Nearly Zero Energy Hotel Breeze Amsterdam

Winner  | EZK Energy Award Companies 2019 for the ''Earth, Wind & Fire' concept from Hotel Breeze

Every year, the EZK Energy Award is presented to organizations that distinguish themselves positively from others in the field of energy conservation and renewable energy generation.

The fact that Hotel BREEZE emerged as the winner was due to the combination of both the inspiring 'Earth, Wind & Fire' total concept and its replicability and scaling-up possibilities. "Here they have gone just that little bit further than everyone else," the jury said. This biomimicry concept developed by Ben Bronsema has been implemented in hotel BREEZE. It simulates the natural air conditioning of termite mounds. The total increase in sustainability resulted among other things in an EPC of 0 and a BREEAM Excellent certification.

Read the full article from Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland about the 2019 EZK Award presentation here or watch the video about making Hotel BREEZE sustainable with the Earth, Wind & Fire concept.

Hotel BREEZE features the inventive and progressive Earth, Wind & Fire concept.

This biomimicry concept simulates the natural air conditioning of termite mounds.

The building makes optimal use of the natural elements of wind, water and sun for natural air conditioning. It is an innovative and groundbreaking eco-technique that cleverly combines the natural elements with innovative high-tech technology.

It is a high-tech smart building "powered by nature. Eco-technology is incorporated throughout the building, making it function as a 'green' machine, so to speak.

The main elements of the EWF concept are:

• The climate cascade, a vertical shaft inside the building that acts as a natural heat exchanger in which outside air is cooled, heated, humidified and cleaned using water via nozzles;
• The solar chimneys on the southwest façade, which provides solar-driven ventilation and heating;
• The heat exchanger (WTW) that provides heat reuse for heating tap water via a heat pump and storage of waste heat in the ground source;
• Heating and cooling are provided by heat pumps combined with a CHP system (doublet);
• The power facade with custom potted BIPV panels and solar panels in the solar chimneys and on the canopy;
• The solar roof with solar panels;
• High quality facade insulation with triple glazing.

How does the technology work?

Outside air blows into the climate cascade through the vents. This is positioned vertically in the core of the building. The climate cascade acts as a natural heat exchanger. In winter, it heats and humidifies air using sprinklers with water that has a constant temperature of ± 13 degrees Celsius. The water is conditioned using solar heat and heat from the ground source. In summer, those water droplets cool the air. The water also provides natural cleaning of the outside air. The used water is filtered, disinfected and, after cooling, transported back to the sprinklers. The spray water in the climate cascade creates downward pressure. This causes the conditioned fresh air to spread naturally through the ducts from the basement to the hotel rooms. The temperature in the hotel rooms can be controlled by heating or cooling using fan coil units.

The air is extracted through the bathrooms and transported through the ductwork to the underside of two solar chimneys on the southwest facade of the building. The rear facades of both chimneys act as solar collectors. This heats up the cold air. The rising warm air creates a negative pressure. The solar heat generated is harvested using the heat exchanger and reused before the return air is blown out.

Downward pressure in the climate cascade and thermal draft in the solar chimney provide circulation of air through the building. Before the used air is exhausted through the façade, the residual heat is extracted from the return air through a heat exchanger to be reused by a heat pump to heat domestic hot water and its storage in the ground source.

All facades, except the northwest facade, are fully equipped with custom potted BIPV panels to generate solar energy. These are an integrated part of the building's sophisticated design. In addition, the rear façade solar chimneys, roof and canopy are also equipped with solar panels. The total PV area for generating solar energy is about 2,000 m². This generates about 200,000 kWh of "green" energy annually! It ensures that the total energy consumption for the 195 hotel rooms is energy-neutral. The total energy requirements of the hotel, including additional usage-dependent facilities such as restaurant, sky bar, fitness and wellness, can be expected to be met by approximately three-quarters.

The roof, wall and floor insulation in the complex meet the highest standards of sustainability, and the windows are triple-glazed.

In addition, several high-tech systems have been installed in the hotel such as heat exchangers in the showers, a smart home automation system and a smart energy monitoring system which provides additional energy savings.

The result is a smart building in which revolutionary eco-technologies have been applied to create a comfortable and healthy indoor environment!

All this ensures that the building has an EPC=0. In addition, the sustainable building received a **** BREEAM Excellent certificate.

A high-tech smart building 'POWERED BY NATURE'

Ben Bronsema Prize | €5,000 for research EWF concept

Amstelius has donated the prize money of €5,000 to Ben Bronsema, the driving force behind the EWF Lab Foundation, for the presentation of the 1st Ben Bronsema Prize on April 1, 2021 during Building Holland Digital.

Innovative knowledge development and sharing is our passion. As passionate frontrunners, we like to make sustainable impact by applying innovative and smart (eco)technology!

With this award we inspire and encourage new generations of developers, designers, engineers, architects, building owners, asset managers, etc. to choose sustainable solutions in new construction or sustainability of the built environment, based on smart innovations, biomimicry technology and biophilic design give us (positive) energy.

We thank our grandiose team of greentech pioneers for their sustained commitment and confidence to work to this day on this ambitious and innovative project.

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