A “Cool” Look at a “Hot” Idea

Converting the geothermal energy captured from the nearby Springhill coal mine is an innovative and imaginative process that town engineers have incorporated into the design of the town’s new Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre.

The equipment seen here is manufactured by Ice KUBE Heat Systems, of West St. Paul, MB, and works in-line with water supplied from the coal mine to produce a coolant to make ice for the rink while at the same time it produces en­ergy to heat an in-floor system in the seating areas surrounding the ice surface.

Through a network of heat pump equipment designed to operate at tempera­tures as low as -20 C, the system provides chilled and hot fluid for the ice rink, thermal ice storage and water heating applications.

Thousands of metres of pipe are embedded under the rink’s ice surface and when designing the community centre the designers also ran tubing through the concrete pads in the seating areas to provide warmth for the spectators during figure skating and hockey events.