[su_heading align=”left”]Phase 2 of Zero Carbon Resorts Project to cover Philippines and Thailand[/su_heading]
The European Union announced on Wednesday that it is extending its funding of the successful Zero Carbon Resorts Project in the Philippines after four years of implementation saw promising results among the program’s 500 members, representing 25,000 hotel rooms nationwide.
Matthieu Penot, EU attaché for environment, energy, and climate change in the Philippines, said ZCR would pave the way in building a green brand for tourism in the country. The EU has been funding ZCR through its Switch Asia program since 2009.
ZCR is renewed for another four years, this time also covering Thailand.
The project plans to double its current member-participants, which would likely represent an addition of 500 more hotels or 25,000 hotel rooms.
Implemented by GrAT, a Vienna-based non-profit group with offices in Nepal and the Philippines, ZCR is a four-year green hotel program that promotes methods of reducing carbon footprint among accommodation players.
It does this gradually, following the principles of reducing energy consumption, replacing inefficient technologies, and redesigning the hotel for more efficient use of energy.
It started the “reduce” phase in 2010 with a handful of Palawan-based resorts, promoting simple and indigenous techniques to save on energy and other consumptions. For instance, utilizing white elastometric paint rather than a dark shade for the roof means a 20-degree Celsius difference in temperature, thereby reducing the load on air-conditioning and subsequently, energy requirements.
These techniques are available for download via ZCR’s website www.zercarbonresorts.eu
A member’s savings would then become its investment for energy-efficient equipment during the “replace” phase in 2011.
Out of 500 members, ZCR closely monitored a sample of 152 members to calculate their savings, the total of which reached between PHP241 million and PHP260 million annually. The amount saved in energy, water, and fuel consumption represents annual consumption of 41,870 homes, 3,890 households, and 2,160 cars, respectively.
As part of the “redesign” phase, ZCR is currently building a best-practice cottage in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. The model house integrates the best technologies ZCR has developed over the past four years.