Gym & Fieldhouse: Page 34

Air-Destratification and Dispersion Technologies Enhance Heating and Cooling Efficiencies in Large Interior Spaces

About eight years ago, Xcel Energy of Colorado paid a visit to the Longmont headquarters of Avedon Engineering, a custom manufacturer of injection-molded plastics.

Air Pears can be dangled above climbing walls, like this one at the Longmont (Colo.) Recreation Center (top), or made to virtually disappear among catwalks, as is the case at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House. (Photos courtesy of Airius)

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Gym & Fieldhouse

Net-Zero Field House Is a Classroom and a Money Maker for The Putney School

The Putney School, a private, progressive secondary school in southeastern Vermont, sits on 500 acres that include a dairy farm, stands of sugar maples, vegetable gardens and hay fields."A high-performance building envelope provides a lot of benefits," Petter adds. "If you have a highly insulated building, once you heat your air up to a certain temperature, it doesn't lose its heat very quickly. You could heat this building up in the middle of winter, turn all your systems off, and it would maintain an internal temperature for two or three days that would be comfortable.""Opening a building to the north is never something that's really beneficial, and it would have required a higher energy intensity for the building," Petter says, referring to a measurement used throughout the building industry reached by dividing the total amount of energy consumed by the number of square feet. "When you're looking at a high-performance building, it comes down to percentage points.""There are still financial tradeoffs," Petter says. "Until you spend enough money to get your building down to performing below that level, it doesn't make sense to pay for the extra photovoltaics. You can put more PV or insulation in, but at those higher energy intensity levels, you can get more bang for your buck with insulation."Operationally, the cutting-edge technology - more accurately, an update on an extremely old concept - is night flush mechanical cooling, in which operable clerestories are programmed to open during the coolest part of the night, flushing warm air out of the building and replacing it with cooler air brought in through apertures placed lower to the ground. The system measures both the building's interior air temperature and the differential in ingoing and outgoing volume, and when appropriate levels of both have been reached, it shuts off and the windows close.

(Photo courtesy of The Putney School)

Gym & Fieldhouse

New Efforts to Revive Structured Physical Education Abound

Most school gymnasiums are filled more often than not these days - hosting much-needed blood drives, fundraisers for vital school and community needs, and revenue-generating offseason sports camps.

Children exercising in the gymnasium at Spring Grove (Pa.) Middle School are representative of America's renewed focus on physical activity. (Photo courtesy of York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News)

Gym & Fieldhouse

New Projects: Virginia Beach; Texas A&M; TCU; Auburn

Construction is under way in Virginia Beach, Va., on the Williams Farm Recreation Center. The city enlisted the services of Newport News-based W.M. Jordan Company for the $21 million design-build project, which is expected to be completed in July of next year.

Hood College Athletic Center (Rendering courtesy of Hood College)

Gym & Fieldhouse

Facility Owners Diversify Program Offerings Beyond Basketball

Most facility owners who base their business models on basketball end up scrambling to diversify their program offerings.

WORKING CAPITAL Capital Sports Complex in District Heights, Md., supplements basketball with fitness, boxing and

Gym & Fieldhouse

Technology Makes Accommodating Gym Activities Easy

Ever stop to consider how much movement takes place in a gym? We're not talking about the running, jumping, dribbling and bumping, but rather the shuffling of various pieces of equipment needed to accommodate such activities - sometimes simultaneously. Modern gyms are rigged to convert from basketball to badminton, or from softball practice to a commencement ceremony - always with efficiency, safety and the maintenance of the hardware in mind.

ABOVE BOARDS Basketball goals that drop into position from the ceiling dominate today's gymnasium market.

In Search of a Qualified Track and Tennis Court Builder

Look beneath the surface when searching for a qualified builder of tennis courts or tracks.1.) ASK AROUND. Colleagues who have built or renovated a tennis court could be your best source of information. Seek out someone who has a facility similar in scope to the one you are planning, and come prepared with a list of questions. Was your contact happy with the completed project? Did the contractor deliver the project on time and as promised? Were there any unforeseen delays, complications or hidden costs? Did the contractor return calls promptly? After the project was completed, was the contractor available to answer questions and attend to punch-list items? Would your contact recommend this contractor, based on his or her experience?2.) SHOP AROUND. While word of mouth is a great tool, there are other ways to find the right contractor. The American Sports Builders Association, the trade association for designers, builders and suppliers of materials and equipment to the sports facility construction industry, offers a directory of its membership free of charge, as well as a feature on its web site (www.sportsbuilders.org) allowing searches by geographical area, area of expertise and so on. ASBA also offers comprehensive certification programs for builders of both tennis courts and running tracks (see "Confidence Builder," below).3.) CHECK IT OUT. Ask for references, both good and bad, says Randy Futty of Lee Tennis Court Products in Charlottesville, Va. "I often tell prospective buyers to not only check out the positive references of a builder, but ask the contractor to supply the names of customers where the job encountered trouble along the way," Futty says. "This lets the buyer know that the prospective contractor is both adaptable to changing conditions and transparent in his or her approach to business."4.) MAKE SURE IT'S BUILT RIGHT. In order for sports facilities to be ready for competition at their appropriate level (high school, college, club, recreational), they need to be built in accordance with the specifications, rules and regulations set forth by the proper governing bodies. A tennis court, for example, needs to be a certain length and width, sloped and marked correctly, with the proper clearance around the sides and back of the court and, if appropriate, the lighting levels specified for competition. Make certain that any contractor is using the most up-to-date version of the construction guidelines set forth by the American Sports Builders Association, and that the rules of the appropriate governing body (NCAA for collegiate level competition, NFHS for high school) are satisfied.5.) GET IT IN WRITING. Ask for proposals in writing, and take time to review them thoroughly. Ensure that the bids, including products to be used and methods of construction, are identical to your specifications. Look at what is and what is not included in the contract price. Make sure everyone agrees on who is responsible for permitting, site preparation, electrical power, taxes, insurance, removal of trees and shrubbery, restoration of the construction access route and so on.6.) FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS. This no doubt sounds counterintuitive after all these specifics. Set aside your top choice for a minute and listen to your instincts. What are they telling you? Are you at ease with the contractor you're favoring, or do you have lingering doubts? If so, why? Ask yourself whether the person is prompt in returning calls, answering questions and helping you understand complex issues. Remember that communication will be essential to keeping the project moving.

Fertita Tennis Complex at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas

Gym & Fieldhouse

Consider These Issues When Proposing an Indoor Sports Complex

Physical limitations, local market needs and funding sources must be considered when proposing an indoor sports complex.

Gym & Fieldhouse

New Projects: University of North Texas; Western Oregon University; The Putney School

A roundup of groundbreakings and grand openings.

Rendering courtesy of University of North Texas

Gym & Fieldhouse

A Progressive School Sees Progress on the Recreation Front

Gym & Fieldhouse

New Regulations, Formulations Change Gym Floor Coating Game

New environmental regulations and more sophisticated polymer formulations have combined to change the gym floor coating game.

Photo of New Orleans Arena, home of the New Orleans Hornets professional basketball team

Maintenance of Fields, Tracks, Courts and Rinks Affects Game and Globe

In pursuit of athletic competition, humankind has harnessed the best that nature has to offer. The argument could be made that in many ways we've managed to improve upon nature. Indeed, we have successfully recreated nature in order to satisfy our desire to play what we want wherever we want - all the while respecting the integrity of the game and the well-being of its participants.

Photo of a natural grass baseball field

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