SPIE : awarded energy renovation works at Luchon’s thermal spa complex

Toulouse, January 17, 2017 - SPIE Sud-Ouest recently commissioned the second phase of its energy renovation works at Luchon's thermal spa complex. The contract for upgrading the entire heating and air-conditioning plant at the largest thermal spa complex in the Pyrenees was awarded by the Ville de Luchon and signed in September 2015.

The spa complex at Luchon - one of the largest in France - covers a total surface area of 25,000 m, and major renovation works were initiated in 2015. Taking advantage of the spa's winter closure, teams from SPIE Sud-Ouest's HVAC Operational Unit were tasked, together with consultancy firm OTCE Midi-Pyrénées, to modernise and optimise the site's entire energy system.

SPIE Sud-Ouest replaced two gas heating systems (1,950 kW and 1,200 kW). With a view to saving energy, one of them was coupled to two heat exchangers recycling the heat from two thermal water boreholes (up to 1,280 kW and 500 kW, respectively). These works were carried out during an initial period of closure of the spa complex from November 2015 to March 2016.

In addition to the heating systems, the contract covers the replacement of 25 air conditioning units with dual-flow devices that not only ventilate but also heat the premises. To optimise their operation, each of these units will be equipped with a plate heat exchanger for recycling heat from the air that is drawn off and re-injecting that heat into the rooms concerned. Two specific air conditioning units - for the sports hall and the hand steamer room*, respectively - will be equipped with cooling batteries fed with water from the nearby River Pique, thereby providing 'natural' air conditioning. Two of these 25 units were replaced during the initial period of closure of the spa complex; the remaining 23 are to be replaced by March 2017.

The company's brief also includes an overhaul of the entire control system for the complex, and partial refurbishment of exterior ventilation duct networks (to allow the use of materials that can withstand the corrosion caused by the particularly sulphur-laden thermal air).

'With its prominent national profile, this spa complex is a major strategic development opportunity for the town of Luchon', reports Claire Duval, a SPIE Sud-Ouest business manager. 'Hence the need to implement an in-depth renovation to guarantee the quality of treatments on offer in this exceptional environment. The teams from SPIE successfully took on this challenge and proposed a set of solutions aimed at optimising expenditure on energy at the spa facility.'

*People taking a treatment place their hands in closed compartments into which a fine mist of thermal water is diffused at high temperature, producing a decongestive effect.

- Contracting authority: Ville de Luchon - Les thermes de Luchon
- Project manager: OTCE Midi-Pyrénées
- Auditing consultancy: Bureau Véritas
- Health & Safety Coordinator: CAP D'OC
- Implementation: SPIE Sud-Ouest