The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has replaced the exterior façade of two of its properties in Dubai with Philips' architectural LED lighting solutions as phase one of the project.

All interior lighting will be completed in phase two, covering a total of 35,000 light points in hotel rooms, suites and public areas, at InterContinental and Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City.

LED technology allows huge savings on energy as well as maintenance costs due to its long lifetime, giving LEDs a very low total cost of ownership.

Aiming to reduce their carbon footprint, the hotels will be saving almost 2,000,000 kg per year of CO2 emission, as they switch on their new energy efficient lights. The new lighting solution will also help the hotels save approximately 80 per cent of their energy costs incurred on lighting.

The IHG Dubai Festival City properties already have in process an aggressive recycling programme of all hotel waste across all areas including guest floors, the Lexus LS600 hybrid cars used for guest transfers (that produce 70 per cent fewer harmful emissions than regular automotives), and the annual ‘Whatever Floats Your Boat competition that raises money for local environmental charities through a recycled boat race across the Dubai Creek, said a statement.

“If all the hotels in the region at least adapt their interior lighting to energy efficient ones then the resulting impact on the environment  will be remarkable,” stated Louis Hakim, vice president of Royal Philips Electronics and CEO of Philips Middle East.

“We believe that travel and tourism should be operated responsibly, and long-term benefits of going the extra mile with this approach far outweigh the costs,” added InterContinental Dubai Festival City hotel manager Steven Greenwood.-TradeArabia News Service