Castleton’s Spartan Arena was on full display on Tuesday, Feb. 12, for its leadership in creating a greener future as they hosted a best practices exchange focusing on efficient ice rink practices.
The event, sponsored by Spartan Arena, Efficiency Vermont and H2OVortex, was a huge success with over 40 rink managers and employees from all over the United States and Canada in attendance.
The day began with a presentation on the arena’s history and its progress within the past four years since being purchased by Castleton.
Attendees were able to share and discuss their best practices with Vermont’s ice rink operators and managers while learning firsthand the benefits of switching to energy-efficient systems.
Spartan Arena shared their recent energy reduction results, including a reduction in the rink’s kilowatt-hours usage from about 75,000 for January 2007 to under 50,000 for January 2013.
The tremendous decrease is a result of the recent cosmetic and energy-efficient improvements to the rink and shows that even with the addition of the new fitness center added in 2012 the arena is still able to maintain steadily decreasing kilowatt usage.
Also featured in the presentation was the arena’s new energy-efficient ice system, the H20Vortex, which was installed this fall.
The H2OVortex allows dense clear ice at warmer surface temperatures and resurfacing with cold or tempered water, creating a reduction in energy usage.
Spartan Arena is just the second rink in North America to purchase the H2OVortex and has seen great changes since its installation.
“It is providing great dividends by drastically reducing our energy usage while improving the ice quality at the arena,” said Steve Wolf, Director of Spartan Arena.
The day finished with visiting rink managers taking to the ice for a skate around the arena, giving them the chance to experience the innovative ice surface for themselves.
“They loved it,” said Wolf.
The Spartan Arena staff plans to continue to grow and expand their facility using energy-efficient practices and hopes to remain a leader in ice rink sustainability.