The Blog

The old-school industrial operator’s view has always been “if it’s not a loud refrigeration room and it doesn’t stink of oil, Brine and Ammonia, it’s not an ice rink plant”. If this sounds (and smells) like your refrigeration plant, it might be time to upgrade your refrigeration plant to a greener technology. A Maintenance Nightmare The standard industrial system using … Read More

Many of our customers migrated from industrial ammonia or brine refrigeration plants to the modular ice3 Cube System. One of the more persuasive reasons the ice3 systems are chosen, is simply the low cost of maintenance and near elimination of third party service vendors when operating the ice3 Cubes. The initial commercial plants installed in ice arenas were simply air conditioning … Read More

Opteon & Low Global Warming A2L Potential Refrigerants The refrigeration industry is constantly changing. The original Fluorocarbons such as R22 and R502 have been totally phased out this year. ”Some HCFCs, like HCFC-22, are also a component in refrigerant blends. While these blends are not listed among the 34 controlled HCFCs, they are subject to the same rules because they … Read More

The ice3 Cube Refrigeration System is not “just the Cubes” Even though there are other modular chiller solutions on the market, it is often overlooked how Emerald Environmental Technologies’ energy efficiency strategy goes beyond just the modular ice3 Cubes. It was recently noted while visiting a municipal recreation arena that another manufacturer’s modular-type system was installed with cold floor pumps … Read More

When Size and Noise Matter University of New England is a prime example of how the ice3 Cube system’s compact modular size and extraordinarily quiet operation allowed a redesign, without increasing the original footprint, and avoided additional construction costs and frustration. The University of New England was in the preliminary design phase and the architect was having issues making the program … Read More

Ice3 Cube Maintenance: More Savings When asked what it takes to maintain an ice3 an operator at Merrimack College, after a year of run time, said beyond the cooling tower all you need is a grease gun. Operators that have transitioned from ammonia or industrial systems cannot believe how simple the ice3 Cubes are to maintain. The days of daily checks … Read More

After a lengthy redesign and extensive testing, Emerald Environmental Technologies has gone into production on their new larger output capacity model 2545 ice3 Cube. Using 40% Ethylene glycol, the all new ice3 will produce 27 Tons of refrigeration at low temperatures and 45 tons of air conditioning at the higher chill glycol temperature. Keeping to its roots of low charge, … Read More

Building a new rink involves many decisions before ground is broken. “What is our marketing plan to capture sales and sell our rink services now and, what could it be in 20 years? Will we grow to become a year-round facility? Will we offer off-ice programs or have ice year round?” Trying to predict future growth and facility use naturally … Read More

Brine: Short Term Savings A typical cold floor installed with a brine solution of Calcium Chloride (commonly known as ice melt) at 21% is effectively salt water. This solution will not allow the mixed water to freeze in normal rink use at -5°F or above. Upon installation you’ll realize a savings of approximately $18,000 when compared to the cost of … Read More

Recently we were able to catch up with Steve Trepanier at the Rochester Ice Arena in Rochester, NH, who has managed the Arena for decades. The Rochester Ice Arena recently replaced their refrigeration system and this last season they replaced their 40 year old rink floor. When we called to find out how the Rochester Ice Arena’s combination upgrade of … Read More