Klaipėda Akropolis Ice Arena

The permanent ice arena in the Klaipėda Akropolis shopping and entertainment centre was commissioned in December 2005. With an ice area of approximately 1,500 m², the project is a strong regional example of AST EPDM refrigeration-mat technology used in a permanent indoor installation.

That point is especially useful for clients comparing ice-floor technologies today: flexible EPDM systems are widely associated with temporary and seasonal rinks, but the Klaipėda project demonstrates that the same technology family can also form part of a long-term permanent facility when the complete floor, hydraulics, controls and building interfaces are engineered for that use.

Project at a glance

Why this project is technically interesting

The most important lesson is not the 1,500 m² area. It is the choice to use a flexible refrigeration-mat technology in a permanent commercial arena.

That challenges a common simplification:

EPDM = temporary, concrete pipes = permanent.

In practice, the correct ice-floor technology depends on the full project. A flexible refrigeration surface can also be engineered for long-term operation when the surrounding construction, protection, hydraulics and maintenance concept support it.

Permanent EPDM: what has to be considered

For a comparable project today, selecting EPDM for permanent use would require more than choosing the mat itself. The engineering review would include:

• how the refrigeration mats are supported and protected;
• how the floor build-up distributes loads;
• insulation beneath the refrigerated zone;
• collector and manifold arrangement;
• hydraulic flow balance;
• secondary-fluid temperature and pressure drop;
• access to connections and serviceable components;
• the relationship between the ice system and the building floor;
• what happens during periods without ice;
• long-term inspection and maintenance strategy.

This is the same principle that applies to any permanent rink: the refrigeration surface is only one layer of a complete system.

EPDM or concrete slab? Start with the use, not the label

The purpose of comparison is not to declare one technology universally better. It is to avoid choosing a floor system by habit before the project conditions are understood.

Read: EPDM, Concrete Slab, IcePhalt® or SkateWay®?

Hydraulic design is critical to flexible refrigeration systems

With EPDM technology, uniform ice depends on distributing the secondary fluid evenly through a large number of parallel refrigeration channels.

For a new system, hydraulic engineering should therefore check:

• collector arrangement;
• circuit lengths;
• flow distribution;
• pressure drop;
• pump selection;
• supply and return temperature difference;
• air removal and filling procedure;
• how the system can be tested and balanced during commissioning.

A refrigeration plant can have enough nominal cooling capacity and still produce uneven ice if the hydraulic side is poorly designed or contains trapped air.

Computer-based monitoring was part of the installation

The documented project included monitoring and control of refrigeration and artificial-ice parameters through computer networks.

For a permanent commercial rink, this type of visibility is valuable because operators need to distinguish normal load changes from developing technical problems.

In a current project, the control philosophy would normally be defined around:

• ice / slab temperature;
• secondary-fluid supply and return temperatures;
• pump status;
• refrigeration capacity stages;
• alarms and fault history;
• operating schedules;
• energy or runtime trends;
• remote access or BMS integration where appropriate.

The exact modern architecture should be selected for the client and building; the historical project fact is that monitored control was already treated as part of the rink system rather than as an optional extra.

Heat recovery served several practical loads

The project documentation identifies three uses for recovered refrigeration heat:

• melting snow removed from the ice surface;
• heating technical water;
• supporting floor-heating loads.

This demonstrates one of the strongest energy opportunities in a permanent ice arena. The refrigeration system continuously transfers heat away from the rink. If the facility has a simultaneous demand for low- or medium-temperature heat, useful recovery can reduce the amount of heat that must be produced separately.

For a new arena, the right question is therefore not only “how efficient is the chiller?” but also:

“Where can the rejected refrigeration heat be used productively?”

Why snow melting is a logical heat-recovery load

Every resurfacing cycle removes snow and ice shavings from the rink. That material has to be handled somewhere.

Using recovered heat for a snow-melting pit or similar technical load can be attractive because:

• the heat source and snow production are both linked to rink operation;
• the load exists when the refrigeration system is operating;
• it can reduce the need for separate electric or fossil-fuel heating;
• it simplifies snow disposal where the building has a suitable drainage solution.

The detailed solution still requires correct drainage, water treatment and heat-exchanger design, but the principle is directly relevant to modern permanent arenas.

A commercial building changes the design priorities

In a shopping and entertainment centre, the arena is part of a larger customer environment. A rink project therefore has to coordinate technical performance with the wider building.

For similar facilities, SPORTWAVE would examine:

• noise from refrigeration equipment;
• heat rejection into or outside the building;
• humidity and condensation risk;
• spectator and public circulation;
• loading and delivery access;
• resurfacer movement;
• snow disposal;
• technical-room access;
• operating hours relative to the shopping centre;
• service work without disrupting the public area.

These interfaces can determine whether an otherwise efficient rink is easy or difficult to operate over many years.

Why 1,500 m² does not define the refrigeration capacity

The ice area is an essential design input, but it is not a complete refrigeration specification.

For a comparable 1,500 m² indoor rink, the required capacity would also depend on:

• ice temperature and sport use;
• building air temperature;
• humidity and dehumidification strategy;
• radiant heat from the ceiling and surroundings;
• lighting;
• skater load;
• resurfacing frequency;
• pump heat;
• floor construction;
• operating months;
• required redundancy.

ASHRAE’s preliminary area-to-capacity ranges are intended only to check a calculated requirement. They should not replace the heat-load calculation.

Read the Refrigeration Sizing Guide

What a modern project can learn from this reference

1. Do not classify technologies too simplistically. EPDM can be used beyond seasonal rental when the construction and operating concept justify it.
2. Engineer hydraulics with the ice floor. Uniform flow is part of ice quality.
3. Include controls from the beginning. Permanent operation needs trends and alarms, not only manual adjustment.
4. Design heat recovery around real loads. Snow melting, water heating and building loads can use energy that would otherwise be rejected.
5. Coordinate with the host building. Humidity, noise, public circulation and service access are part of the arena design.
6. Evaluate lifecycle service. A permanent system should be maintainable after years of operation, not only easy to install on day one.

When permanent EPDM may deserve evaluation today

The Klaipėda reference does not mean permanent EPDM should be selected for every arena. It shows that it should remain in the technical comparison when:

• the project benefits from flexible refrigeration-mat construction;
• the floor build-up can protect the system correctly;
• hydraulic distribution can be engineered and commissioned properly;
• the owner values a technology with strong continuity to mobile / modular ice systems;
• the complete lifecycle case is competitive with a conventional concrete-integrated slab.

The final decision should come after comparing the building, annual use, structural design and service strategy.

Why this project remains relevant

Klaipėda Akropolis is valuable as a reference because it demonstrates a less obvious permanent-rink solution: a flexible AST EPDM refrigeration system integrated into a long-term commercial ice arena, supported by monitored control and useful heat recovery.

For clients planning new facilities, the lesson is not to copy the 2005 equipment. It is to keep the technology comparison open until the operating model and full system interfaces are understood.

SPORTWAVE perspective

This project forms part of the regional experience base behind SPORTWAVE. Today, SPORTWAVE can evaluate permanent EPDM, concrete slabs, IcePhalt® and other rink technologies against the actual project rather than forcing every permanent arena into one standard construction method.

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