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| Swimming with a clear conscience  Swimming pools constructed to the highly energy efficient Passive House Standard can help relieve the burden on municipalities significantly in the long term. This is demonstrated by two Passive House indoor swimming pools in Bamberg and Lünen (Germany), for which the Passive House Institute provided consultancy services. The Passive House Institute evaluated the pilot projects and has published recommendations in a free handbook for planning of energy efficient pools. The handbook is also helpful for optimised operation of already existing pools. Swimming pools are popular facilities, but for municipalities they often constitute a financial burden due to high annual running costs. Indoor pools have high indoor temperatures of around 32 degrees all year round, requiring a lot of energy for heating and for warm water. In addition, the technical systems consume high levels of electricity. "With a good building envelope and a ventilation system with efficient heat recovery, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption significantly, especially in indoor swimming pools", explains Sřren Peper of the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt. This effectiveness is evidenced by the first two indoor pools built to the Passive House Standard. The leisure pool Bambados in the Bavarian city of Bamberg and the Lippe-Bad in the Westphalian town of Lünen were both opened in 2011. Esther Gollwitzer, Jessica Grove-Smith and Sřren Peper of the Passive House Institute consulted on the projects from the planning phase. With the publication of the handbook, the Passive House Institute now assists in the planning and construction of indoor swimming pools to the Passive House Standard. Existing pools can also benefit from this handbook. Esther Gollwitzer of the Passive House Institute says: "With the latest research report and the respective handbook, the knowledge obtained so far has been analysed so that it can be applied in an even more targeted way in future projects. Even further savings potentials can be exploited with the experiences gained thus far." The research work was funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU (German Federal Environment Foundation). With their support, two seminars on the Passive House concept for indoor swimming pools are planned: on 28 October 2019 in Hanover, and on 6 November 2019 in Nuremberg. DBU General Secretary Alexander Bonde emphasis that the planning handbook used in the seminar may encourage the construction of further indoor swimming pools. It also contains practical references relating to operations monitoring and optimised operation. The Passive House concept for indoor swimming pools saves a significant amount of energy. Here are some examples: • The basis for high energy savings in a Passive House indoor pool are a thermally high quality of the building envelope and a ventilation system with heat recovery. In conventional indoor pools, circulation air is usually blown onto the glazing in order to prevent water condensing on the glass. In a Passive House indoor pool, this is no longer necessary, saving significant electricity (see figures on the right, PHI). • In order to optimise the energy demand for a pool already in the planning phase, the Passive House Institute developed a calculation method for the energy balance of swimming pools. • For the handbook, the Passive House Institute analysed the building services areas with reference to their cost-effectiveness. In the case of the Lippe-Bad, treatment of the wastewater resulting from filter washing, and the utilisation of waste heat from the cogeneration plant is particularly effective. Water-saving shower heads and a reduction in the pressure losses in the pipe network are recommended in general. • Commissioning and optimisation of operation have a substantial influence on the energy consumption. In the Bambados leisure pool, adjusting the ventilation systems are controlled helped to reduce the electricity consumption by around 60 percent. As far back as 2009, the Passive House Institute (PHI) examined in a baseline study the building physics and technical conditions under which the Passive House concept could be implemented in public indoor swimming pools. In addition, in 2013 and 2015 the PHI published detailed research reports of monitoring carried out over several years for both pools. These reports also addressed the optimisation of operation of Passive House swimming pools. The analysis of the energy consumption values has now been incorporated into this handbook and enables recommendations to be made with regard to pool water technology, water attractions, and showers, among other things. "Indoor swimming pools are very technology-intensive. Good planning and user-oriented commissioning ensure that the indoor pool performs well. All those involved can then enjoy low energy costs, a high level of comfort and durability of the building", explains Jessica Grove-Smith, physicist at the Passive House Institute. She is currently providing consultancy for a pool project in the southern English city of Exeter. write your comments about the article :: © 2019 Construction News :: home page |