Challenge
Membertou First Nation was convinced they wanted ice3 Cubes in their new double-sheet ice arena, the first in Cape Breton as they had a school with geothermal Kubes previously installed and an ice rink in town with Kubes—both produced by Kube Solutions of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. However, sales for the Canadian Kube Solutions Company had dwindled ceasing production for any further research and development. Across the border, the situation was quite the opposite. Emerald Environmental Technologies’ ice3 Cube models advanced performance and operation to such a degree that Emerald Environmental Technologies calculated their ice3 system completed over five major updates and revisions ahead of their Canadian counterpart essentially redesigning the original product altogether.
Membertou and Lynk Mechanical from Sydney, Nova Scotia, required the reliability and assistance from a reputable manufacturer to install their arenas. The project manager from Lynk Mechanical previously observed the ice3 Cubes’ installation in Jay Peak, Vermont, and spoke with the operator who expressed praise for the equipment. Upon hearing the operator’s glowing recommendation, he realized Emerald Environmental Technologies’ ice3 Cubes were the perfect solution for the Membertou Ice Arena.
Recommendation
Following negotiations with Kube Solutions, an agreement was reached to install ten geothermal ice3 units at the Membertou First Nation Arena, totaling 210 TR. Emerald Environmental Technologies closely assisted the design team and supervised the installation with assistance from Preferred Mechanical Services and Lynk Mechanical.
The use of an ice3 Cube decoupler was employed, so both floors were directly decoupled from the ice3 Cubes and staging was incremental. Cold and warm fluid was supplied for two air handlers (one in each rink) to assist in dehumidification and act as a source of fresh air. The warm fluid was used to warm the floors under each rink, as snowmelt for shavings, to preheat domestic hot water, aid in radiant floor heating, and for ventilation heating.
Result & Benefits
The customer wanted a guarantee that they would never have the potential to lose their ice. Currently, both rinks have an evaporative fluid cooler and a geothermal open-well system, each as a 100% redundancy to the other. Emerald also maintains a direct digital control system to interface the building’s HVAC BMS system. Using time-proven programming, the customer can stage and schedule Cube use, as well as monitor anything that would affect Cube operations.
In recent testing, it was exhibited that all ten ice3 Cubes are fully operational and utilizing the DDC applications to their highest potential. Each Cube was started and exchanged heat with the geothermal wells without any issues. In testing of the redundant fluid-cooling tower, it was established that the system operated at maximum capacity and load. The air handling unit systems in rink A started to dehumidify, which is a process also sourced from the Cubes. Rink B was brought to 22 degrees Fahrenheit during the testing period and was then relaxed, as painting of the structure continued. The installation is now online and fully operational at 100% capacity.
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The expert team at Emerald Environmental Technologies can help define and customize which ice3 Cube combinations are ideal for your community/municipal/outdoor, upgrade project, or collegiate rink. Emerald Environmental Technologies is based in New England and services the entire east coast up through Canada. Please contact us today to request a free consultation or Email or call 603-238-9249 with questions.