An aquatic center can move toward net-zero energy only through an integrated design: reduce heat loss and evaporation first, then supply the remaining electricity and pool heat with renewable systems. The concept developed in a 2019 Building Design + Construction design charrette combines an inflatable ETFE enclosure over a 50-meter competition pool, photovoltaic and solar-thermal panels, east-west orientation, a green roof, and an efficient pool cover. It is a design study, not a completed project with measured energy performance.
The concept also exposes the hardest decision. Gas-fired pool heating was identified as a barrier to the net-zero ambition. As Dennis Berkshire of Aquatic Design Group put it, “If you want to get to net zero, you have to get rid of gas.” The proposal may not achieve true net zero as described, but it provides a useful framework for deciding what an aquatic center must do before claiming that result.
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Why aquatic centers are unusually difficult to decarbonize
A pool is a large, continuously operating thermal load. Water must be heated to a comfortable and safe temperature, and that heat is constantly threatened by evaporation, ventilation, filtration and replacement water. The building also has ordinary loads—lighting, pumps, fans, controls, offices, changing rooms and hot-water systems—often operating for long hours.
Evaporation is particularly important. Warm water exposed to indoor air transfers moisture into the building’s atmosphere. The ventilation system must remove that moisture to protect the structure and maintain acceptable indoor conditions, while the lost heat must be replaced. Every gallon of make-up water also arrives with a heating requirement if it must be raised from the incoming supply temperature to pool temperature.
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That makes an aquatic center different from a typical low-energy office. A highly insulated wall can reduce transmission losses, but it does not solve the pool’s continuous water and air loads. The design has to address the pool surface, enclosure, mechanical systems, energy sources and operating schedule as one system.
What the 2019 net-zero concept actually proposes
LPA’s Sport + Recreation team convened a design charrette with Dennis Berkshire, president of Aquatic Design Group. Their concept uses a parametrically designed dome made from inflatable ETFE panels over a 50-meter competition pool. It combines building-form decisions with renewable generation and heat-retention measures rather than relying on a single piece of equipment.
Jeff Schaub, an LPA senior project designer, described the intent as follows: “We wanted to include passive strategies, merging low tech and high tech.” In the proposal, passive or envelope measures include the dome, east-west orientation and a green roof over the two-story administration and support area. High-tech elements include photovoltaic generation, solar thermal and an efficient pool-cover system tied to the pool operation.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe article says its ETFE panels weigh about one percent as much as glass and allow light to penetrate without heat. Those are characteristics reported in the article’s description of the material; they are not a performance guarantee for every ETFE assembly. Actual thermal, solar-control, fire, acoustic and durability results would depend on the selected panel system and the project’s engineering.
How each strategy addresses a different energy problem
| Strategy | Primary problem addressed | How it contributes | What remains to be proved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inflatable ETFE enclosure | Heat loss, daylight and the volume that must be enclosed | Creates a lightweight dome over the competition pool and admits daylight according to the article’s account of the concept. | Final panel performance, airtightness, condensation control, maintenance, fire compliance and whole-building energy use. |
| Photovoltaic panels | Electricity demand | Generates electricity for pumps, fans, lighting, controls and other electrical loads; the concept uses a hybrid PV and solar-panel approach tied to the pool system. | Available roof or site area, shading, electrical interconnection, storage needs and annual production at the project location. |
| Solar thermal | Pool-water and domestic-hot-water heat | Supplies heat directly rather than converting solar electricity back into heat, reducing dependence on combustion when the resource is available. | Collector area, seasonal mismatch, freeze protection, controls, storage volume and backup heat source. |
| East-west orientation | Solar access and passive environmental control | Positions the building to collect solar energy as part of the concept’s site and form strategy. | Site constraints, glare, overheating, neighboring buildings and the actual annual solar balance. |
| Green roof over administration and support spaces | Roof heat flow and stormwater impacts | Adds vegetated roof area to the non-pool portion of the building and can complement insulation and shading. | Structural capacity, irrigation, maintenance, plant selection and measured energy benefit. |
| Efficient pool cover | Evaporation and standby heat loss | Covers the water when the pool is not in use, retaining heat and reducing moisture entering the indoor air. | Cover deployment time, lane or equipment conflicts, durability, cleaning and suitability for a 50-meter institutional pool. |
Start with a net-zero energy definition and a load model
Before selecting equipment, the owner and design team need a written definition of “net zero.” It should state whether the target covers operational energy only, which buildings and systems are included, how on-site generation is counted, and over what accounting period the balance is evaluated. Without those boundaries, a project can appear successful by excluding major loads or counting generation that does not serve the facility.
The first engineering model should separate the loads that are easy to overlook:
- Pool heating and reheating after water replacement.
- Evaporation-related latent and sensible loads in the natatorium.
- Ventilation, dehumidification and heat-recovery equipment.
- Circulation pumps, filtration, chemical-feed systems and controls.
- Domestic hot water for showers, locker rooms and cleaning.
- Lighting, spectator areas, offices, food service and support spaces.
- Seasonal schedules, competitions, learn-to-swim programs, cleaning closures and unoccupied periods.
Use measured or defensible assumptions for water temperature, air temperature, humidity, occupancy, operating hours and weather. A 50-meter competition pool has different operating patterns from a small community pool, so a generic building model is not sufficient.
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Design the enclosure and pool surface together
Use the dome as part of a complete moisture strategy
An ETFE dome can reduce structural weight and provide daylight, but the natatorium still needs a coordinated moisture-control design. The enclosure, air-distribution pattern, vapor control, drainage, condensation management and access for inspection must be resolved together. Daylight can reduce electric lighting during some hours, yet it can also create glare or unwanted solar gains if the panel geometry and shading are not controlled.
The dome should therefore be evaluated with hourly energy and humidity calculations, not judged by material name alone. The design team should document the panel assembly, expected optical behavior, cleaning access, replacement method and how penetrations for ducts, sprinklers, lighting and maintenance equipment are sealed.
Make the pool cover an operating system, not an accessory
An efficient cover has value only when staff can deploy it reliably. The brief should identify when the cover is required, how it moves around lane lines and pool equipment, where it is stored, and how operators verify that it is fully closed. Controls can connect cover position to pool heating, ventilation and dehumidification modes so that the building does not continue conditioning the space as if the pool were uncovered.
The source names no brand, model, supplier or commercial-scale specification. A 50-meter competition pool requires project-specific sizing, structural review and an operations plan; a consumer cover chosen without those checks is not an institutional design solution.
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Photovoltaics and solar thermal solve different parts of the energy problem. PV produces electricity for pumps, fans, lighting and controls. Solar thermal produces usable heat for the pool or domestic hot water when collector output and demand coincide. The hybrid approach described in the charrette recognizes that supplying every load with electricity may require more generation and electrical infrastructure than supplying some heat directly.
The design should map each renewable source to a controllable load. PV output can be prioritized for real-time electrical demand, with storage or grid exchange defined in the project’s energy accounting. Solar thermal needs heat exchangers, temperature sensors, freeze protection where relevant, circulation controls and a backup strategy for cloudy periods and winter demand.
Do not count a conceptual panel area as an energy balance. The team must calculate annual and seasonal production for the actual site, account for shading and degradation assumptions, and compare it with modeled demand after efficiency measures are applied.
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Address the gas-heating barrier directly
The charrette participants identified gas-fired pool heating as incompatible with the strongest form of a net-zero ambition. Removing gas is not merely a fuel-switching exercise: the replacement system must provide dependable heat during periods when solar resources are low and the pool cannot be allowed to drift outside its operating range.
A credible brief should therefore require the design team to show:
- The maximum and annual pool-heating demand after cover and envelope measures.
- How solar thermal output is scheduled against that demand.
- What backup heat source operates during low-solar periods.
- How backup operation is counted in the net-zero boundary.
- How controls prevent simultaneous heating, cooling and dehumidification that wastes energy.
The article discusses solar-thermal heat storage as a challenge. It also says underground geothermal storage technology was not ready for deployment at the time of the 2019 charrette. That is a historical statement about the technology’s status then, not a current market conclusion. A present-day project would need a new feasibility study before selecting seasonal storage or assuming that it can replace backup heat.
Orient the site and support spaces for passive benefit
The proposed east-west orientation is intended to collect solar energy, but orientation also affects glare, overheating, shading and the length of exposed façades. The design team should test the dome and the two-story administration and support area together so that offices, circulation, changing rooms and service spaces do not become isolated energy problems.
The green roof belongs over the support area rather than being treated as a substitute for natatorium efficiency. Its contribution depends on structural design, waterproofing, drainage, planting, irrigation and maintenance. It can complement a well-insulated roof assembly, but it does not eliminate the need to model heat transfer through the pool enclosure.
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- Set the boundary. Define included buildings, energy carriers, operating period and the treatment of exported or purchased energy.
- Model the baseline. Establish pool, air, humidity, occupancy, ventilation, filtration and hot-water loads using the intended schedule.
- Reduce demand first. Test the pool cover, enclosure, ventilation controls, heat recovery, pump efficiency, lighting and water-management measures before sizing generation.
- Choose the form and orientation. Evaluate the ETFE dome, east-west arrangement, support-space roof and daylight strategy as a coordinated envelope.
- Assign renewable sources. Match PV to electrical loads and solar thermal to pool and hot-water loads, including seasonal performance.
- Resolve backup and storage. Document what happens during cloudy weather, maintenance, outages, competitions and unusual occupancy.
- Design controls and operations. Specify cover interlocks, temperature and humidity setpoints, schedules, alarms, meter locations and staff responsibilities.
- Verify performance. Commission systems, trend data and compare actual energy use with the modeled balance before making a net-zero claim.
Plan for measurement, commissioning and operations
A concept drawing cannot establish net-zero performance. The owner should require submeters or equivalent monitoring for pool heating, solar thermal output, PV production, major pumps, ventilation and support-space loads. Data should be reviewed by season because a facility can be net positive in one month and heavily dependent on purchased energy in another.
Commissioning should test cover deployment, sensor calibration, heat-exchanger operation, ventilation response to occupancy, pump schedules and alarms. Staff training matters as much as equipment efficiency: a cover left open overnight or a ventilation system left in competition mode during an empty period can erase modeled savings.
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Economics and community value need their own test
Arash Izadi, LPA’s director of Sport + Recreation, observed that “Generating a return on investment is always difficult for aquatic centers.” The statement reflects a common planning tension: aquatic facilities provide public, educational and health benefits that are not captured by an energy payback calculation alone.
The charrette article says about 15 percent of communities participate in aquatic programming, attributing that estimate to the National Sporting Goods Association. It does not provide a publication year or underlying study details for the figure, so it should be treated as an attributed estimate rather than a current national measurement.
Owners should evaluate capital cost, maintenance, utility volatility, resilience, programming value and carbon goals together. A measure with a long simple payback may still be justified if it protects the operating budget or keeps the facility usable during energy disruptions; conversely, an expensive renewable system is not automatically wise if demand-reduction measures have not been completed.
Common failure modes and their remedies
Oversizing generation before reducing demand
Symptom: Large PV or solar-thermal arrays are proposed while evaporation, cover use and ventilation loads remain uncertain.
Remedy: Freeze the load model only after envelope, cover and control assumptions are documented and tested.
Treating the dome as the whole solution
Symptom: ETFE is presented as proof that the natatorium will be efficient.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Remedy: Require assembly-level thermal, moisture, glare, fire and maintenance analysis plus annual energy modeling.
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Ignoring operations
Symptom: The design assumes ideal cover deployment and schedules that staff cannot maintain.
Remedy: Specify automatic interlocks, clear procedures, alarms and training, then verify them during commissioning.
Claiming net zero from a rendering
Symptom: A conceptual balance is reported as achieved performance.
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Remedy: Label the project as a design target until post-occupancy data confirms the defined boundary and accounting period.
Can this concept guarantee a net-zero aquatic center?
No. The February 1, 2019 article presents a promising combination of strategies, but it does not report a completed facility, measured energy use or a verified annual balance. It explicitly acknowledges that the concept may not achieve true net zero and describes realization as a future possibility. The article also mentions a 10-to-15-year horizon as a statement made in 2019; it should not be treated as a current forecast.
What the concept does provide is a disciplined design direction: contain the pool environment, cut evaporation and heat loss, use passive form and orientation, generate electricity and heat from solar resources, and remove combustion from the target energy balance. Whether those measures reach net zero depends on the site, climate, operating program, engineering details, storage or backup choices and the facility’s measured performance after opening.
Quick Recap
A practical brief for the next project meeting
- State the net-zero boundary and accounting period in the owner’s project requirements.
- Require a calibrated pool and natatorium load model before sizing renewable systems.
- Include a deployable, maintainable cover with controls and operational responsibility.
- Evaluate ETFE or another enclosure system for moisture, glare, fire, durability and access—not only weight and daylight.
- Model PV and solar thermal separately and show seasonal production.
- Document the no-gas pathway, backup strategy and storage assumptions.
- Coordinate east-west orientation, daylight, shading and the green roof with the complete building form.
- Provide submetering, commissioning, staff training and a post-occupancy verification plan.
- Describe the project as pursuing net-zero performance until measured results demonstrate it.
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