Beijing plans to select 30 star hotels this year to pilot a city-wide programme aiming to reduce energy consumption by 10 per cent, an official with the Beijing Development and Reform Commission (BDRC) said yesterday.

Five hotels Xiyuan Hotel, Qianmen Hotel, Beijing Railway Hotel, Hepingli Hotel, and Winterless Hotel became the first batch of hotels to adopt the programme, known as Energy Performance Contracting (EPC).

The practice is part of the measures taken by the local government to achieve a Green Olympics in 2008.

EPC is a financing technique that uses cost savings from reduced energy consumption to repay the cost of installing energy saving equipment.

An example of possible energy saving measures is hotels changing to a more efficient lighting system.

BDRC's Director of Environment and Resources Huang Qian disclosed the programme at a meeting held by the Beijing Tourism Association and the Energy Management Association, which aimed to promote the new EPC system among hotels and the tourism industry in Beijing.

"Saving energy and reducing consumption have become major tasks for the whole of society, and the hotel sector is one of the major energy consumption industries in China," said Du Jiang, director of Beijing Tourism Administration.

There are more than 660 star hotels in Beijing and 112 of them have signed agreements with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) to provide services.

The hotels in Beijing are the windows for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and they have a direct impact on whether or not the concept of Green Olympics can be achieved, according to Du.

Zhang Jun, director of BOCOG Service Department's accommodation section, said that utilizing energy friendly equipment and facilities is crucial for Beijing 2008.

From the end of this year, BOCOG will carry out an investigation of energy consumption among hotels that will host guests during the Olympics.

China has put energy saving as a basic national policy and prominent strategy, said Huang.

For example, the State Council stipulated that the indoor temperature in summer in all public places should not be lower than 26 C. In winter, the temperature should not be higher than 20 C.

(China Daily August 18, 2006)