by Shane Henson — December 12, 2012—Heat Pipe Technology Inc. (HPT), a provider of energy recovery and dehumidification systems for commercial applications around the globe, has completed the installation of a passive energy recovery and dehumidification heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) system for the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay, Florida.
According to HPT, the new HVAC design at the 226,700-square-foot hotel is already driving down cooling costs. Specifically, as a result of HPT’s newly implemented system, the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is projected to save 464,000 kilowatt hours each year, for an annual savings of $37,000. With those savings, the hotel will also reduce its CO2 output by 320 metric tons. The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay should see a complete return on investment for the new HVAC system in three and a half years, and then it will experience the ongoing yearly savings for many years to come.
HPT says its passive dehumidification systems are remarkably simple and elegant, and they are designed to lower humidity levels while avoiding the need to overcool or reheat air for general use in a building. Just as impressive, passive dehumidification heat pipe systems are designed to be practically maintenance-free and have no moving parts, hence the passive designation in their name.
With HPT’s solutions in place, the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is expected to consistently record 75°F and 50 percent relative humidity on its guest floors during the hottest part of the Florida summer, even as the hotel substantially reduces its HVAC operating costs, says HPT.
HPT’s solutions are so effective because they work on a simple theory of energy redistribution, the company explains. An HPT wrap-around heat pipe system occupies a place on both sides of an HVAC cooling coil: the warm side, for pre-cooling incoming air, and the cold side, where air often has to be reheated before use in living/working areas, even in summer, because it required over-cooling during the dehumidification process. By distributing the heat around the HVAC cooling coil to where it is needed, HPT allows facilities to avoid the energy cost required to reheat air.
