LUXURY MULTIHULL CRUISE CONCEPT FOR THE MEDITERREANEAN; ADOPTING ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES TO REDUCE OPPERATIONAL ENERGY

The ultra-luxury small cruise ship sector has experienced significant growth in recent years. This paper reports on a design proposal for a catamaran eco-luxury cruise ship, which integrates a Passive Design methodology within the marine design process, with the objective of reducing energy consumption. It is an engagement in luxification, an evolution of luxury in cruising, creating a new market through Design-Driven Innovation, with the objective of offering green luxury user experience with a sense of intimacy similar to that of a super yacht. The concept shows the potential of Passive Design as a means of reducing emissions in line with EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) legislation and other forthcoming standards, by reducing hotel loads such as HVAC systems and lighting. Employed in over 200,000 buildings across Europe, Passive Design has resulted in the reduction and in some cases elimination of conventional mechanical HVAC systems by adapting the morphology & orientation of a building to the area of operation, resulting in a low cost solution to resource intensive design issues, with minimum environmental impact. Inspired by a BREEAM excellence case study; the concept works on a statistical analysis of climatic variations for a range of potential vessel routes as an integral part of the design process. The resulting hybrid passive design solution is climate responsive design, minimising energy consumption and reducing operational costs - creating the opportunity for a new eco-luxury sub-sector within the ultra-luxury cruise ship market.