Description

This new ice-skating rink under construction by Belmont High School on Concord Avenue is new in more ways than one. Its net-zero-energy ice-making system will be the first of its kind in the country. Glycol, an alcoholic chemical compound, increases the evaporation-condensation point of the CO₂ used in the cooling of the ice, keeping the rink’s ice sheet frozen for longer periods of time in an environmentally sustainable way. It does not deplete the ozone layer, and it has a global warming potential of 1, in contrast to the average rink’s 40-something potential.

Adding to this is the rink’s potential to accommodate photovoltaic solar panels in the future, as soon as funding is available.

The Belmont Skating Rink is also new in its building method. It will be built with modular pre-engineered steel sheets, columns and supporting elements, all of which make up a kit of parts prefabbed in a factory, transported to the site, and assembled on site. This includes a special web of bents, beams, trusses and purlins that allows for a 40,000 SF volume and an unobstructed view of the action during Boston Marauders high-school hockey games as well as public skate-ins.

Also new is the type of steel sheeting that will be used for the walls and roofs, which is more durable than the rusted corrugated metal sheets of the old rink that this one is replacing.