Providing services to the public on a day-to-day basis means that leisure centres have long hours of operation and need to maintain a safe, comfortable and enjoyable environment. Being large and complex buildings however, such necessities can mean leisure centres consume a significant amount of energy and water which impacts on profitability and ultimately can become unsustainable. By becoming more efficient a leisure centre can make significant reductions in costs and improve their carbon footprint.
This guide, created in conjunction with CMR Consultants, is aimed at helping leisure centres decrease energy and water costs by suggesting methods that can be implemented to increase efficiency. Some may be more complex and costly than others but by making these changes a leisure centre can significantly help keep their running costs down and enhance user experience.
One of the simplest and cheapest ways to increase the efficiency in a leisure centre is to inform people, both the public and staff, about it. Create awareness via leaflets and staff meetings to make sure both colleagues and visitors are aware of energy saving measures such as turning off lights, fitness and catering equipment, sauna and steam room supplies when not in use, reducing water consumption and maintaining systems that help keep energy consumption low.
Whilst raising awareness is beneficial, having a team to follow up on business aims will be a crucial part of achieving those goals. An energy team can be given specific tasks and goals to align with budget reduction targets as well as ensuring that changes to procedures and controls are maintained. By gathering the team for monthly meetings, you can keep on top of changes that are being made and evaluate whether they are having the desired effect on energy and water costs and efficiency.
After you have created an energy team to manage changes, make sure you have an action plan and clearly defined energy and water efficiency targets. Measurement and monitoring of electricity, gas and water supplies, particularly out of hours consumption (water leaks and equipment left switched on), will provide the tools to firstly help the team drive down unnecessary consumption and secondly provide feedback to help motivate continuous improvement.
Many leisure centres include a swimming pool and these are usually the largest consumer of energy in the complex. Public swimming pools must be kept at a constant temperature and water quality carefully monitored. Energy and water costs of a swimming pool will always be relatively high but there are ways to reduce this by implementing a few energy and water saving strategies.
Due to the complexity of the systems used in a leisure centre it is very difficult to maintain optimal energy performance; temperature set points and time controls invariably are altered and energy consumption increases. BEMS’s systems use intelligent, programmable controllers to interface with plant and equipment to maintain design temperatures, flow-rates and time controls, locking in energy efficiency savings. Modern systems are server based, enabling on-line analysis of energy consumption (through both main incoming meters and sub-meters) and visibility of system parameters using graphs. Management information can be produced to track performance against budgets and also evidence savings associated with energy and water efficiency projects and initiatives.
To find out more about how BEMs can help increase your leisure centre’s energy efficiency, click here.