Sustainability

The Espai Cràter is environmentally-friendly as it uses geothermal energy for air conditioning. The system comprises a geothermal field with 17 vertical wells at a depth of 100 metres and two 60 kW geothermal heat pumps.

The main advantages of this technology are:

  • A single piece of equipment (the pump) is able to cover 100% of the heating and air-conditioning needs of the building
  • The energy is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
  • Its visual impact is non-existent
  • It results in a highly important reduction in CO2
  • No smoke is emitted
  • The equipment does not produce any acoustic contamination
  • It has a very low maintenance cost due to the reliability of the equipment and the geothermal fields.
  • There is no risk of explosions
  • Local energy use reduces dependency on external sources

Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy is, in the broadest sense, the heat that the Earth transmits from its internal mantles to the external layers of the planet’s crust. Of all the renewable energy sources, geothermal energy provides the highest level of use over time, as it does not depend on the availability of other natural resources, such as the wind or the sun.

Surface geothermal techniques – the use of low temperature geothermic equipment – uses natural at depths between 150 and 200m with geothermal heat pumps. This type of geothermal energy may be used almost anywhere on the planet. The thermal stability of the subsoil can be exploited throughout the year to exchange energy (yielding or extracting heat), whether to obtain heat or to cool and refrigerate.

Due to its inherent thermal stability the system continually performs at a high level, as it does not depend on air temperature outside, which often varies between very low temperatures in the winter and high temperatures in the summer.