An ice rink floor thermal model suitable for whole-building energy simulation analysis

This paper presents a thermal model for an ice rink floor system that is integrated into EnergyPlus, a whole-building energy simulation tool, to improve design, evaluation, and operation of ice rink facilities. The developed ice rink floor thermal model, based on the conduction transfer function method, is validated against experimental data obtained under laboratory testing conditions. Two control strategies for indoor ice rink floor systems were modeled and evaluated including a brine temperature control strategy and an ice surface temperature control strategy.