HOTEL'S ENERGY SAVINGS REACH US$1 MILLION MARK

Shareholders and environment benefit in equal measure

Saving US$1 million is always pleasant. Saving US$1 million and at the same

time making a significant contribution to improving the environment is

certainly better. This week these two results are just what the Westin

Resort Macau has achieved. Because this week this delightful 200-room

luxury resort passed the US$1 million mark in net savings from the

sophisticated energy management programme it initiated four years ago. And

according to its programme partner, the hotel energy management firm Energy

Resources Management, this dollar saving has also brought with it a

phenomenal 7.6 million kilogrammes of greenhouse gas reduction.

The tourism industry in Macau is not yet fully recovered from a series of

setbacks, so it is especially hard for hotels to give their owners a

satisfactory return on their investment. Therefore cost savings make a

welcome addition to the bottom line of any hotel in this city, a Special

Administrative Region of China since December last year. But as the subject

of global warming is drawing more and more concern from scientists and

decision makers throughout the world, to be able to show others in the hotel

industry how to make a real difference on this second front is commendable

indeed.

Plenty of hotels use the reverse side of memos to save paper, and take part

in an annual beach clean-up or tree planting to help the environment. But

how many hotels can claim to have made an overall impact of this magnitude?

Hour by hour, the Westin Resort Macau presses on with its programme of

continuous improvement - a programme that was in place long before formal

schemes like ISO 14002 were ever heard of. Many hotels in Asia look no

further than quick-fix technical modifications for energy cost reductions.

But the Westin has worked hard to combine the managerial, financial,

operational, and behavioural aspects of this discipline called energy

management in order first to understand and then to control its total energy

consumption profile.


And this continuous improvement does not stop with energy management. This

Westin property is still the only hotel in the entire Pearl River Delta

(Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou) with its own fully contained sewage

treatment plant. Through the efforts of hotel chief engineer Romulo Estrada

and his team, the efficiency of this plant has been increased by more than

50 percent in terms of both energy consumption and manpower costs.

The Westin Resort Macau is considered the ideal setting for weekday

activities by Hong Kong's corporate meeting planners, and is an absolute

favourite with weekend rest-and-recreation seekers. The hotel's stunning

location, convenient access, and sophisticated elegance have ensured it a

steady flow of return guests since the first day it opened. As well as

championship golf, guests can enjoy tennis, squash, two swimming pools, and

the Westin Kids Club.

Westin Hotels & Resorts, with over 110 hotels and resorts in 23 countries,

is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Starwood Worldwide is

a hotel operating and management whose shares are paired and trade together

as a unit with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the largest real estate investment

trust in the United States (NYSE:HOT). Starwood Worldwide offers guests a

choice of more than 650 hotels and resorts in over 70 countries. The

Asia-Pacific region has over 60 hotels in 17 countries.