Research Report on Renewable Energy Options for Carleton Civic Centre
Prepared for CAO Ken Harding and Woodstock Town Council
Part One
Introduction
The Sustainable Energy Group has long been interested in the options for installing renewable energy technology at the Carleton Civic Centre. With major a renovation coming up, this is an ideal time to explore these options.
Carleton Civic Centre is perfectly sited for making maximum use of solar energy technologies for both hot water and electricity, and for utilizing wind energy. This SEG Research Report focuses only the solar hot water option.
The substance of this Report is drawn from SEG’s research on the Campbellton Civic Centre and the installation and performance of their solar hot water system. The similarity of building type, facilities, and functional use, make it an ideal comparison with Carleton Civic Centre and the potential for its long-term efficiency and economy of operation.
SEG members, Conrad Anderson and Steve Helle, took primary responsibility for this research. In addition, we have had the assistance of Wayne Groszko, President of Community Energy Cooperative and a professor at Dalhousie University. Our informant at the Campbellton Civic Centre is Donald Downs (Building Manager of the Civic Centre and Project Manager for the installation of the solar hot water system.) Report assembled by Keith Helmuth.
Report of Findings from Donald Downs
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- Campbellton Civic Centre was built in 1990.
- It contains two swimming pools.
- large – 25 metres, 360,000 gal. capacity.
- small – 40’ x 20’, 4.5’ deep, 20,000 gal. capacity.
- High volume demand for additional hot water re showers and sinks.
- Hot water temperature set at 125o F – 130o F.
- Solar collectors (glycol type) for hot water heating installed on the roof in the fall of 2011.
- The system commenced operation in December 2011.
- Total cost of installation – $140,000 – $150,000
- Cost of roof preparation (included in total cost) – $60,000
- Anticipated pay back time – 5 to 7 years.
- System equipment supplied by Thermo-Dynamics of Dartmouth NS.
- Installation assistance provide by Thermo-Dynamics.
- Roof top installation of 3 banks of collectors, 20 collectors per bank.
- Thermostatically controlled pump circulates heated glycol through receiving water tank.
- Heated glycol has risen as high as 180oF, but more commonly runs at 130oF to 140oF.
- A two-stage intermediate receiving tank would increase efficiency.
Additional technology of thermal efficiency
Additional technology of thermal efficiency
The Campbellton Civic Centre has installed “pool blankets” that have several beneficial effects.
- Significant reduction of heat loss from pool surfaces.
- Significant reduction of pool chemicals dissipation.
- Significant reduction of stress on ventilation systems and structural components as the result of 1 & 2 coming into effect.
Follow Up Research
The Campbellton Civic Centre solar hot water installation has an online energy monitoring system that provides real-time data on kWh equivalent energy savings. It updates every five minutes. By early afternoon for February 11, 2013, the data showed 4 hours of solar operation with a savings of about 110 kWh of energy. The website for this monitoring system is: http://www.welserver.com/cgi-bin/show/WEL0523
These datalogger systems have the capacity to store data in an archive, so a full record of the solar energy collected since the Campbellton installation went operational should be available. Further SEG research will follow up on this data with the Campbellton Civic Centre and/or Thermo-Dynamics. With this information in hand, we will know the total energy cost savings for the Campbellton Civic Centre, and be able to prepare a credible estimate for potential savings for the Carleton Civic Centre with a comparable system installed. With this information, an estimated payback timeframe can be established.
Part Two of this report will be provided as soon as possible, hopefully by mid-March or sooner.
The next stage of investigation beyond SEG research, would call for consultation with a supplier/installer like Thermo-Dynamics. Considerable information can be obtained from their website. http://www.thermo-dynamics.com/
Submitted by the Sustainable Energy Group
February 12, 2013
Sam Arnold, Coordinator
328-9420