WindowMaster controls fresh air — in Iceland!
A WindowMaster system to open and close windows provides the natural-ventilation strategy for Iceland’s largest hotel in Reykjavik.
Temperatures in Reykjavik rarely rise above 12°C, even in summer, but that has not prevented Iceland’s largest hotel installing an automatic system to open windows in bedrooms and meeting rooms to provide natural ventilation. The 314-bedroom Grand Hotel in Reykjavik has recently completed a new multi-storey tower containing guest and conference rooms. Guests are provided with a manual keypad to control several of the room’s functions, including the ventilation installed by WindowMaster. When sensors detect that a room is not occupied, the WindowMaster system opens the windows to provide trickle ventilation to ensure the room is thoroughly aired. Guests can control the window opening with their keypad, but the WindowMaster system will over-ride the manual control in bad weather and close windows. Average temperatures in Iceland in January and February are just below 0°C. Strong winds and rain, however, are common throughout the year, posing challenges for the WindowMaster system — which must respond to weather conditions that can vary from calm and sunny to wet and windy, and then back again, several times a day. An external weather station monitors conditions around the hotel, including wind direction and speed, temperature and rainfall. Changes in wind pressure on the facade are also monitored, and there are also internal sensors. All this data is used to control the windows to keep air quality in the rooms fresh and temperature constant. All the windows can be controlled centrally from the hotel lobby in a fire or other emergency. The system can be installed in new buildings and retrofitted on existing windows of many different types.
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