ENERGY EFFICIENT RETROFIT IN HOTEL

Abstract

With increasing evidences on global warming issues, key players around the world are calling for green movement in buildings due to its characteristic of having a long life span. However, current stocks of buildings are built in the age where green technologies are not advanced. On top of the constraint of land in Singapore, retrofitting of current building stock is the next best alternative to demolition. Although hotel industry is not a key GDP contributor, they consist of fragmented operations which collectively consume a large amount of energy as occupant comfort is a paramount consideration. This dissertation aims to explore Singapore‟s initiatives in energy savings, appreciate the motivations, needs, benefits and challenges of retrofitting. It will study a hotel that is willing to participate in this research paper for energy simulation, analyse its energy consumption with the use of Visual-DOE software and lastly highlight the areas in which they can improve. Detailed interviews and walkthroughs are also conducted with the building personnel for in-depth understanding of the building functions. Four reports namely Building Peak Load Component, Building Energy Performance Summary, Monthly End-Use Summary and Temperature Scatter Plot from the simulation are analysed. Benchmarking is also considered in order to have a gauge of where the participating hotel is standing. Although a margin of error is obtained, between the actual and simulated consumption, this error is consistent throughout all reports. Hence, the simulated consumption is considered reasonably parallel to the actual consumption. Reasons for errors are also covered. Recommendations, not only for just the participating hotel but also for the general key players in this industry, are proposed for adaptation. The importance of total building approach is highlighted as well.