engleski

Sustainable Cooling and Heating Systems for Green hotels

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry with 698 million arrivals registered worldwide in 2000. It is estimated that by 2020 the number of international arrivals will increase to 1.561 billion, with 720 million in Europe alone (assuming an annual growth-rate of 3%). The increase in international travel is expected to lead to a corresponding increase in the demand for accommodation, and is bound to result in increased tourism facility development and construction. Considering the high energy intensity of the hotel industry in particular, this is further expected to result in increased energy consumption and environmental pollution. This paper deals with the possibilities of increasing the overall energy efficiency, as well as the utilization of renewable energy in tourism facilities located in a Mediterranean climate (Croatian Adriatic Coast), by using centralized energy systems for space conditioning (heating/cooling). Three advanced HVAC systems (heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems), including high-temperature cooling and low-temperature heating alternatives, utilizing a high proportion of renewable energy resources, were designed and modeled. The simulations were carried out by using the TRNSYS simulation software code. It was shown that the utilization in hotels of free solar heat and free cold energy from seawater can contribute to substantial reductions in electricity and water consumption, reduced CO2 - emissions, as well as an appreciably lower overall environmental impact.

Hotels; centralized systems; HVAC; renewable energy

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