Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), a leading district cooling service provider, has registered a 30 per cent growth in its hotel customers in April compared to same period last year, said a top official.

Empower CEO Ahmad Bin Shafar was speaking on the sidelines of 'The Hotel Show 2012,' a specialized exhibition in the hospitality industry in the region hich runs till May 17 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Bin Shafar said greater awareness was needed among hotels towards implementation of district cooling services in the region, as this was beneficial for the hospitality industry, their customers and the entire society and economy.

"We support specialized exhibitions like this one in order to spread awareness on district cooling to hotels. To date, 26 hotels in Dubai are using district cooling services from Empower," the company chief said.

"We are optimistic that more hotels will move towards this emerging technology which offers great advantages over conventional cooling offerings," he stated.

"While considering the growth rate of hotel rooms in the UAE during this period, Empower’s growth in the segment exceeds the hotel industry rate," he added.

Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce (DTCM) has mandated that all hotels must reduce their carbon footprint and opt for environment friendly amenities and supplies. This is where district cooling fits in, said Bin Shafar.

District cooling, he stated, was ideal for hotels as it was environment-friendly, cost-effective and hassle-free and also it helps save on cost of cooling, maintenance, installation and capital expenditure.

“The current market tendencies give more room to adopt district cooling technology for hotel buildings, especially where initial capital investment is a deciding factor," Bin Shafar pointed out.

"District cooling saves the customer from investment on plant room, chillers and equipments, water tanks, cooling towers, sub stations, additional drainage facilities, civil structure, cabling works, control and instrumentation, additional space, manpower requirements and maintenance."

"This will enable hotel financiers to divert more initial funds to other areas of the venture,” he stated.

Demand for district cooling has been increasing rapidly in the last decade. In the UAE, it was first used in the 1970s at the Dubai International Airport. It began to be adopted commercially in 1998 with the real estate boom in the country.

The adoption rate in this technology has remarkably increased in the past five years especially amongst large scale projects.

In Dubai, residents  are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of using district cooling system as an alternative to conventional AC system, leading to energy saving and environment conservation, as well as lower operations and maintenance costs, he added.-TradeArabia News Service