15 Apr District of Oak Bay Buys REALice® System for Municipal Rink
April 15, 2016 – REALice Canada, the supplier of a cold water method for making ice in arenas across Canada, is pleased to announce that the District of Oak Bay, B.C. has purchased a REALice® System for its single pad ice arena in the Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
Ken Olson of Olson Energy Management, the energy consultant for the District of Oak Bay, says they’re looking forward to the installation.
“We’re excited! The REALice system is going to save us the community money and greenhouse gasses,” he says. “With the energy savings we’re projecting, we’ll be able to reach our greenhouse gas reduction target of 33%, several years ahead of our 2020 target.”
This will be already the 5th rink on Vancouver Island to use the REALice system, after Pearkes Arena in Saanich, the Island Savings Centre in Duncan, Kerry Park Arena in Mill Bay and Fuller Lake Arena in Chemainus.
Background:
Artificial indoor ice has been made for decades with very hot water, which removes tiny air bubbles from the water, resulting in a smooth skating surface when poured thinly and then frozen. The REALice® system is a radical approach to ice making, removing the micro air bubbles in the water through a high-speed patented vortex (hydro-dynamic cavitation) delivering the same results, without the expense of hot water.
In 2014, the patented REALice® system was part of a large-scale Ice Rink Resurfacing Efficiency pilot project spearheaded by FortisBC, the regulated gas utility in British Columbia. At this time, the REALice® system was already installed and saving energy and money in over 300 ice arenas in Europe.
For the pilot, the REALice® system was installed in 10 rinks around British Columbia. At the end of the study, 90% of the rinks involved adopted the technology, which lets ice makers and re-surfacers build and maintain ice without the use of hot water.
Florian Gabriel, the managing director of REALice Canada says the District of Oak Bay will be pleased with the energy savings.
“Our calculations are that the REALice installation will save the District of Oak Bay a minimum of 150,000 kWh per year in electricity and 850 GJ of natural gas per year. This corresponds to 70,000 trees planted and 585 cars taken off the road over the REALice system’s anticipated life of 10 years!”
The REALice system is available for rent, lease our outright purchase. REALice Canada is currently offering two types of rental contracts: a 12-month contract for rinks operating year-round and an 8-month contract for rinks operating for a short season. Both contracts come with an option to buy-out the technology after 6 months.
For more information, contact:
Florian Gabriel, Managing Director
SWICH Services Inc.
Canadian Technology Transfer Partner
Phone: +1-604-710-5479
Email: info@realice.ca
Website: www.realice.ca
