Nexus Water Energy for Hotel Sector Efficiency

Five and four stars' hotels to guarantee high comfort and quality of their services lead to high energy and water consumption per user. A great part of it is for the guestś baths which include a great energy expenditure for hot water production, pumping and distribution. Efficient showers installation entail at the building level to the decrease of water use and of the energy for its heating and distribution. At the urban level the decrease of the water consumption implies also the energy reduction needed for its abstraction, treatment, pumping and distribution and also for sewage pumping and treatment. This study encompass the measurement of the energy consumption associated with the water use (including pressurization, recirculation, storage and heating), and the laboratory assessment of the hydric efficiency of different showers from the hotels under study and a simplified methodology to assess the nexus between water and energy. It also includes the study of the relation between the consumption and the installation's features depicting the respective models. It was concluded: 1) is essential to increase the showers' hydric efficiency to decrease the energy consumption by each hotel user; 2) there is no linear relation between the water and energy consumption; 3) in the pumping and in the thermal insulation pipes there is a potential of improvement of the energy efficiency to effectively diminish the carbon footprint and the building vulnerabilities under climate changes.