Good Practice Guide 137: Energy efficiency in sports and recreation buildings: effective plant maintenance

Sports and recreation centres that operate an effective plant maintenance programme can

avoid wasting many thousands of pounds a year on their fuel bills. They can also minimise the risk of expensive breakdowns and related safety problems. The main aim of this Guide is to help sports and recreation centre managers appreciate more fully the effects of plant maintenance on energy efficiency, and what can be done to achieve cost-effective improvements. Explanations are given of how the plant works, and of the maintenance tasks (other than simple housekeeping) that are required to keep it in peak running order.

For the purposes of this Guide, each type of plant is grouped according to the service it provides, under the following headings:

- heat supply

- heat recovery

- heat distribution

- mechanical ventilation

- controls

- pool water filtration

- other services.

This information should help managers decide how much of the maintenance work can be

Frequent checks and adjustments to boilers are required to maintain efficiency and reliability sensibly undertaken in-house, and what should be entrusted to a specialist contractor.

Effective plant maintenance can also help managers make decisions on the need for

replacement plant. If maximum performance is obtained from existing plant, then replacement may not be necessary.