In January 2001, WBRS found itself saddled with a $5,590 heating bill for its aging, five-court tennis "bubble" structure, which sat adjacent to the main building. With such hefty utility costs, it is little wonder that management decided to replace the old bubble with a new, well-insulated, five-court metal building, built during the summer of 2002. But instead of conventional forced-air heating, the new facility is equipped with an in-court radiant heating system, in which warm water is supplied by six ground-source heat pumps.
The result is a jaw-dropping reduction in energy costs. During January 2004, when temperatures plunged to –10 degrees F in the Land of the Wind Chill Factor, the heating bill for the new 38,000-square-foot tennis facility came in at $60, for a cost savings of 99 percent over January 2001. In fact, WBRS spent literally nothing on climate control during the previous three months (October through December 2003). In all, the club expects to cut its annual fossil fuel costs for heating and cooling in the new tennis building by $40,000.