Bow Island arena seeing benefits of MCCAC funding

The Servus Community Arena pictured with new LED lighting.

Commentator/Courier

The Town of Bow Island has undertaken four projects at the Servus Community Arena over the last year.
In doing these projects, the town was fortunate to be a recipient of Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) funding.
The MCCAC helps Alberta municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs. The town applied for funding under the Recreation Energy Conservation Program for the projects.
An energy assessment was performed by Stantec Consulting to recommend potential energy conservation measures.
An LED lighting retrofit was done, which saw over 100 lights being converted by Unity Electric to LED in the arena and with the change there is an estimated reduction of 17.61 tonnes per year and a payback time of three years.
MCCAC also provided 75 per cent funding and Fortis donated $5,000 towards the project.
A REALice retrofit was done and this system eliminates the need for hot water when building and resurfacing the ice.
The door seals and sweeps are last project and will reduce heat loss at external doors.
This project will reduce greenhouse gases by an estimated two tonnes per year. MCCAC is providing 75 per cent of the funding for this component of the upgrade.
“The town is very appreciative of the support received from the MCCAC and Fortis,” said Dave Matz, Town of Bow Island chief administrative officer.
“These projects at the Servus Community Arena will provide a total reduction of 52 tonnes a year of greenhouse gases and save approximately $7,000 a year in utility costs.”
Mayor Gordon Reynolds reiterated the importance of this type of funding for small communities.
“Small communities like ours have limited opportunities to increase revenues at our recreation facilities so we must run them as efficiently as possible,” said Reynolds.
“The programs from the MCCAC and Fortis allow us to significantly reduce our arena operating costs and keep this important facility viable.”