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A Study on Pollutant
Emission Through Gas
Consumption in the Hong
Kong Hotel Industry
Wilco W. Chan & Joseph C. Lam
Published online: 29 Mar 2010.
To cite this article: Wilco W. Chan & Joseph C. Lam (2002) A Study on Pollutant
Emission Through Gas Consumption in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry, Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, 10:1, 70-81, DOI: 10.1080/09669580208667153
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A Study on Pollutant Emission Through Gas
Consumption in the Hong Kong Hotel
Industry
Wilco W. Chan
Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong,
Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Joseph C. Lam
Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
A survey of 11 hotels in Hong Kong was carried out to collect three years’ energy
consumption data. Regression analysis indicated that gross floor area was a major and
statisticallyacceptable factor in explaining the gas consumption in new hotels. Based
on past consumption data and some establishedpollutant emissionfactors,the amount
of sulphur dioxides, nitrogen dioxides, carbon dioxides and particulate created by the
Hong Kong hotel industry’s gas usage during a 10-yearperiod from 1989–1998was esti-
mated. The study predicts the increase in these amounts in 1999–2003 accompanying
the risein the number of hotels.The findings indicatethat emissionswillriseby nearly
40%in the next few years, requiring urgent discussions. The study alsofinds that a heat
pump running on coal-fired electricity and with a coefficient of performance (COP)
greater than 3 could produce lower level emissions than a gas-fired boiler. It is further
suggested that an effectivemethod to reduce the emissions is to substitutenaptha with
natural gas as the fuel for generating town gas and electricity. We believe the hotel
industry should adopt a more proactive approach to reduce gas usage and propose the
inclusion of environmental reporting in trade journals.
Introduction
In recent years, concern about the environment and the world ecosystem has
become a major world-wide public issue. In Hong Kong, there is a growing
concern about energy consumption and its likely implications for the environ-
ment. Within its tourism sector, hotels have been generally regarded as a major
energy end-user. Also, the rapid growth in the number of hotels during the
past three decades has resulted in a substantial increase in energy consumption.
In 1998, there were about 90 hotels in Hong Kong consuming over HK$22
billion worthof energy (HKTA
, 1999).It is generally believed thata substan-
et al.
tial amount of pollutants are produced indirectly by hotels through energy
usage. There is, however, very little information on the magnitude of these
pollutants.
With the much publicised debate on climate change and global warming, the
green movement has gained more recognition in the hotel industry worldwide
through efforts made by various associationssince the Rio EarthSummit in 1992.
In 1993, the green campaign was reinforced by the International Hotels
0966-9582/02/01 0070-12 $20.00/0
JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
© 2002 W.W. Chan & J.C. Lam
Vol. 10, No. 1, 2002
70

Emissions Through Gas Usage in Hotels
71
Environment Initiative and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. Eleven
internationalhotel chains agreed to worktogether and initiated thedevelopment
of manuals and guidelines to promote better environmental performance in the
hotelindustry(IHEI, 1993).In the following year, another 16hotelgroups echoed
this campaign and formed the Asia Pacific Hotels Environment Initiative
(Mackie, 1994).
Since then, environmental guide books for the hotel sector published by
trade associations, hotel chains and scholars have become more readily avail-
able and drawn more attention from the hotel industries (Burnett
, 2000a
et al.
and 2000b; Deng, 1996; Green Globe, 1994; IHIE, 1993; Marriott International,
1998; Reynolds, 1995). Many of these publications highlighted the importance
of emissions such as sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides and their environ-
mental implications, such as global warming, acid rain, and the depletion of
natural resources. These publications also described different approaches
taken by the hotel industry to address the environmental problems. There is,
however, very little information on how to quantify environmental impacts
due to hotel operations, particularly the emission of pollutants as a result of
energy use. There appears to be a need for a better understanding of the local
emission problem in relation to hotel operations and to find out the hotel indus-
try’s share in the total emissions.
In the past, hot water systems in the Hong Kong hotel industry were
completely dominated by diesel oil fired boilers. After the enactment of an air
pollution ordinance, cleaner gas-fired boilers penetrated the market. In 1996,
there were some 20 hotels using gas-fired boilers (Hong Kong and China Gas Co
Ltd, 1996). At least 50 hotels still use diesel oil fired boilers plus another four use
electric boilers. In the late 1990s, three hotels installed electric heat pumps for
water heating. It is envisaged that the application of heat pumps for hot water
supply will become more popular in the local hotel industry. This is particularly
because heat pumps have been widely recognised to have higher energy effi-
ciency, ranging from 2 to 4, than gas-fired boilers which are limited to a range of
0.86–0.95 (ASHRAE, 1996). This implies a good financial saving potential on
energy cost. It is thus worthwhile comparing emissions due to the use of gas
boilers and electric heat pumps.
The main objective of this study is therefore to estimate the quantity of pollut-
ants, namely, sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxides and particulate,
created indirectly by the Hong Kong hotel industry due to its gas consumption,
and to discuss any likely implications for the environment. The scope of this
study includes:
estimating the air pollution attributable to gas consumption in the hotel
industry during the 10-year period from 1989–1998;
testing the validity of variables for estimating gas consumption in the hotel
sector;
estimating the likely rise in air pollution due to growth of the hotel industry
envisaged in the years 1999–2003; and
comparing the emissions attributable to the use of electric heat pumps and
gas boilers.

72
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
Methodology
The present work covers the period 1989–1998plus a projection for 1999–2003.
To calculate the emissions, gas usage was multiplied by pollutant emission
factors. Locally established emission factors were used for estimating the
amounts of different pollutants in relation to gas consumption (Heinke
,
et al.
1995). These were based on a study and measurements made in 1995 and
included emissions released during various stages, such as mining, transporta-
tion, and combustion of the fuel – naptha oil – for gas (town gas) generation. The
emission factors used are listed in Table 1. The proportion of emissions released
during gas combustion in the hotel’s boiler was estimated by using an adjust-
ment on the energy efficiencies between domestic water heaters given in Heinke
, and commercial boilers in general. Gas consumption in the hotel sector
et al.
during the period from 1989 to 1998 was based on an earlier work on environ-
mental costing (Chan, 2000). Since diesel oil fired boilers have been phased out
during the past decade, an on-going structural change of energy mix has
occurred. It is therefore not appropriate to use regression analysis on the hotel
industry’s gas consumption data in the past for the prediction of future gas
consumption in the hotel sector. Instead, to reflect the future gas consumption,
the study uses a summationof the adjusted old industry’s gas consumptionlevel
in 1998 which serves as the foundation and the predicted gas consumption of
those new hotels in future years. The adjustment factoradopted for the predicted
gas consumption in the old hotels is a ratio of the projected occupancy in future
years and the occupancy in 1998. For the prediction of gas consumption in new
hotels, the data obtained from 11 surveyed hotels that mainly use gas for water
heating and cooking was used.
In 1997, a survey was conducted covering energy data for the period 1994–
1996 in the hotel industry. Twenty data-collection sheets were returned. Two
were incomplete and seven did not have gas-fired boilers. The remaining 11
hotels investigated were located in different parts of the territory, representing
around 20% of hotels using gas-fired boilers and gas-cooking equipment in
Hong Kong. There were five three-star hotels, four four-star and two five-star.
The number of guest rooms ranged from 163 to 736 with a gross floor area
(GFA) of 6066 m2 to 61,500 m2. The average occupancy during the 1994–1996
period wasaround 83% for the 11 hotels in the sample. The sample wasselected
based on personal contacts and the availability of consumption data. Despite
Table 1 Emission factors
Emission in gm per TJ
Types
SO2
NOx
CO2
Particulate
Total
Weight
Naptha-town gas
Natural gas
84,697 170,263 107,093,275
7,196 107,885 7,649,475
773
128
107,349,008
7,764,684
Natural gas-fired electricity 16,216 282,264 110,770,435
Coal-fired electricity 442,959 452,840 129,786,780
: Heinke ., 1995: 97, 99 and 100.
128
111,069,043
130,707,207
24,628
Source
et al

Emissions Through Gas Usage in Hotels
73
its lack of vigorous statistics, it is believed that the sample can give a good indi-
cation of the general trend in the local hotel industry. A linear regression
method was used to analyze the relationship between gas consumption and
three different variables: the hotel size, business activity and macroclimate.
The size, activity and climate variables considered were gross floor area (GFA),
the number of occupied rooms (OCC) and the heating degree days (HDD),
respectively. A best-fit regression equation was then determined and was
subsequently used to predict the gas usage of new hotels for the period 1999–
2003.
Emissions in 1989–1998
The pollutants emitted during the gas production and its subsequent
consumption include sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides and fly
ash. The first two pollutants are the main elements causing acid rain, while
carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas affecting global climate. The fly ash could
reactwith the absorbed gases on thesurface of the ash or act as a catalystto chem-
ical reactions.
Table 2 shows the quantities of pollutants emitted attributable to gas
consumption in the hotel industry for the period 1989–1998. It can be seen that
the annual amount of pollutants has kept growing over these years. During this
Table 2 Estimated emission through gas consumption by the hotel industry 1989-1998
Year
SO2 (ton) NOx (ton)
CO2 (ton)
Particulate Gas consumption
(ton)
estimate by hotel
industry (TJ)
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
28.37
31.24
33.70
37.78
43.87
43.90
44.89
48.28
48.29
44.99
57.03
62.81
67.74
75.95
88.20
88.24
90.24
97.05
99.68
92.68
35,869.82
39,503.50
42,604.92
47,771.10
55,474.32
55,503.23
56,759.44
61,043.17
57,456.48
53,571.34
0.26
0.29
0.31
0.34
0.40
0.40
0.41
0.44
0.44
0.41
334.94
368.87
397.83
446.07
518.00
518.27
530.00
570.00
569.00
530.00
:
Notes
1. Adjustment was made on Heinke’s emission factors for SO2, NOX and CO2 emissions
according to the environmental performance data contained in the year book of the Hong
Kong and China Gas Company Limited 1996–1997.
2. The hotel industry’s gas consumption data for the years 1993-1998was provided by the
local gas company. The gas usage data for 1992–1989 was estimated by using the average
gas consumption per occupied room multiplied by the number of occupied rooms in the
industry.

74
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
period, the pollutants produced indirectly by the hotel industry have increased
by 58%,due mainly to thegrowth in gas consumption. In 1998,thetotalweight of
pollutants was estimated to be 53,710 tons including 45 tons SO2, 93 tons NOx ,
53,571 tons CO2, 0.41 tons particulate. It is also estimated that 1% of SO2, 32% of
NOx and 67% of CO2 are produced during combustion in the boiler. Among
these, CO2’s amount is 290 times the total weight of the rest and its annual
amount keeps on growing. Since the industrial revolution and particularly after
1950, the yearly emission of CO2 has risen sharply. If the trend persists, it is esti-
mated thatby the end ofthe 21stcentury, there will appear an increasein average
global temperature of about 4oC and a rise of approximately 88 cm in sea levels
(IPCC, 2001). It is important for the local gas industry to consider the use of
natural gas and the enhancement of efficiency in energy conversion by installing
cogeneration systems.
Validity of Testing Variables
To have some idea about the relationship between annual gas usage and the
size of the hotel buildings, annual consumption is plotted against the corre-
sponding gross floor area (GFA) for 11 hotel buildings and the results are shown
in Figure.1. It can be seen that annual gas consumption increases with the floor
area. This indicates that more space demands more energy for hot water and
cooking. Regression analysis of the data has resulted in a linear equation as
follows:
+
= 1,173,628 179
y
x
where = gross floor area (in m2 ) and = annual electricity consumption (in MJ).
x
y
The correlation coefficient is 0.919 and the proportion of predictable variance
R
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
GFA ( ’000m2
)
Figure 1 Annual gas consumption against gross floor area

Emissions Through Gas Usage in Hotels
75
R2
R
is 0.845. Since is above 0.8, the annual gas consumption can be considered
well correlated with GFA.
A similaranalysis wascarried out to detect any relationshipbetween the annual
consumption and the other two variables. A weaker correlation, = 0.516and
=
R
R
0.033, was observed for the gas usage and the two testing variables, OCC and
HDD, respectively. The selection criteria in the stepwise multiple regression
further excluded, at the 0.05 level of significance, the entry of these two variables
into the regression equation. This might be due to the nature of the proxy variable
OCC itself, which has a lower degree of representation, and the insignificant influ-
ence of heating degree days in subtropical climates. Unlike most places in Europe
and North America where gas is usually used for heating, the short and mild
winterin HongKong reduces thechanceofgasheatingbeing used in thehotels.
Normalised Performance Indicator
Annual gas consumption per unit GFA, called the normalised performance
indicator (NPI), was calculated. To get some idea about the relationship between
gas consumption per unit floor and the size of hotel buildings, NPI was plotted
against the corresponding GFA and is shown in Figure 2. It can be seen that the
normalised performance indicators of most hotels with GFA below 12,000 m2.
fall between 300 and 500 MJ/m2 per year. Hotels with a relatively large area tend
to have lower NPIs, especially when GFA exceeds 20,000 m2. The inverse rela-
tionship between NPI and GFA has a generalised correlation coefficient of –
0.637. This suggests that larger hot water systems achieve higher energy effi-
ciency. Statistics for NPI are summarised in Table 3. It is observed that the
mathematicalaverage and median are 259 and 256 MJ/m2 per year, respectively.
These two values indicatethatboth means arevery close. The standarddeviation
is about 42% of the average. However, it should be noted that NPI in 1996 is
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
GFA ( ’000m2)
Figure 2 Normalised performance indicator

76
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
Table 3 Normalised performance indicators (NPI)
1994
1995
1996
1994–1996
(MJ/ m2 year) (MJ/ m2 year) (MJ/ m2 year) (MJ/ m2 year)
Minimum
110.78
403.21
239.21
232.67
97.66
108.06
423.34
246.77
232.69
90.74
115.53
582.27
285.22
263.03
134.20
0.85
108.06
582.21
259.27
256.39
109.08
N.A.
Maximum
Average
Median
Standard deviation
Occupancy
0.83
0.85
around 15% higher than the other two years. This is mainly due to the higher
occupancy, 0.9% more than that recorded in 1995, and a slightly better perfor-
mance in food business in 1996. The gas consumption of hotel buildings in
different parts of the world during the mid-1990s was documented and ranged
from 850 MJ/m2 per year in the US to 1135 MJ/m2 per year in Canada (Energy
Efficiency Office 1993; Energy Information Administration, 1995; Zmeureanu
et
., 1994). But none of the studies was conducted in subtropical climates. It is
al
hoped that this finding will add to the literature on energy use in hotel buildings
in this region and help contribute to any future work on the development of
energy codes or standards for the local hotel building professions.
Emissions in 1999–2003
Since the Disneyland deal was finalised in 1999, the local tourism office has
forecast that the number of hotel rooms will reach 45,000 in 2004, an addition of
Table 4 Projected emissions produced by gas usage in the hotel industry in 1999-2003
Year
SO2 (ton)
NOx (ton)
CO2 (ton) Particulate Gas consumption
(ton)
by hotel industry
(TJ)
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
49.23
53.73
59.16
60.86
62.64
101.42
110.69
121.88
125.38
129.05
58,625.24
63,982.37
70,451.36
72,472.92
74,595.56
0.45
0.49
0.54
0.55
0.57
580.00
633.00
697.00
717.00
738.00
:
Notes
1. The projected number of new rooms was derived from the
(2000).
Hotel Supply Situation No.3
2. The number of GFA per room was based on averages used in
Costs Trends
Tender Price Indices and
.
3. A 95% market share factor is used to adjust the GFA of new hotels for the purpose of
estimating gas consumption. This adjustment factoris based on the assumption that town
gas will continue to replace diesel-fired boilers in the next decade and electric water
heating systems will maintain a 5% share of the hot water systems as in 1998.

Emissions Through Gas Usage in Hotels
77
9579 rooms on the 1999 level (HKTA, 2000). Thus, it is predicted that the gas
usage in the industry and its related emissions will increase. Table 4 shows the
estimated annual gas consumption and the corresponding emissions in 1999–
2003. The study projected that the gas consumption would reach 738 TJ in 2003.
This represents an increase of 39% in gas consumption and hence emissions over
theyear 1998.Though theincrease may be considered moderate, it will add to the
burden ofthepresent level ofair pollution. It is likely thattouristswill experience
a deterioration in air quality after the inclusion of additional emissions released
by the use of other fossil fuels. In 1999, a local survey of just over 1000 visitors
revealed that air quality was acceptable to more than 75% of the tourists. But if
the air quality deteriorates further, this could affect the local tourist industry
(Cheung & Law, 2000). Another study also acknowledged that in the near future
air pollution might deter overseas visitors, and the report encouraged the use of
cleaner technologies within the hotel industry and other sectors (HKTA
,
et al.
1999). Thus, hotel industry-related associations and local tourism authorities
should discuss with the gas company about this foreseeable increase in emission
and consider measures to mitigate the problem. Before the introduction of the
new measures, it is recommended that audits of existing hotels should include
measures of boiler efficiency in order to determine any potential savings. At the
Table 5 Comparison of emissions between the use of gas boilers and heat pumps
Energy Emissions produced indirectly via water heating for
Required
(MJ)
one occupied room
SO2
NOx
CO2
Particulate Total
(gm/MJ) (gm/MJ) (gm/MJ) (gm/MJ) (gm/MJ)
Naptha gas
Town gas boiler
(0.86 OEE)
28.63
2.48
5.27
3,133.17
0.03
3,140.95
Coal-fired electricity
Electric heat pump
(2.0 COP)
Electric heat pump
(3.0 COP)
Electric heat pump
(4.0 COP)
14.32
9.54
7.16
6.30
4.20
3.15
6.44
4.29
3.22
1,857.94
1,238.63
928.97
0.29
0.19
0.14
1,870.97
1,247.31
935.49
Natural-gas fired
electricity
14.32
9.54
7.16
0.23
0.15
0.12
Electric heat pump
(2.0 COP)
Electric heat pump
(3.0 COP)
Electric heat pump
(4.0 COP)
4.04
2.69
2.02
1,586.23
1,056.75
793.11
0.00
0.00
0.00
1, 590.50
1,059.59
795.25
: A norm of 24.62 MJ gas consumption for hot water supply per occupied room origi-
Note
nated from Towngas Manual for Hotel Hot Water Systems (1996). and this was used as a
basis for the above comparison.

78
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
same time, hotels should also investigate the feasibility of applying condensing
boilers in subtropical areas as this technology has been proven to raise the boiler
efficiency from 80% to 90% in cold regions. At a more localised control level,
hotels could consider theinstallationof pressure regulatorsonshower heads and
flow restrictors on water taps and sinks in order to curtail hot water consump-
tion. For the reduction of gas for cooking, hotel management could consider
installing energy meters in kitchens in order to monitor the consumption and to
identify benefits from any changes made.
Emission from Electric Heat Pumps and Gas Boilers
Table 5 shows a comparisonbetween emissions from the use of an electric heat
pump and a gas boiler. The energy consumption of supplying hot water for an
assumed 1.5 in-house guests is used as the basis for comparison. When a heat
pump runs on coal-fired electricity and operates at a coefficient of performance
(COP) of 3 or higher, there will be a significant drop in NOx and CO2 emissions.
Nevertheless, the amount of SO2 emitted is still two times that which is released
due to gas consumption. If more effective SO2 reduction technology can be incor-
porated into the coal-fired plant, an electric heat pump with a COP of not less
than 3 would still be a good choice to reduce emissions.
On the other hand, when the heat pump is driven by natural gas fired elec-
tricity, pollutants produced will be remarkably less than those emitted by gas.
Even if the heat pump operates with a COP of 2, the reduction on totalemission is
stillsignificant. This is due to the fact that emissionsfrom naturalgas fired power
plants are significantly lower than those from coal-fired power as indicated in
Table 1. These include an over 99% reductionin SO2emissionsand 96% reduction
on the production ofparticulate. In addition, the NOx and CO2 emissions can also
be decreased by 37% and 15%, respectively. Thus, this suggests that hotel opera-
tors, as customers of the electricity companies, should urge the electricity
suppliers to speed up the change to natural gas in their fuel mix. Alternatively,
hotel operators may also encourage gas companies to develop cost-effective and
energy-efficient gas-driven heat pumps.
Natural Gas as Fuel for Power Generation
Since naturalgas is generally recognised asa cleaner energy source, the energy
and power industry in many cities have changed from coal and oil to natural gas
for gas and power generation. Particularly in Japan, this gradual shift has been
happening since the early 1980s (Osaka Gas Co Ltd, 1998; Tokyo Gas Co Ltd,
1998). As indicated earlier in Table 1, the emissions based on natural gas are also
significantly less than emissions from town gas. Both SO2 and CO2 emissions
drop by over 90%. The reduction also includes 37% less NOx and 83% less partic-
ulate. However, the present gas supply in Hong Kong is extracted mainly from
the petroleum product, naptha. Thus, the government and gas company should
consider the possibilities of changing from the present naptha fuel to naturalgas.
The hotelindustry, asoneofthe major towngas users, should alsoencouragethis
green motive and investigate the implications of this likely fuel change on the
energy cost.

Emissions Through Gas Usage in Hotels
79
Environmental Reporting
Chapter 30of Agenda 21 encourages business and industry ‘to report annually
on their environmental records as well as on their use of energy and natural
resources’ (United Nations Environmental Program Industry and Environment
Office, 1994) The purpose is to provide a visible yardstick on measuring the
.
improvement of the environment. Currently, energy consumption in the hotel
industry published in the trade literature such as the
Hong Kong Hotel Industry,
tends to be in monetary
Worldwide Hotel Industry
and
Trends in the Hotel Industry
terms. It is hoped that in the future trade publications and reports will incorpo-
rate energy use and estimated pollutant data similar to those presented in this
study.
Conclusions
Energy data from the survey of 11 hotels have been analyzed in terms of
annual gas consumption. It has been found that the average gas usage has a
strong correlation with the corresponding gross floor area (GFA). This can help
theestimationofgas usagein new hotel projects andtheprediction ofemissions.
Furthermore,this research has estimatedthe amountsofthepollutantsformed
by gas consumption in the hotel sector in Hong Kong. A general picture of emis-
sions related to gas consumption in the local hotel industry has been observed.
Also, the prediction of the rise of these pollutants due to the increase in the
number of hotels in the next few years indicates there is a case for concern for the
government, the energy sector and the hotel industry. It is suggested that addi-
tional energy saving measures should be implemented by hotels and more
incentives for the purchase of cleaner air technology should be considered by the
government. Meanwhile, the schedule for conversion to natural gas for power
generation and the feasibility studies of using natural gas as town gas should be
speeded up by the local power companies.
The findings in this study arebased on a samplewithsomecommoncharacter-
istics, such as annual occupancies around 80%, high-rise city centre hotels, and
number of room between 200–700. These may pose limitations on applying the
norms established in this study to hotels with higher and lower occupancies,
resort hotels and hotels with over 1000 rooms. Thus, it is suggested that future
research and energy audits should look into hotels in these catagories in order to
ascertain representative norms for hotels with these properties.
It has been observed that occupancy or occupied room nights has a low corre-
lation with gas consumption. The number of guests plus staff, food cover and
weight of linen might be a better choice as an explanatory variable for regression
analysis in future since gas in hotels is mainly used for water heating and
cooking. For the climate variable, it is suggested that future energy audits and
gas consumptionanalysisshould consider the fresh watersupply temperature at
hotel inlets. It has also been found that electric heat pumps with a coefficient of
performance (COP) of 3 or higher would be more environmentally friendly in
terms of pollutant emissions. Previous simulation studies indicated that
solar-assisted heat pumps may achieve a COP of up to 6 (Çomakli
, 1996;
et al.
Huang
, 1999). This theoretical COP suggests that solar-assistedheat pumps
et al.
would probably be a useful alternative in reducing the depletion of power

80
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
resources and lowering air pollution by end-users in places like Hong Kong
where sunlight availability is high. Further investigation and development in
this technology is worth considering.
Since the recent announcement of the green focus in the government’s busi-
ness plan, public concern for the environment now runs deeper than at any time
in Hong Kong’s history. The prospect that the tourism industry will be receptive
to a campaign on energy conservation and environmental protection looks
promising. Considering the rapid hotel development in Asia, an
energy-conscious and environmentally friendly Hong Kong hotel industry
would have far-reaching implications for the environment in the region.
Acknowledgements
Financial support for W.W. Chan from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank their
colleagues in the localhotel industry for the help in data gathering and the many
constructive and stimulating discussions on energy and environmental issues
related to hotel operations.
Correspondence
Any correspondence should be directed to Chan Wai Hung, Wilco, Assistant
Professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (hmwilco@polyu. edu.hk).
Note
1. Energy efficiency = (Heat added to water Heat in the fuel or electricity supplied)
100%.
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