A longstanding North Vancouver community centre has been going through some changes that might help the planet, even if residents won’t notice much of a change to the building.
Karen Magnussen Community Recreation Centre has completed a retrofit designed to substantially lower the Lynn Valley’s facility’s operating costs and, perhaps most importantly, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Some of the features of the recently completed retrofit have included improving efficiency by sealing air gaps in windows and doors, upgrading the facility’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as a full lighting overhaul.
Lighting in the community centre’s pool, arena, gym and front lobby have all been upgraded to LED, a move the district says is subtle but important.
“I actually don’t know that anyone has noticed, so that’s also a success because we’ve changed it, so suddenly that we’re getting the exact same output for far less energy. That’s often the goal with lighting,” said district energy manager Monica Samuda.
The district’s goal with Karen Magnussen is to save $100,000 in annual operating costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent through improved energy efficiency.
“That’s still our target and we’re well on our way there,” Samuda said.
The district is targeting a 33 per cent reduction in the entire municipality’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, as per its official community plan.
But the district has been playing with a more ambitious target when it comes to its facilities.
“For facilities, we’re trying to speed that up a bit and have the same reduction but by 2020, so that we can demonstrate some of the techniques that we use and some of the technologies so that they can be repeated in the community,” Samuda said.
Another key feature the district is touting in its recent retrofit is a new heat recovery system that reuses wasted heat generated from the community centre’s pools and ice arena.
“Instead of using natural gas, we’re capturing heat from other sources inside the building,” Samuda said.
Karen Magnussen arena was built in 1974. Over the following decades, new additions to the building have been constructed.
Due to the size of the community centre – and the volume in which people use it – it’s the district’s most energy-intensive building.
Since being retrofitted, Karen Magnussen will still be a high-energy user in the district, relatively speaking, but the ceiling for energy use has been lowered substantially due to the upgrades.
“Even if it’s still the top (energy user), everything is heading down,” Samuda said.
