Vilotel, Oberkochen

A hotel heads a new path

Air conditioning in hotel rooms brings with it its own set of issues. Sometimes guests cannot work out how to set it, and the noise and strong currents of air often spoil a stay. To say nothing of hygienic challenges: Blocked air filters in the fans are consistently underestimated breeding grounds for germs. Nonetheless, the hotel industry has to date mostly relied on popular air-conditioning systems with fan coils. One hotel is now treading a totally new path and leading the way with ecological features that also make the guest’s stay more pleasant. The new Vilotel in Oberkochen in the state of Baden-Württemberg is the first hotel in the world to use GraviVent® gravity cooling. What is ingenious about the sophisticated technology is that it can be integrated completely in the interior design and is only noticeable if you look closely. Above the bed’s headboard there is a narrow opening through which warm air flows out and is cooled by a heat exchanger. The air, now cool and as such heavier, is directed to air outlets beneath the bed via a drop shaft and spreads slowly throughout the room.

The Gravivent system is not the only special technical feature in the 74-room hotel however. A geothermal system, for example, delivers heat from the earth, and warmed fresh air is supplied to the rooms via a passive ventilation element. Not least of all, the Transsolar energy concept features an electric charging station for hotel guests. Checking in by smartphone is no problem either. All this makes the Vilotel a hotel conceived with the future in mind.

With regard to its construction and running, the investor and operator paid particular attention to the sustainability of the hotel. The aim was to save resources and enable it to be run cheaply. This strategic concept was the basis for the fitting of the GraviVent® system, as it largely functions without maintenance and has numerous benefits from an ecological point of view as well. The increased comfort for guests is the main thing for the hotel manager. “Our guests should feel comfortable and have a clear conscience at the same time,” she says, emphasizing that in future a hotel’s ecological footprint is going to be of increasing importance when bookings are made.

The new Vilotel in Oberkochen is full of sophisticated technical features. The GraviVent® cooling system in use for the first time in a hotel anywhere in the world is a particular highlight. Furthermore, geothermal probes provide much of the energy used in the hotel; additional features include a charging station for electric cars and a mobile check-in terminal, which uses your smartphone as your room key. The principle behind the TTC cooling and heating units is based on the law of nature stating that hot and cold air have different densities. The warm air near the ceiling flows into a narrow slit by the bedhead. With its temperature having been lowered by a cooler, the air is re-directed into the room through a drop shaft Guests can hardly see the GraviVent® system. The only thing pointing to the innovative cooling and heating technology is a slit above the headboard.

Be it bedhead or cover module: The Vilotel also has an alternative solution for integrating the GraviVent® system’s cooling shaft in the interior design. Silent and energy-saving: GraviVent® heating and cooling units are a genuine alternative to traditional hotel-room air-conditioning systems and have advantages in terms of operation, hygiene, and noise.