CASE STUDY | THE OXFORDSHIRE RESORT Energy drive The Oxfordshire golf resort is investing 700,000 in a major services retrofit, including a solar array, that will see heat pumps replace oil-fired boilers and potentially deliver sufficient energy and resource savings to boost annual profits by up to 30%. Alex Smith looks at how the challenges were addressed T he Oxfordshire Golf, Hotel & Spa has attracted some of the biggest names in golf, with the likes of Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Laura Davies all testing themselves on its championship course, which features more than 130 bunkers and four articial lakes. The lakes are water hazards to golfers, but to Lolli Olafsson, CEO and founder of Geyser Thermal Energy, they offer the opportunity to tap into a reliable source of energy for the clubhouse and ad oining hotel and spa. Geyser is currently installing a closed-loop water source heat pump system as part of a 00,000 energy retrot for The xfordshire. The retrot will see pipework take water from the lake to the heat pump in the main plantroom. The aim is ultimately to replace the resorts oil-red boilers and chiller with a low-energy heat pump system, linked to a 250kW solar array installed onsite. Paul, ennifer and P ibbons. Energy is such a big cost to our business, and utility costs are only going to head north. The project, which is eligible for grants via the renewable heat incentive (RHI), centres on the installation of two modulating heat pumps in the main hotel plantroom. These will replace a R22 chiller and will partially replace the boilers oil consumption is Taking aim at energy savings eysers retrot heat pump strategy, along with the solar array installation, offers a payback of ve years for the resort owners Leaderboard olf. For Ryan Bezuidenhout, the general manager at The Oxfordshire, the return on investment had to based on the most conservative estimates of potential system savings. We have been very honest. I wanted the most pessimistic numbers possible, he says. Bezuidenhout is banking on a reduction in energy costs to maintain the resort as a top-end destination and increase its prots by up to 30 , as well as reducing its environmental footprint, a key commitment backed by Leaderboard Golf owners, 10 October 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Oct19 pp10-13 Oxfordshre hotel Supp.indd 10 New pipework installed on external walls to connect the pool with heat pumps 20/09/2019 17:32