Pools are huge energy consumers. Heating them up and keeping them warm is key. It is a high-priced expenseThis is especially true for large cities with public pools. These pools are also sought after by communities. So when cities set out to appease their citizens, they often make a trade-off—providing a beloved public amenity and coughing up for the energy it consumes.
The new design of the community center suggests that trade-offs may not be necessary anymore. The North East Scarborough Community and Childcare Centre, now under construction in Toronto, will be Ontario’s first net zero energy-consuming community recreation facility with swimming pools when it opens in 2024. The lower level houses a six-lane lap swimming pool and an adjacent leisure pool. They have been designed to work as efficiently as possible and all energy used is generated on-site.
There are many more. 300,000. Public swimming pools and more that 10,000,000 residential poolsThe United States and 2020 alone are estimated to have a total of 1.2 billion. 96,000 more residential pools were constructed. This adds up to a lot of energy consumption. One study found that American pools use approximately 28% of their energy. Between 9 and 14 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh).or about electricity Electricity demand in 11 statesA study of San Antonio’s public swimming pools revealed that conventional pool heating has an average annual energy cost of $1,080. More than $12,000. These numbers would likely be higher in Toronto’s colder areas.
Toronto is among the places that are looking at how these large energy users can be powered. The city hopes the new community center will be a model. The four-story community center is surrounded with a public park and features a gym, running track as well as a childcare facility. An all-electric building with considerable on-site renewable energy generation, it’s expected to produce as much energy as it uses—and produce net zero emissions.
Designed by the architecture company Perkins&WillThe pilot project is for Toronto, which hopes to make it a major city initiative. All its community centers and other city-built facilities are equally energy efficient. It was the primary goal to address the problem of pool energy. “This was a pilot project for the city as well as ourselves,” says Zeina Elali, senior sustainability advisor at Perkins&Will. “It’s something that’s been a challenge in the industry.”
Elali, an architect who works with clients to get the projects they want and reduce their environmental impact, sees pools as a major energy challenge. It takes more than simply installing LED lights or adding a few photovoltaic panels. “I think a lot of the private sector and public sector have already reached for the low hanging fruit,” says Elali. “It was about time to tackle the larger carbon contributors.”
A few innovative design solutions will result in a lower energy load for the pools at the new community center. They are both buried underground, which thermally insulates them from the freezing temperatures Toronto experiences in winter and reduces the amount of artificial heat that they require. The pools also use electric heat-source heat pumps that transfer heat to and from outside air to generate heat quickly. These heat pumps are highly efficient and can produce the same amount energy. Three times the heatA traditional fossil fuel-based heating method.
Even with more efficient heating, pools still need energy. “You’re never going to bring down the usage to zero, so you’re bringing it down as much as you can through mechanical efficiencies,” says Christina Grimes, an associate at Perkins&Will.
The rest of the energy demand is being offset by the project’s expansive and inventive PV panel arrays. The roof of the building has been covered in solar panels. There is also a large parking area that will double as a farmers market space. The walkway connecting to the nearby housing development has a narrow PV canopy over it, and the building itself has solar panels integrated into its façade. “We’ve got every kind of PV system you can imagine on this project,” says Grimes.
To help the project achieve its net zero emissions goal, the designers worked every angle, focusing on reducing the building’s operating emissions as well as the emissions created during construction, known as its embodied carbon. The total embodied emissions were 24% lower by choosing a concrete mix with lower emission.
These energy efficiency efforts aren’t cheap, but the architects argue that the upfront capital costs will be more than offset over time. “Your utility bill should be zero,” says Grimes. “A 30-year timeline is the way you have to think of the return on your investment.”
These investments are becoming more popular in communities. Perkins&Will also designed two net zero community centers in other Ontario cities. Construction is expected to start later this year. Each one will have a pool.
