Castilla Termal, sustainable spa hotels

Castilla Termal Hoteles: an eco bet with 100% sustainable spas.

The Hotel Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena de Valladolid has executed an ambitious project of efficiency and sustainability. The management and use of the natural resources available in the area are the basis of this integral energy project that includes the installation of two biomass boilers, a geothermal system, use of low temperature water and gray water, among other measures.

Monastery, hotel and spa
The Hotel Monasterio de Valbuena has 79 rooms and has more than 18,000 m2 built. The thermal area of ​​the Hotel Monasterio de Valbuena exceeds 2,000 m2, with 16 treatment booths, several thermal pools that make a total of 800 m3 to heat, a circuit of contrasts and a children's pool.

The hotel completes its facilities with the restaurant area -cafetería with terrace, meeting rooms with capacity for up to 200 people-, gym, children's area, organic garden, spice garden, 140 m2 cellar and 4.5 hectares of vineyards. Another area of ​​the Monastery is shared with the Foundation of the Ages of Man

The building, of two heights, enjoys a very good thermal inertia thanks to its thick stone walls, in some cases of more than 1.80 m. The hostel building, newly built, has a ventilated facade with the same function. The spa area has 3 underground floors with a natural grass top cover that works as a thermal insulator. In addition, one of its sides is topped with slopes to the road to maintain the same orography prior to the intervention.

Heat with biomass
The choice of biomass boilers for heat production taking advantage of renewable resources in the area was clear from the beginning. In addition, the good experience obtained at the Villa de Olmedo Spa Hotel, also belonging to the CASTILLA TERMAL group, gave us the security of an efficient, responsible and safe installation.

As in Villa de Olmedo, the installation at the Hotel Monasterio de Valbuena has been re-commissioned to Coinges engineering. In the boiler room, two Herz Firematic 301 cascades have been housed, fed with G30 caliber splinter and a nominal power of 339.8 KW per unit, which total 680 KW.

Each boiler has its own 85m3 silo attached. The facility has a 10,000-liter inertia tank plus 2 3000-liter inter-accumulators for instant A.C.S.

In addition to the regulatory maintenance proposed by the manufacturer, 2 complete cleanings and a cleaning of each chimney are carried out every year. For these technical stops and other unforeseen events, there is a 350 KW Adisa LPG gas boiler.

Wood chip from local suppliers
The purchase of splinters is made through suppliers close to the hotel who are required, in each discharge, a certificate detailing the characteristics of the fuel that arrives and that must present a humidity below 20% and an adequate particle size, which It is checked with the analyzes performed by the hotel maintenance department.

For a total thermal production of about 2,500 MWh per year, the estimated total consumption for both boilers is around 850 tons of splinter. These are figures obtained in 2016, with more than 30,000 people staying, 15,000 external and the maintenance of air conditioning for its 18,000 m2 of facilities. Biomass boilers cover 100% of the demand of the entire complex and in the months with the most unfavorable weather.

Cold with geothermal
For cold production, the hotel has a well-water-cooled geothermal system, a turbo of the Climaveneta brand model FOCS-W / R / S 1102 of 251 KW of cooling capacity with a heat recovery outlet. The cold generated energy in the last year has been 600 MWh with a performance only in the EER 3.8 cold circuit.

The geothermal system, which meets the needs of the hotel, is cooled with an own collection of the monastery. This drilling was carried out before starting the work and obtains the water at 270 m by means of a 300 mm insulated pipe and a 30 kW pump located at 150 m.
The collection delivers a static flow rate of 8 l / s at a constant temperature of 25.6 ° C. Water, declared for medicinal mineral use, is used in all its swimming pools and spa treatments.

Efficient use of water for air conditioning
With the cooling water of the geothermal system and through a plate exchanger it is possible to raise the temperature of the pools and pools to practically the end use, 33-34 ºC, with the great savings that entails.

The water from the geothermal recovery circuit, with a temperature of up to 62ºC, is collected in a 3000 liter inertia tank that houses an internal tubular exchanger through which the sanitary water destined for instantaneous production of A.C.S. For the hotel. In this way the inlet temperature of the mains water rises.

The excess heat that is not supplied to the ACS is distributed to the heat batteries of the 2 dehumidifiers used for the thermal pool and for the zone of contrasts. If the recovery temperature is higher than 45 ° C, it is also used for heating the inner and outer vessels.

The distribution of the air conditioning water is done through two rings of pipes, one cold and one heat. From each ring, the secondary circuits, each with its pump, start to service room corridors, dining room air conditioners, cloisters, primary air conditioners, etc. The hydraulics, with the help of intelligent pumps, take to each point the amount of water needed at all times avoiding inefficient pumping.

Recycle gray water
Another environmental measure applied at the hotel is the recovery of gray water for the establishment's toilet system and the hotel's irrigation system. The deposit houses enough water to irrigate 60% of all the green areas and orchard that the monastery has.

The contribution of water to this deposit comes mainly from the water renewals required by regulations and which comprises between 5% and 10% of the total volume of each pool. This water, which is filtered with sand, chemically treated and purified, is 100% recyclable for this type of use. The water saving network to maintain the landscaping of the monastery reaches 60%.

Castilla Termal Hoteles, environmental commitment, minimal carbon footprint
Castilla Termal Hoteles is a 4 and 5 star spa hotel chain dedicated to the construction and management of spas in Castilla y León and Cantabria.

The company is committed to the sustainability of its facilities. In 2017, it has registered its four complexes in the Carbon Footprint Registry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment.

The Castilla Termal Balneario de Olmedo has been able to verify a reduction of its CO2 emissions of 75%, from emitting 977 t CO2 / year in 2012 - corresponding to 26.4 kgCO2 / client-, before installing the biomass boiler, to 247 t CO2 / year - with a ratio of 6.3 kg CO2 / customer - in 2016.

The Hotel Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena, with a category of 5 * and with greater extension of common areas than the spa of Olmedo, emits 233 t CO2 / year, with a ratio of 8.3 kg CO2 / customer in 2016.

The total splinter consumption estimated for one year and for both boilers is around 600-650 tons with a total thermal heat production of about 2,500 Mw. These figures are those obtained in the year 2018, with a view of the facilities of more than 30,000 people staying, 15,000 external and the maintenance of air conditioning for its 18,000m2 of facilities. Both boilers cover 100% of the demand of the entire complex being complete and in the most unfavorable months.

Jonathan Callejo / Technical Manager Castilla Termal Hoteles