Ice Arenas
As refrigeration is quite simply the transfer of heat from one area to another using mechanical means, it is important to realize the sources of that heat in order to reduce its origin and therefore refrigeration plant run-time.
The following factors most influence costs in an arena:
	The period of the year during which the ice is being used. It is more
	costly to make the ice during the summer than the winter
	The building's interior volume. An arena with stands uses up more
	energy than one without
	The thermal resistance and air tightness of the architectural envelope
	The type of activity that is held there. Hockey is an activity that leads to
	greater energy consumption than figure skating: the ice needs to be colder,
	resurfacing is more frequent and showers are used more intensively
	Ventilation in the players dressing rooms must also be more efficient

As seen in this diagram, refrigeration represents the most significant energy load (45%) in an arena. In order to better understand savings measures in an arena, it is useful to assess the energy needs of the refrigeration system.

Approximately 28% of the total cooling load in a typical ice arena or curling rink is due to infrared radiation.This is the area which we are reducing through the installation of an ASTRO-RINK ceiling.

Lowering Radiant Heat Loads

Lowering the temperature at the ceiling can reduce the ceiling radiant heat load. This may be accomplished by keeping warm air away from the ceiling, by increasing the roof insulation, and significantly by lowering the emissivity of the ceiling material to shield the ice from the building structure.

Ceiling, roof materials and exposed structural members have an emissivity that may be as high as 0.9. Special aluminium paint can lower the emissivity to between 0.5 (50%) and 0.2. Polished metal such as polished aluminium or aluminium foil has an emissivity of 0.05.

Also, because a low-emissivity ceiling is cooled very little by radiant loss, most of the time its temperature remains above the dew point of the rink air, so condensation and dripping is substantially reduced or eliminated.

An ASTRO-FOIL Low-emissivity ceiling can be incorporated into new and existing rinks in order to reduce radiation loads, eliminate condensation problems and reduce the overall lighting requirements, making your rink more energy efficient, while at the same time enhancing its look.