The iconic Jumeirah Beach Hotel recently installed new ABB engineering technology that has helped the hotel become more energy-efficient and environmentally responsible.

As part of Jumeirah Group’s commitment to Corporate Responsibility, initiatives to support environmental sustainability within the group properties remain high on the company’s agenda.

A hotel’s HVAC system is essential in ensuring the comfort and safety of hotel guests and colleagues by providing temperature and humidity control, filtration, fresh air, building pressure control, and comfort control.  However, this indispensible unit is quite often the largest source of energy consumption in the hotel and contributes considerably to operational costs in the form of energy bills.

Previously, Jumeirah Beach Hotel’s HVAC system had relied on motors that ran at fixed speeds, a system that did not allow for adjustments in response to the varying demand for power depending on the time of day, the time of year and environmental conditions.  As HVAC motors account for more than 60 per cent of a building’s total energy consumption, motors running at fixed speeds cause higher energy consumption.

To eliminate energy wastage and the escalation of operating costs, the hotel’s existing set of fixed speed motor starter controls were replaced with ABB ACH550 variable speed drives.

ABB drives enable the motors to run efficiently at optimal speed as and when required; instead of running constantly at fixed speed or stopping and starting as the demand for power varies - a process that consumes large amounts of startup current.

All the ABB drives are connected to a state-of-the-art control system, which is fully integrated into the building management system (BMS). The control system allows all the drives to be controlled by a single user interface, ensuring the operator has one-stop access to all the HVAC drives in the hotel.

One year after the first phase of the ABB drives installation, Jumeirah Beach Hotel is already reaping the benefits, said a spokesperson.

The decision to switch to ABB variable speed drives has helped the hotel reduce energy consumption and become more environmentally-friendly by reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions by 35 per cent per year. The installation has also reduced the overall energy consumption, resulting in an impressive 35 per cent reduction on energy costs.

“Considering this is only the first phase of the installation, we’re very impressed with the huge reductions in energy consumption that we’ve experienced,” said Keith Tose, director of Engineering at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

“Prior to the ABB installation, we were provided with a report on projected energy savings and carbon reductions with the drives; the results, however, have been better than the projections. Overall, we see this as the best solution to make Jumeirah Beach Hotel a more energy-efficient building.”

ABB’s ACH550 standard drive is the first dedicated AC drive ever developed for HVAC applications. Renowned for its ability to reduce HVAC energy consumption by as much as 80 per cent, the drive has won several awards for engineering excellence, said a statement.-TradeArabia News Service