[르포] “Warm and comfortable even in the middle of winter”… Cricket Clean Tennis 13 Go

▲ Inside the Cricket Clean Tennis 13 court ⓒReporter Bohyeon Lee

“The weather suddenly got cold, so I canceled my outdoor lessons, but my boyfriend succeeded in making a reservation and we came to play tennis on the warm indoor court.”

Mr. Kim, an office worker who had recently started playing tennis, said he was surprised by the facilities and size of the indoor tennis court he visited for the first time, and looked around in amazement.

On the afternoon of the 20th, when the entire country fell into sub-zero weather, we braved the bitter wind and visited ‘Citurami Clean Tennis 13’ located in Guro-gu, Seoul.

In 2017, Kiturami opened the ‘Kiturami Clean Tennis Court’, a two-story structure with three international standard indoor tennis courts and three outdoor tennis courts, to expand the tennis base. Under the keyword ‘eco-friendly tennis court,’ the company incorporated its heating, cooling, and clean technologies into the tennis court.

At the time, indoor tennis courts themselves were rare, so the Clean Tennis Court was called a tennis mecca among hobbyists. Thanks to this popularity, Kiturami opened Clean Tennis 13 as a complex tennis center in June of this year by building a six-story building with a total floor area of ​​10,000 m2 (about 3,000 pyeong) and eight indoor courts.

▲ There are 8 ERV systems installed on one floor. ⓒReporter Lee Bo-hyeon

Clean Tennis 13, as its name suggests, focuses on comfort. At the entrance along the parking lot, signs saying “We supply clean air like a forest 24 hours a day” were posted here and there, showing Kiturami’s will to maintain a comfortable environment all year round.

As I took the elevator and entered the tennis court, the sound of tennis balls filled the high ceiling. The high ceiling of the building gives a satisfying sense of openness the moment you enter. Naturally, my attention was drawn to the ceiling ventilation system.

What caught my eye was the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped ERV (waste heat recovery ventilation system) hanging from the ceiling. ERV not only purifies indoor air by exchanging fresh outside air with indoor polluted air, but also helps maintain a constant temperature.

The short pipe connected to the machine sucks in indoor polluted air and discharges it to the outside, while the long pipe filters the air coming from outside and supplies it inside. As I got closer to the pipe, I could feel the air flowing in from outside.

An official from Clean Tennis 13 said, “Even if the air conditioner is not turned on, the internal heat can be cooled by the cool breeze flowing in from the ERV, which has an energy saving effect. It is also operated at all times except when it rains, so that comfortable air can be maintained all year round.”

▲ Kiturami’s next-generation energy technology, Micro CHP ⓒReporter Bohyeon Lee

The hidden card of the Clean Tennis 13 clean ventilation system was hidden on the floor. The floor ventilation technology, for which a patent was applied for in 2017, is installed in the center of the net and on the court walls, where the most dust is generated on the tennis court. It absorbs foreign substances such as flying dust generated when tennis balls collide.

The floor ventilation system sucked in dust through 16 ventilation blowers connected to the outside, filtered out foreign substances in a dust collector, and discharged them through the vent. In fact, when I dropped dust near the intake vent, it was naturally sucked in, and when I went to the vent located outdoors, it was blowing out a strong wind that blew my hair.

Kiturami’s technological prowess could be felt once more in the shower room. Conversely, the hot water supplied through the ECO condensing medium-sized cascade system poured out hot water even if the faucet was placed only in the middle. Even if several people showered at once, no change in temperature was felt.

Kiturami’s cascade has the advantage of allowing four modern boilers to operate evenly and minimize the load, allowing the facility to be used for a long time. The company explains that even if the boiler breaks down, it is easy to maintain and does not interfere with hot water supply.

In addition, Kiturami’s next-generation core technology, Micro CHP (Combined Heat and Power System), stores hot water generated during the power generation process in a tank and supplies it when the boiler operates, and uses waste heat for heating and cooling to increase energy efficiency. .

In line with the characteristics of sports facilities that consume large amounts of electricity, the electricity produced by micro CHP operates lighting and ventilation facilities, and the remaining electricity can be used for emergency power generation. In addition, the oil-free turbo chiller generates cold water using electricity produced by the micro CHP, increasing cooling efficiency and maintaining constant temperature and humidity throughout the four seasons.

▲ Clean Tennis 13 maintains a comfortable environment all year round through air purification technology. ⓒCricket

The reason why Kiturami puts so much effort into the tennis court’s heating, cooling and air conditioning facilities is to improve the group’s constitution. Kiturami has been pursuing business diversification into cooling, air conditioning, and energy since the 2000s as the domestic home boiler market, which has led the company, entered a period of growth stagnation.

To this end, we acquired Beomyang Air Conditioning Industry in 2006, Shinsung Engineering in 2008, and Century in 2009 to secure technological capabilities in the refrigeration and air conditioners, air conditioners, refrigerators, air conditioners, and new and renewable energy sectors for nuclear power plants. In 2016, we acquired Gangnam City Gas to secure energy. Also entered the supply business

Founder Chairman Choi Jin-min, who returned as CEO of holding company Kiturami Holdings last year, said, “We will actively respond to changes in the overall business that AI technology will bring and present the group’s vision.” He added, “The simultaneous rise of core assets, such as heating, cooling, air conditioning, and energy technologies, He also expressed his ambition, saying, “I will do my best to advance into overseas markets.”

As a result, Kiturami Group grew from a boiler specialist company with sales of 300 billion won in 2001 to a ‘comprehensive heating and cooling energy group’ with total group sales of 1.66 trillion won last year. Based on this, the group presents a mid- to long-term vision to achieve sales of 3 trillion won by 2030 and is making efforts to achieve the goal.

A Kiturami official said, “Through the tennis center, which integrates half a century of cooling, heating and air conditioning systems, we will go beyond a boiler company and become a comprehensive heating and cooling energy group and continue to expand social contribution activities such as expanding the base of daily sports.”