Abstract
Mitigation of climate change requires the increased use of renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels in all sectors. Hotel buildings utilize large amounts of energy consuming mainly electricity while the use of renewable energy sources is rather limited. Solar energy is abundant in the Mediterranean basin and it is currently used for heat and electricity generation in many applications. Various solar energy technologies are mature, reliable and cost-effective. Use of solar thermal energy, and solar photovoltaic energy combined with the use of high efficiency heat pumps, can cover all the energy needs for domestic hot water, space cooling and electricity in summer-operating hotels in the Mediterranean region. A summer-operating hotel located in Crete, Greece with a covered surface of 3000 m2 has a specific annual energy consumption of 150 KWh/m2. The capital cost of the required sustainable energy systems for covering all the annual energy requirements in the hotel including a solar thermal system with flat plate collectors, a solar photovoltaic system with crystalline-Si modulus and high efficiency heat pumps has been estimated at 95.7 €/m2 while the annual CO2 savings due to the use of benign energy systems in the hotel have been calculated at 68 kgCO2/m2. It is concluded that the use of solar energy technologies in summer-operating hotels in the Mediterranean region could cover all their energy requirements, while it is technically feasible, economically profitable and environmentally desirable.
Highlights
The global threat of climate change has increased the efforts of the international community to decrease the use of fossil fuels in order to mitigate the greenhouse effect
The authors stated that summer-operating hotels in the Balearic Islands consume on average 150 KWh/m2 while more than 50% of their total energy demand comes from thermal applications including heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) and domestic hot water (DHW)
Solar energy can be used in summer-operating hotels in the Mediterranean region for covering part or all of their operational energy requirements
Summary
The global threat of climate change has increased the efforts of the international community to decrease the use of fossil fuels in order to mitigate the greenhouse effect. Hotels utilize mainly electricity and fossil fuels for covering their energy needs while the use of renewable energies is rather limited. Current advances in various renewable energy technologies have reduced their cost and increased their attractiveness for heat, cooling and power generation. In areas with high potential in renewable energy resources, their use in hotels consists of a challenge offering economic and environmental benefits. Solar energy in the Mediterranean region is abundant while solar energy technologies can generate heat, cooling and electricity in a cost-effective way. Investigation of using solar energy technologies in hotels for covering their energy requirements could indicate the way for reducing their carbon footprint and improving their sustainability
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