Walking by UMD's observation deck to the on-campus ice rink, you may have one question- where's the ice? UMD is replacing the Olympic-sized (100'x200') ice rink floor and the cooling system underneath which keeps the ice frozen.  (Not familiar with campus? This is the rink located in the Sports and Health Center). The old rink floor was made of steel pipe embedded in concrete and coils filled with hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a refrigerant otherwise known as R-22. The new system will have fusion-welded poly pipe in a new concrete slab. Waste heat from chiller compressors heat glycol that circulates in the floor heating system, which helps to prevent permafrost. This will stop future cracking and breaking of the concrete slab due to permafrost heaving in subsurface soils.

The new system will eliminate use of R-22 in the rink floor. While R-22 is still needed in some parts of operation, the total amount used is reduced by 89%. The in floor system will run glycol instead of R-22, which is a powerful greenhouse gas that is accounted for in UMD's carbon footprint calculation. 

Project Benefits:

•       Prevents future permafrost damage to concrete slab

•       Improves rink operating efficiency

•       Reduces greenhouse gas emissions