I am not a serious soccer fan. I really enjoy watching what I can of the World Cup every four years, and I like a little Premier League if I come across it in the meantime (as a Red Sox fan, I might now have a chance to adopt Liverpool as a favorite, but that’s another story). My point is, I’m interested but not one of the people lighting up the football portion of the internet with complaints when FIFA awarded Qatar and Russia the privilege of host city status last month for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the World Cup.
That said, one phrase from the December, 3 ESPN.com article on the announcements did get my attention. I’m sure you’ll spot it:
FIFA’s executive committee choose Qatar - a nation smaller than Connecticut, which has promised to overcome 130-degree heat with air conditioned stadiums - over the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea in a secret vote Thursday.
Twelve air conditioned outdoor stadiums? And large ones, to boot? We’ll have to keep our eye on that. I doubt widespread heat stroke is the kind of PR that FIFA is after, but this sounds like no small task.
I’ve done a little more looking around since I first blogged about this news. David Raish at PlanetForward.org has reported that this work is a $50 billion project from German firm, Buro Alert Speer & Partner. By using on-site solar panels, Raish writes, “The air conditioning system will reduce temperatures inside the stadium to 27°C, which will be a much more bearable temperature for both fans and players.” FYI, that’s a projected drop down to just under 81°F from seasonal 100° temps.
Elsewhere,Al Jazeera’s English online coverage reports that organizers claim the stadiums will be carbon-neutral, continuously forwarding energy collected by the solar panels to the Qatar electric grid when not in use for matches.
That’s admirably ambitious, and we’ll see how they do. But to be fair, they still have almost twelve years to figure it out. Maybe by then, Americans will actually like watching soccer that isn’t being played by their children.
WEBINAR ALERT!
You might recognize John Siegenthaler’s name. He teaches courses but has also written about hydronics and solar thermal systems for ES and several other publications over the years, including a couple of others under the BNP Media umbrella. This is short notice in terms of print promotion (which is why I’m mentioning it here in addition to our “Issues & Events” section), but he will present a webinar titled, “Saving Energy & Reducing Installation Costs Using Fluid Comfort” on January 20.Registration for the webinar, sponsored by Aquatherm, is free as usual. Here’s Siegenthaler’s overview of his program:
“Water is vastly superior to air as a medium for moving heat through buildings. It is equally superior at delivering building cooling. This webinar will explain why, and goes on to show unique applications in which both heated and chilled water can be used to condition buildings. It will also demonstrate how heat-fused reinforced polypropylene piping (PPR) systems allow creative designs that simplify installation, reduce installation cost, and improve the performance of fluid comfort systems.”
Specific topics of discussion will include how water compares to air as a heat conveyance media; small tubes vs. large ducts; a Nevada case study involving manifolds for radiant floor heating; chilled water cooling concepts for smaller buildings; radiant walls and ceilings using prefabricated tubing grids; and more.
Learn more and register athttp://webinars.esmagazine.com.ES
Events
JAN. 31 – FEB. 2
2011 AHR Expo International Exposition Co.
Las Vegas. For info, visitwww.ahrexpo.com .
ES Webinars
All webinars are free.
Registration and archives at
http://webinars.esmagazine.com
JANUARY 20
“Saving Energy & Reducing Installation Costs Using Fluid Comfort”
Presented by John Siegenthaler, P.E.
Sponsored by Aquatherm.
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