Barrie's ice resurfacer - 2.0

With the hockey season in full swing – Zamboni’s are kept busy resurfacing rinks across our region daily.

Now the city of Barrie is trying to be more energy efficient on the ice.

It’s not quite invisible, but that’s the difference between the city of Barrie’s new electric ice resurfacers and a typical Zamboni.

“The performance of an electric ice resurfacer is equal to or greater than a fossil fuel burning unit,” said Kevin Datema, Barrie’s manager of recreation & culture facilities

You’ll find the electric units flooding the ice at East Bayfield Community Centre this winter as the city tries to reduce its carbon footprint.

“It’s a quieter unit. There are no emissions which is good for the athletes, the participants and the spectators,” Datema said.

The two new ice-cleaning additions also have a major financial benefit to the city.

“There’s a maintenance offset, so roughly $2,000 per year in maintenance costs. That’s a cost avoidance. The energy costs are roughly a cost avoidance of $4,000 per year,” he said.

The new “ice wolf” is also a safer and more ergonomic machine for staff to operate. But it’s not just the rinks that are seeing a change in the city.

“Handheld power tools or weed trimmers. Anything where there is a performance option where it performs the same as a fossil fuel unit, we would look to go electric,” Datema said.

Right now, just two of a dozen ice resurfacers in Barrie’s fleet are electric, but the city says as more replacements are needed in the coming years, they will continue to transition to electric models.