Officials fuming over steamy hotels

By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-06 09:33

A senior government official has called on hotels to be more energy efficient with their heating this winter.

Vice-mayor Huang Wei said many people complain the hotels were too warm during the winter months, and guests often had to open the windows.

The vice-mayor called on public buildings, including government offices and hotels, to be aware of the amount of energy being wasted on over-heating.

Beijing will consume 4.76 billion cu m of natural gas and 5.6 million tons of coal this year for heating.

According to a 2008 regulation, the temperature of public buildings - except for hospitals - cannot be set above 20 C in winter and below 26 C in summer.

"Normally, hotels have a higher temperature, an average of 24 C in winter," said Guo Weiqi, director of heating supply office of the municipal administration committee.

"We have no specific administrative measures to limit the temperature in hotels."

In January, the municipal energy-saving monitor team, which was founded in 2007 by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, conducted its first check of 16 public buildings, including supermarkets, restaurant, and hotels.

Five buildings, including two hotels, failed to meet the standard. However, the team of only 20 staff is not large enough to effectively monitor all public buildings in Beijing.

According to Tao Guozhong, a member of the energy-saving monitor team, the group will monitor the temperature of public buildings again this winter.

The community can report buildings that they believe are too hot to an official hotline.

International hotels built in early 1990s are linked to the central heating supply. But hotels built after 2000 have independent heating systems.

"We can regulate the temperature of public areas such as the lobby and cafe, but it will be very difficult to control air temperature in guest rooms," said Qin Weiguang, an engineer of Shangri-La Hotel.

Guests have the right to control the temperature in their rooms, he said.