FlowHero Case Study: Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna
Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna is saving 27 MWh of energy annually in its restaurant with the FlowHero demand control kitchen ventilation (DCKV) system.
Customer's savings per year:
Carbon Footprint
Energy Consumption
Energy Costs
Payback Time
Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna is part of Sokos Hotels, a hotel chain that comprises 46 hotels. Sokos Hotels is the most respected and responsible hotel chain in Finland, with one of its key goals being to make its operations carbon negative by the end of 2025.
Regarding emissions from their own operations, the largest source is heating energy, which is significantly impacted by ventilation. To reduce energy consumption, Sokos Hotels decided to update the ventilation of the Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna restaurant with the Finnish Safera FlowHero demand control system.
Energy consumption decreased by 27 MWh and carbon emissions by 3.6 tons per year. The investment pays for itself in less than three years.
The starting point for the energy efficiency project was a historic building in the heart of Helsinki
Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna is one of Helsinki’s landmarks, and its panorama restaurant is located in a prime location in the Finnish capital. A restaurant opened within the historic property in 1947, posing its own restrictions for energy efficiency projects and building technology changes.
Previously, the restaurant’s ventilation in Vaakuna was controlled by a timer. With boost settings, the kitchen ventilation blew out several thousand liters of air per second. A heat recovery (HR) system was already installed, but the ventilation energy costs were still significant.
Safera installed the FlowHero system in the property, which changed the restaurant kitchen’s ventilation to demand-based. FlowHero controls the kitchen ventilation in real time based on usage and air quality, reducing energy consumption without compromising indoor air quality.
FlowHero saves energy in Vaakuna in two ways:
1. The need for heating energy decreased because less air is removed from the kitchen, so less heated (and cooled) supply air is required. Studies show that in Finland, about 70% of a professional kitchen’s energy is consumed by heating and ventilation.
2. Electricity consumption decreased because powerful supply and exhaust fans are now operated at lower power.
Moreover, demand control also reduces kitchen noise levels and potential draft, improving staff comfort. In the challenging employment situation of the restaurant industry, good working conditions are an important attractor and competitive advantage for the restaurant.
Sokos Hotels decided on the investment based on Safera's energy saving estimate
Sokos Hotels’ decision to invest was made easier by Safera providing a free estimate of energy savings and the payback period of the investment.
For the estimate, only a few basic details about the restaurant’s ventilation were needed. The property manager provided Safera with the timer settings, air exhaust rates and the ventilation diagrams based on which the calculations were made.
The ventilation was controlled by a commonly used timer during restaurant opening hours with boost settings, and at night the kitchen hoods’ ventilation was completely off.
The estimate showed that ventilation wastes significant energy because the timer cannot account for the kitchen’s varying use.
Typically for hotel restaurants, Vaakuna serves food from morning to evening, from an early breakfast to a late dinner every day of the week, except Sunday evening. Depending on the time of day and the season, however, the kitchen’s usage rate varies, so the timer-controlled ventilation had to be set to full design airflow rate for the entire day. Therefore, thousands of liters per second of heated air were also unnecessarily blown out when the kitchen was less used between meals and partly during them.
Safera installed the system in just a few hours without disrupting the restaurant's operations
Safera delivered the system on a turnkey basis. The installation took about 4 hours.
The installation was carried out outside the restaurant’s operating hours, so normal restaurant operations were not disrupted. The system is fully automatic, so it also did not require training for the restaurant staff.
After the installation, the system was allowed to monitor kitchen use and measure air quality for a few weeks before FlowHero was connected to control the ventilation in collaboration with the automation engineer. This arrangement allowed for a comparison period before and after the connection, based on which a report produced from Safera’s cloud service could verify the reduction in energy consumption without compromising air quality.
The total investment by Sokos Hotels, considering the costs of equipment, installation, and automation planning, was about €7,500, and the payback period of the investment was less than 3 years. Savings began immediately after the connection.
FlowHero helps Sokos Hotels achieve sustainability and carbon neutrality goals
Sokos Hotels aims to make its operations carbon negative by the end of 2025.
Achieving this goal requires concrete successes like the FlowHero demand control project in reducing energy consumption, but also verifying results with data. Reporting the results is an important part of continuous improvement of energy efficiency.
The FlowHero system offers both aspects: savings and reporting.
The system records data on kitchen use, air quality, and realized savings in Safera’s cloud service. Based on this data, Safera can produce reports on annual results for the company’s sustainability reports or environmental certifications.
In the Sustainable Brand Index survey, Finns have rated Sokos Hotels as the most responsible hotel chain brand in the hotel category in 2024 for the 12th consecutive time. FlowHero helps Sokos Hotels continue its successful work as the most responsible hotel chain in the future.
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See also:
More than just energy savings – How to utilize DCKV sensor data in property management
Demand control kitchen ventilation offers much more than just energy savings. FlowHero utilizes advanced sensor technology to provide valuable insights into kitchen usage and air
Eight reasons why FlowHero demand control kitchen ventilation is one of your smartest investments
Does your property have a restaurant kitchen? It could be slowing down your carbon neutrality goals. Read why updating your commercial kitchen with FlowHero is