 30.10.2020

    As part of an ongoing effort to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the Town of Banff has installed a REALice water treatment system for ice resurfacing in the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. The project, partly funded by the Recreation Energy Conservation program......

  • 20.10.2020

    Earlier this year, the City of Powell River, BC was nominated and won a 2020 Climate Action Energy Award from Community Energy Association. One of the actions that contributed to the award was putting the REALice floodwater system into their arena, letting them use cold......

  • 22.09.2020

    The City of Leduc released a press release yesterday highlighting their switch to REALice and away from using extremely hot water for resurfacing for the Leduc Recreation Centre (LRC). The City of Leduc will be running cold this upcoming season saying good-bye to its reliance......

  • 19.12.2019

    December 19th, 2019 – For five years, we’ve been working with FortisBC to reduce their arena customers’ energy spend. That began with the successful large-scale pilot project that put REALice into 10 BC arenas – and marked the start of the adoption of REALice in Canada.......

  • 03.12.2019

    December 3rd, 2019 – Saanich News reports on the District of Saanich’s purchase of a second REALice system for Pearkes Arena’s Green rink. The District was able to benefit from the FortisBC rebate which offered a refund of $20,000 for the system. The rebate applies to indoor rinks......

  • 16.10.2019

    Pechanga Arena San Diego has been using REALice to make its ice since March, 2018. The 14,000-seat AEG-owned facility is home to the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League and off-ice events like Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live and concerts like country singer Luke Combs.  Here at REALice, we’re proud of the installation. And so......

  • 08.08.2019

    August 7th, Powell River, BC – The Powell River Peak reported on technology upgrades to save energy and cost at the Powell River Recreation Complex. The REALice system is one these energy upgrades. Neil Pukesh, City Manager of Recreation states in the article that staff members have been......

  • 18.12.2018

    Did you know REALice is creating a buzz and making an impact in Atlantic Canada? In a CBC radio segment from Dec 2018, Ben Givlin, the regional recreational director for Baie Verte, Pacquet, and Middle Arm, speaks about how they’re lowering the costs of the......

  • 21.04.2018

    April 23, 2018 – The Peterborough Examiner reports the Township of Selwyn, Ontario has been given the Energy Award from Sustainable Peterborough because of their REALice cold water treatment installation at the Ennismore Arena. Sustainable Peterborough described the REALice project as follows: “In 2017, Selwyn......

  • 06.12.2017

    CBC News highlights the City of Kamloops, BC who has already converted two of their arenas to cold water flooding using the REALice system and saving thousands of taxpayers dollars annually thus far. After finding success at the smaller community arenas, the City is ready......

  • 27.11.2017

    We are thrilled that FortisBC features REALice in one of their energy conservation commercials. The 30-second clip, featuring Jim Kobialko, the Conservation & Energy Management Program Manager for Fortis BC, has been posted on the web and is also being shown on TV. Reducing Costs......

  • 04.10.2017

    We get a great deal of amazing customer feedback, but this YouTube video from the City of Nanaimo was quite the nice surprise. And just take a look at their ice!!!...

  • 17.09.2017

    “The end result is a thinner, yet harder surface, which leads to faster play on a clearer sheet of ice.” – Fort Saskatchewan Record Last week, Zach Mueller of the Fort Saskatchewan Record published a story about the REALice installation in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The article......

  • 19.08.2016

    Armstrong ice system saves money Armstrong Spallumcheen Parks and Recreation has invested in a brand new REALice system. Just in time for the upcoming season, the Nor-Val Sports Centre has built its ice from scratch with unheated water. This switch will not only save the......

  • 23.05.2016

    The city’s Multiplex has undergone a technological upgrade to save energy,   by Beth McKay, February 1, 2016. In the summer of 2015, the City of Yellowknife installed a vortex degasser at its Multiplex facility to reduce energy consumption. The multi-purpose recreation facility houses an Olympic-size......

  • 27.04.2016

    Cleaning up Canada’s game: how one technology could change the way we take to the ice Even the local hockey rink can’t escape the climate-change economy VANCOUVER—For ice rink workers, filling up a Zamboni with anything but piping hot water is basically an act of......

  • 02.04.2016

    Explore Canadian Ice Rink Sustainability Efforts   On April 1, 2016, Just Energy highlighted REALice in its article, “Explore Canadian Ice Rink Sustainability Efforts.” The article discusses REALice technology and explains how it has become an innovative and green solution to maintaining manmade ice in......

  • 01.03.2016

    Real Ice Canada was featured by @MacleansMag in a February piece by senior correspondent, Jonathon Gatehouse. “How Hockey Can Change its Energy-Hogging, Carbon Spewing Ways.”  Click here to read the full article:  http://www.macleans.ca/society/technology/how-hockey-can-change-its-energy-hogging-carbon-spewing-ways/      ...

  • 16.09.2015

    Interview with Rachel Villari & Brock Harrison in the Edmonton live radio morning show 630CHED. Rachel talks about her article in the Hockey News Magazine from September 14th, 2015: “Skating on thin ice” Listen to Rachel talking about REALice®: Access the full story....

  • 12.06.2015

      Climate Smart in Vancouver has produced a short video, featuring 8 of their members and highlighting their initiatives to cut carbon. The PNE is being featured as the first example. The PNE had cut 340 GJ of Natural Gas and estimates electricity savings in......

  • 13.11.2014

    The new REALice technology is being called a success in Castlegar. The system, which was put in late last year, is creating thousands of dollars in energy savings. Pictured above is (from left to right) Hakan Gronlund of H2O Vortex/Watreco, Jim Crockett of the CDRD,......

  • 22.01.2014

    Tilbury Ice is one of 10 rinks in the province taking part in a 10-week pilot program to test technology used for ice resurfacing. FortisBC, which invested $300,000 to fund the pilot program, projects the 10 rinks will realize natural gas savings equivalent to heating......

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