The West St. Paul manufacturer’s geothermal heat-pump systems are used at hockey and curling rinks across Canada, from 100 Mile House in B.C. to Springhill in Nova Scotia.
Ice Kube has infiltrated the U.S. market, too, notes Steve Sacher, the firm’s vice-president of international development and operations.
The company’s surprisingly compact heat pump units, used for cooling and heating in a variety of building types, are operating at more than 60 locations in North America. Sacher says about two-fifths of those places are in the United States.
Not that Ice Kube is limiting itself to the North American market. To the contrary, it is wooing customers as far away as the United Arab Emirates.
The government of Dubai, the Persian Gulf country’s wealthiest and most populous jurisdiction, is trying to build a “zero carbon footprint” community. Ice Kube’s “green” technology seems to be a good fit with that objective.
“Our role in that project – if there is one - is not defined yet, but we continue to talk with (the developers) and we’re optimistic,” Sacher says.
And then there are the potential new customers Ice Kube is courting in Scotland and Ireland, where curling rinks face soaring energy costs.
Schools in England are considering Ice Kube’s geothermal technology to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, he adds.
Closer to home, the Ice Kube team has secured a deal with a New Brunswick town to install a geothermal system at a $21-million recreation complex.
The Q-Plex in Quispamsis, N.B., will be the first recreation facility in North America to win Gold-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Sacher says Ice Kube’s geothermal technology, utilizing a renewable resource and producing essentially no carbon emissions, is a perfect fit for such aspirations.
Ice Kube geothermal heat pumps can also be found in Russia and South Korea.
Sacher says projects in which Ice Kube has been involved come in a broad range of sizes, from an indoor rink at a rural Canadian Prairies household to an art collector’s private estate near San Francisco.
The guts of Ice Kube Systems’ product are housed in metal cubes that are just a few feet tall. Heat is sucked up from underground loops of pipes and converted to hotter or colder temperatures to suit a facility’s needs.
“Technically, what makes it unique is that we simultaneously heat and cool,” says Sacher. “We have the ability to produce both chilled and hot fluid simultaneously.”
And the equipment can deliver a high range of temperatures, cooling to 10 F or heating to 145 F.
Every component in the Kubes, which are assembled below Sacher’s second-floor office in West St. Paul, is “off the shelf” rather than specially made, he notes.
“What that means is that, from a maintenance perspective, you don’t need highly specialized mechanics. From an ease-of-maintenance perspective, it’s a huge advantage.”
Ease of maintenance is an especially important consideration in places far from major urban centres. Facility operators appreciate knowing that their regular maintenance personnel can, with just a bit of training, keep the Ice Kubes running.
“What really makes us unique and successful, though, is our approach to the marketplace,” says Sacher.
The company has developed close “strategic partnerships” with its distributors so that they’re like “an extension of the company,” he explains.
That corporate philosophy applies to Ice Kube staff, a small group sharing a building with its parent company on St. Paul Boulevard, he says. “We all have to feel like owners and we all make decisions as owners.”
Also, he says, Ice Kube Systems strives to remain “boutique-y” even while sales are growing at an impressive pace.
He says net revenue grew by about 60 per cent in 2008 versus 2007, and is projected to grow by more than 30 per cent this year compared to last.
But he adds the company is “being careful not to grow too quickly.”
Not being a “mass producer” means Ice Kube can always keep an eye on quality and creativity, he says.
The company’s systems are more expensive to install than more conventional systems but they’re so efficient that the extra installation cost is typically recovered within three to five years, he adds.
The story of Ice Kube Systems dates back to about 15 years ago, when Selkirk came to Frontier Refrigeration and Mechanical Services with a challenge.
The municipality was using geothermal technology at its hockey rink, but not using it very well.
“The product that they were using was not specifically designed for hockey rinks,” recalls Walter Lehmann, Frontier founder and president. “It was just not the right product for that particular application.”
“What we decided at that point was that the concept was good but we had to design new equipment specifically for that application.”
Lehmann says the experience gave Frontier “an opportunity to create a product for that market.”
The product in turn was the foundation for a new division of Frontier.
“It’s a relatively simple storyline, but exciting because it’s the start of how we got to where we are now,” says Lehmann.
The first Ice Kube units were sold mainly in smaller, rural communities in Manitoba, he says.
The product line’s first international sale was made in the late 1990s when six of the heat-pump systems were purchased by a Minnesota electric utility.
Ice Kube Systems Ltd. was spun off as a separate company a few years later. Lehmann is president of both companies. Sacher came on board two years ago.
