Energy savings in hotel Retrofit
Project facts
Type: Hotel, code compliance, retrofitting
Consultant: EQUA
Summary: Retrofit of hotel, where Swedish building code had to be followed, meets tough requirements on energy efficiency.
Challenge
In Sweden the energy requirement for a building to be retrofitted is, in principle, the same as for a new project. The possibilities for energy efficient design is, however, limited compared to new building design. For example the space available for ventilation ducts may be smaller and as consequence more fan electricity must be used to distribute the same amount of air. Also the existing structure may prohibit appropriate envelope insulation and create increased transmission losses due to thermal bridging. In this hotel retrofit project the Swedish building code therefore put tough requirements on energy efficiency. Solution and result
EQUA was engaged to model the project in IDA ICE. A base case model was developed based on the 3D-geometry from the architect’s drawings and the result was compared to the building code. Incrementally different energy saving measures was implemented until the model with some reasonable safety margin was below the requirement. Typically measures included improving envelope insulation, optimizing the window sizes and properties, adjusting air flow rates and schedules to the actual demand as well as wastewater recovery.