As Canadians, we all like to cheer on the Zamboni drivers as they whip around the ice, leaving behind a shining film of water that hardens to a smooth new surface. These trips around the arena happen like clockwork, marking the end of a period or the time for a new program to begin.
Between the two rinks at Middlesex Centre’s Komoka Wellness Centre, the Zamboni makes thousands of trips each year.
Earlier this year, staff at the Wellness Centre took delivery of a new Zamboni, replaced as part of the municipality’s asset management plan. The new Zamboni features a FastICE system – a relatively recent innovation in the ice rink industry. This new system uses high-pressure pumps to apply a fine mist of water. This not only creates a high-quality ice surface, but saves energy by:
- Building ice faster at higher temperatures, reducing the energy required by the refrigeration plant to cool the rink surface; and
- Creating stronger and smoother surface that has less gas trapped in ice, reducing the need for temperature adjustments.
“As Middlesex Centre strives to continue to move the needle in reduction of utilities while not sacrificing ice quality for ice users, this made logical sense to implement at the Komoka Wellness Centre,” commented Justin Fidler, operations manager for Middlesex Centre’s community services department.
Reducing the energy required to keep the ice in top condition not only saves money – ice rink operators already using the FastICE system report the return on investment for adding the technology to be less than five years – but also reduces municipal greenhouse gas emissions and supports the drive to NetZero emissions.