Imagine if you could take advantage of one of the most untapped places on your property? And imagine if that benefit was not only for the benefit of your business but for the benefit of the environment? Well, this is what photovoltaic energy panels offer that, installed on the roof of your hotel, have the possibility of generating money with a low investment, little maintenance and high profitability. "The photovoltaic solar market has grown rapidly during the last two years," says Leonardo Quijada, director of solar panels at the consulting firm Dyrecto, a company that offers investment solutions for the real estate sector. The boom in the industry is being taken advantage of by all sectors involved.It's no wonder then that from architectural firms to air conditioning installation firms, everyone is looking to capitalize on the good time and serve it on a silver platter to the industry. "In any case, it is convenient to put yourself in the hands of experts capable of recommending the most appropriate installation and installers depending on the type and dimension of surface available, and even the architecture of the building," warns Mr. Quijada.
Laws evolve
35% of the energy consumed in the world is consumed by buildings. "Of this energy, the vast majority is used in the production of heat or cold that is lost in the skin that surrounds the buildings," explains architect Bill Marshall, director of Estudio Marshall & Asociados, an architectural firm with offices in Buenos Aires and Madrid. specialists in facades. During his years of experience, he has been in charge of many construction projects where solar energy is the protagonist. And it has witnessed the different uses of solar energy in the construction sector.
"There is even talk of the right to the sun," says the architect Marshall. "Where some buildings can't subtract sun from the building next door," he adds. Therefore, his studio is already thinking about implementing software that allows analyzing shade lines in urban groups in cities. "Spain has in its building code great limitations to design but with incentives to conscious design of facades and conscious design from the energy point of view," he explains.
Let there be light
But it seems that the use of solar energy goes beyond even the solar panels themselves. An example of this is provided by the Vista Sol hotel project. In the middle of the southernmost region of the world, the Patagonian mantle will shelter this hotel, allowing solar energy to enter the building and remain there according to the needs. Due to the high condition of permanent winds in the area, the decision to bury the façade was the most successful.
"Because in addition the earth behaves with very good insulation to noise and heat loss, which seemed very appropriate and we have taken advantage of this situation to optimize the conditioning equipment, so the rooms and different dependencies of the hotel have windows with great views overlooking the lake but the façade is nothing more than the window, the only thing you see from the outside are the different windows of the rooms, all the rest of the envelope of the building is covered by the Patagonian mantle, "explains the architect Marshall.
The sustainability of this project will depend a lot on the awareness of the guests who when stepping on this place must have as a premise the environment, rather than their comfort. "It is a double window with intermediate space that during the daylight hours will be functioning as a greenhouse where there will be heat gains during the hours of sunshine but at night it will act as a buffer between the interior and exterior space," explains Bill Marshall. The operation of this system, which will have a simple instruction, will be in charge of the guest. It will definitely be a more active role than the one that the operation of a central air conditioning system requires at the moment.
Expect full article in the next edition of Hotel Management, 4-2.
