Although regulations vary from country to country, certain essential services such as emergency lighting, fire-fighting systems, lifts and others require a backup power supply in leisure and tourism facilities such as a hotel or resort, a shopping centre, a campsite or a water or theme park. This backup supply would come into service in the event of failures or interruptions in the ordinary supply, or when it is necessary to guarantee its continuity during emergency situations such as a fire.
The design of such safety installations in leisure and tourism projects must take into account the following issues:
-The selection of a backup power supply according to the regulations in force at the project site. Typical options are accumulator batteries, stand-alone generators, or separate mains distribution network tap-offs from the main supply.
-Power supply capacity. It is common to regulate the capacity of the power supply according to the number of occupants and the type of public space. For example, in small spaces, emergency lighting and a back-up supply of 15% of the main supply is usually provided. However, in individual large occupancy projects such as shopping centres or large parks, a back-up supply of approximately 25% of the main supply is considered, primarily to ensure safe evacuation.
Amusement Logic takes the utmost care to comply with the local regulations applicable to the leisure and tourism spaces whose design and construction work is entrusted to it, such as hotels or resorts, shopping centres, campsites, water or theme parks, etc. To this end, it carries out studies of the power required to satisfy the safety services that are indispensable in the event of an emergency.
By Juan Carlos Soria, senior MEP engineer in Amusement Logic’s Architecture Department.
