The traditional and renowned Solo Sokos Hotel Lahti Seurahuone is located right in the center of Lahti, along a lively main street. The hotel building has been renovated from floor to ceiling on the last one, and the Seurahuone was voted the best city hotel in Europe in 2015 at the World Luxury Hotel Award gala. The goal of Sokos Hotel’s operations is to be as environmentally friendly as possible and to use as little energy as possible in all its activities. To ensure this, the hotel chain is publicly committed to reducing business emissions in its operations.

At the end of 2017, the hotel has introduced a wastewater heat recovery system designed for heating and hot water heating of a new property. The system heats the water in the floor heating and ceiling radiation network of the property, as well as domestic hot water. The heat generated by the system significantly reduces the need for district heating to be purchased, although district heating is still needed in the property. However, the environmental emissions of the hybrid heating in question are significantly lower than those of a district heating system alone.

The operation and maintenance staff responsible for the property’s maintenance are satisfied with the effect of wastewater heat recovery in the property’s heat production. According to them, wastewater produces a lot of heat and thus reduces the need to buy district heating. Heat produced by a heat pump is cheaper than district heating, so the profitability of hotel operations and the operating costs of the property are reduced. Solar collectors on the roof of the hotel are also connected to the system, the output of which is further improved by a heat pump connected to the system.