Energy analysis of a combined heating and cooling system for conditioning hotels in mild and warm dry climates

Hotels represent a promising area in the frame of possible energy reductions. The increase of different services which are given in hotels (e.g. swimming pools and spa) and the opportunity to work at different levels of temperature may induce to specific design suitable HVAC for this kind of applications. The paper presents an energy analysis of a hotel, based on dynamic simulations (TRNSYS) for determining net energy needs for heating, cooling and hot water. Three climates are considered: two mild climates (dry and humid) and one warm and dry climate. Terminal units, distribution loops and storage losses are taken into account. Three possible generation systems solutions are investigated for evaluating the primary energy consumptions. Based on simulations a multi-functional reversible heat pump unit allows energy reductions with respect to usual solutions for the considered climates.