The speedway’s original HVAC equipment, installed nearly 30 years ago, was outdated, and with one HVAC unit per suite, the cost to run and maintain the equipment was significant.
Ductless mini-splits have become increasingly prominent in spaces like apartments or condos that didn’t once have air conditioning, but the systems still bring on challenges for contractors.
Hotel Marcel, a 110,000-square-foot adaptive reuse of New Haven, Connecticut’s historic Pirelli Building, has raised the bar for sustainable hospitality as the first Passive-house certified, zero-emission hotel in the U.S. and one of only a dozen that are LEED Platinum-certified.
The home now has a 3.9 kW solar array that offsets nearly 100% of the System M and grid power supplied from the clean-sourced ConEd program — meaning that the house has zero emission heating, cooling, and hot water.
Fifty percent of existing buildings are likely to still be in use in 2050 — meaning that the current building stock must be included as part of a comprehensive decarbonization strategy.
RetroFIT+ is the next iteration of the Belimo retrofit program, which offers online resources, including a product-selection tool, as well as personal support to provide quick and easy access to HVAC replacement solutions for actuators, valves, and sensors.
The hotel has one of the largest private solar arrays in New Mexico, and when the HVAC retrofit is complete, it should be able to handle the building’s entire load.
The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. (Eastern time) Thursday, September 7, and can be accessed from anywhere. Real-life examples, as well as tips and insight on improving building systems, will be discussed.