ZeroCO2 buildings – how low can we go : a case study of a small hotel in Gozo

Abstract

This study has shown that a new typical hotel building in Malta can reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 75 % over a chosen reference scenario with a relatively reasonable payback period of approximately 8 years. Such a reduction in CO2 emissions is possible by tackling the main energy consumer for hotels i.e. energy consumption for hot water. Various Energy efficiency and renewable energy combination of measures were considered in this study, however air to water heat pumps combined with roof and facade mounted photovoltaic's produced the lowest CO2 emissions. Policy to achieve near zero energy/CO2 emissions hotels should therefore focus on implementing renewable energy solutions for generating hot water and facilitating the transition of integrating renewable energy with the facade.