The Signinahotel in Laax GR provides a unique experience to skiing and snowboarding fans: It is located directly at the mountain railways’ valley station, offering visitors easy access to the 235 kilometres of Weisse Arena slopes. The 4-star hotel’s ventilation system, however, was not in the best of shapes – installed in 1969, it was in urgent need of replacement.
| Trade | Multitec |
| Client | Signinahotel |
| Location | Laax |
| Year | 2015 |
Bouygues Energies & Services’ building service specialists submitted a Multitec offer to the hotel operator in June 2015 for the new air treatment of the kitchen ventilation. The offer covered several areas including ventilation, heating, switchgear and control systems. The client was impressed by the holistic approach with additional services in the areas of subsidy consulting, amortisation calculations and sound forecasts, and Bouygues Energies & Services was awarded the contract.
The ventilation unit was installed on a flat roof extension due to the building’s challenging tight spaces, while the air heater was installed in the supply air duct inside the building due to winter weather conditions. Highly efficient fans with EC motors were installed in the “Made in Switzerland” ventilation unit, as was a heat recovery system with an annual coverage rate of over 86 percent. The location directly above the kitchen allowed for the installation of very short air ducts, which positively impacts the system’s overall energy requirements.
The other challenging aspect was the limited timeframe for renovation work of only four weeks (typical for tourism) during company holidays in late autumn 2015. The challenge was met, with renovation successfully completed in mid-November.
The Signinahotel now has a ventilation system that meets the highest quality standards. Its investment also pays off economically and ecologically, with heating energy consumption reduced by 77,000 kWh per year. This project has made Signinahotel part of the Lighthouse Energy Efficiency Programme of the Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW), together with almost 100 Graubünden hotels.
The Signinahotel is part of the Weisse Arena Group, which also includes the local mountain railways, other hotels and restaurants, and a ski and snowboard school. It is also responsible for marketing for the destination Flims Laax Falera. Bouygues Energies & Services has been working for the Group for several years: for example, a few years ago Alpiq InTec installed a woodchip heating system for eight buildings with 130 furnished holiday flats.
