Hilton Hotels: always a comfortable temperature in your room

• Sustainable energy supply
• 24/7 monitoring and adjusting
• Link to hotel booking system

With 433 rooms and 24 meeting and event rooms, Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the largest hotel in Schiphol Central Business District (CBD). One of the special features of the hotel is the large atrium, with a 42-metre high glass roof and a large window in the north facade.

The atrium gives a feeling of space and allows a lot of daylight in. At the same time, it brings with it the challenge to keep the room at a good temperature. The Priva Blue ID building management system makes this possible. Priva Blue ID enables energy-efficient management, without sacrificing comfort. Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol even has an energy consumption that is lower than the legal EPC standard.

Very low energy consumption

That low energy consumption is achieved by a heat and cold storage system at a depth of 160 metres, low-temperature heating and heat recovery. Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol also has high-efficiency installations thanks to the use of heat pumps and speed-controlled fans and pumps. Energy-efficient LED lighting has also been used.

Nick Lakeman (Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol): “We are ISO 50001 certified at Hilton. This means that we continuously strive for better energy efficiency. Comfort and sustainability were therefore central aspects in the construction of the hotel. The choice of Priva and also the link between Priva and the hotel booking system are part of this. Thanks to this link, the rooms always have a comfortable temperature for our guests and at the same time we do not consume any unnecessary energy.”

Never a complaint

Priva partner Hermans supplied the control boxes for the HVAC installations, the control cables, the software and the commissioning. René Schuurman of Hermans: “As soon as a room is checked in, the system brings it up to the right temperature. If the room is not in use, the system automatically switches to standby mode. In the winter, heating is provided as required, and in the summer, cooling is activated. Guests do not have to switch on the systems themselves. Of course, they can adjust the comfort in the hotel room as required.”

That this works well is demonstrated by the lack of complaints that Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol receives, according to Nick Lakeman. “If something works well, you never hear anyone. We have just had a few very hot weeks, but we did not receive a single complaint. We also score very high on overall accommodation. I am sure there is a link with the room temperature.”

Further development together

The Hilton is now working with Priva on a change in the software. “Based on the external temperature, the building management system determines how it regulates the internal temperature,” says Nick Lakeman. “At the moment, however, the sun’s strength is not taken into account in this. For this reason, we are installing a sun intensity meter on the roof. When the system takes the sun’s strength into account, it cools or heats up a little earlier. Especially with the large atrium, this is important for the sense of comfort.”

“It’s quite simple to change that in the software and Priva is helping us with that. We are very satisfied with the collaboration with Priva anyway. They always listen seriously to how things can be improved, take our specific wishes into account and adapt their software and products accordingly. For example, we are currently discussing the development of a new Priva hotel room control unit. We are able to provide a lot of input in this.”

René Schuurman of Hermans agrees. “The cooperation is always very pleasant. Priva Blue ID had not been on the market for long when we implemented it at Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In fact, it was the first time that we had deployed Priva Blue ID on a project of this size, and we had also had little experience of links with third-party systems of this size. However, that went fine and Priva’s support in this was very good. It is not for nothing that we like working with Priva.”