Six German companies with experience in their field energy saving, visited Thessaloniki and had the opportunity to listen and make an offer. Business mission was organized Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“A larger percentage of existing building potential hotels it is classified as low energy, so an energy upgrade is needed using software solutions and structural investments,” says Sotiris Mylonas, CEO of MSolutions, in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Already many hoteliers, despite a successful year this year, are faced with increasing energy costs and are considering proposed energy saving solutions with a reasonable payback period. “There are many questions and interests regarding RES, mainly related to net metering solutions (compensation of produced and consumed electricity),” says Mr. Mylonas. A hotel with improved amenities needs to use more energy, so savings programs can be difficult. “Personnel must be trained in energy conservation. Regulate cooling and heating devices, not customers. It’s hard to force this on customers, but you can motivate them with incentives,” says Arne-Martin Kruft, consultant for energy efficiency in buildings.

Photovoltaic plants were once a romantic story, but today they are a worthy solution to the energy problem. “We use photovoltaics with transparent double-glazed windows that let in sunlight and are ideal for terraces or car parks. We have developed open greenhouses that generate electricity and at the same time allow you to grow agricultural products,” says Erich Merkle from Gridparity in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Modern renovations can provide many opportunities for energy savings. “Thanks to the high thermal insulation of the façade and roof, we have minimized the energy needs of our facilities. We lowered the hot water supply temperature from 60° to 47° and saved 70% of energy for this. Using a double groundwater heat pump with a ground water depth of 61 meters and an operating temperature of 14-16.5°, we cover both cooling and heating needs,” says Norman Refle from AIR2 GmbH about the changes in his company’s buildings, which aim to is zero energy consumption. “So we have the energy we need. With key changes, without losing anything. We won on our conscience,” he says characteristically.