Go Green And Save Green: Meet Your Lodging Facility's Heat And Power Needs With A New Cogeneration System
Lodging businesses in colder climates depend on toasty indoor air to retain guests. When your hotel's heating units age to the point that they frequently need servicing or repair, it's time to consider having a new heating system installed.
One option is a combined heat and power system that can do extra duty in your hotel by providing electricity, heat and hot water. It's possible to have a combined heat and power system that is 90% efficient compared to conventional systems.
Here are a few facts about these money-saving heating and power arrangements:
Combined heat and power-generating systems
Also called cogeneration or CHP systems, these systems are innovative energy configurations providing heat, hot water and electricity to both large and small commercial properties. Huge turbine and boiler systems are normally installed in factories and other industrial facilities, but there are smaller CHP systems for more modest applications like a bed and breakfast or one-story motor inn.
A hotel or motel can save energy and produce hot water for its restaurants, bathrooms and laundry applications with a small boiler system or a reciprocating engine cogeneration system. The reciprocating engine system uses the waste heat it produces to heat water, while a boiler system generates power via steam and can be used with a radiant heat system to warm conference rooms, retail spaces and other common areas.
Other types of systems include gas-combustion turbines, micro-turbines and fuel-cell CHP configurations. Some installations will involve additional infrastructure, but the investment in new venting, radiant equipment and other improvements will be offset by lower energy bills and more reliable power, heat and hot water.
Benefits of CHP systems
Compared to conventional heating and power systems, CHP cogeneration systems can reduce your hotel's carbon emissions by 29%. The waste heat that was once vented to the outdoors is now reclaimed to heat your facility's water and buildings, lowering your overall energy costs. These features of CHP systems allow you to claim the status of a green, sustainable hotel that cares about the environment and sensible energy consumption.
A gas- or propane-powered cogeneration system will also keep churning out the watts and the BTUs even if the power grid goes down due to storms or other interference. Your guests and staff are assured they'll have cozy heat and on-demand hot water no matter what the weather is doing.
Have a discussion with your HVAC professionals today to discover the cogeneration possibilities for your lodging facility.
