Since almost 40 years, the Sheraton Grand Hotel is saving water and energy with the help of a cooling lagoon.
Copyright: The Sheraton Grand Hotel Doha
The Sheraton Grand Hotel in Doha is a truly iconic establishment. Opened in 1982, it was the first internationally branded hotel in Qatar. Due to its unique architecture, it has become a true landmark of the city.
But the hotel does not only impress with its long history and inimitable design, but also with its early commitment to the environment. Already during its construction it was decided to replace cooling towers for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning with a cooling lagoon right next to the establishment.
But the hotel does not only impress with its long history and inimitable design but also with its early commitment to the environment. Already during its construction, it was decided to replace cooling towers for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning with a cooling lagoon right next to the establishment.
Usually, cooling towers are needed to extract heat from water that has been used for cooling in chillers. To do so, water and air are brought into contact to lower the temperature of the hot water. During this process, water is lost as humidity while performing the cooling synthesis. This water needs to be replaced by an external water source which increases the water consumption of the establishment. Especially in dry climates, this can put pressure on the water supply.
By replacing the cooling tower with a lagoon, the external water quantity necessitate to complete condensation process in the chillers get replace with seawater.
According to the hotel, this method saves approximately 600,000 kWh of electricity and 100,000 cubic metres of water per year. In addition, there is no need for chemical treatment of the seawater.