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One of Sri Lanka’s largest hospitality brands, Jetwing Hotels, officially signed a cooperation agreement with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, to demonstrate climate-friendly and energy-efficient cooling solutions in the country’s hotel industry.
Refrigeration and air conditioning often makes more than 50 percent of hotel’s electricity consumption, and given the increasing electricity tariffs this results in significant costs. The electricity used for cooling is largely generated from fossil fuel combustion, therefore impacting the climate. Hotels are well advised to explore efficient and climate-friendly technology alternatives for comfort cooling and refrigeration.

Jetwing Hotels, a pioneer in implementing the latest in sustainable technology successfully applied for support at the GIZ Green Cooling Initiative call for innovative ideas. The Green Cooling Initiative is a global project funded by the International Climate Initiative by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and it is implemented by GIZ PROKLIMA – a program that advices actors in developing countries on climate-friendly and energy-efficient cooling technologies. According to GIZ PROKLIMA, demonstration projects in relevant fields of application are key to inform political decision makers to take the regulatory steps to promote clean technologies. 

Planned activities include the set-up of an absorption chiller for air conditioning at Jetwing Blue, a measure implemented for the very first time in Sri Lanka at Jetwing Lagoon. The steam is produced in a boiler which will be fired with cinnamon wood, a byproduct in the country’s cinnamon industry which can be used as a sustainable crop. 

Moreover, the cooling experts of GIZ Proklima will assess the current refrigeration and air conditioning applications in all Jetwing facilities in Sri Lanka and come up with a proposal for technology alternatives. The analysis serves as a basis for a training of technical managers on how to optimize cooling systems, from small split air conditioning units in some rooms to large central chiller systems. The project will run until April 2017 and shall serve as an example on how hotels can take action to protect the climate and save costs by applying green 
cooling technologies.