Summer outside, winter inside

SOME local shopping malls are turning summer into winter by setting their air conditioning temperature too low.

The environmental group Green Sense (環保觸覺) found that the average temperature in 10 malls was 22.8C. The coldest on average – 21.7C – was Lions Rise Mall ( 現崇山商場) in Wong Tai Sin.

That was lower than Hong Kong’s November daily mean temperature of 21.8C. The lowest was 19.8C at Yoho Mall (形點) in Yuen Long.

The Environment Bureau (環境局) has set targets for indoor temperature under its Energy Saving Charter (節能約章), urging that thermostats be set at 24-26C.

Only The Landmark (置地廣場) in Central met the bureau’s requirements. In 2008, the group found the average temperature in 50 malls to be 22.6C.

About 60 percent of shoppers interviewed by Green Sense said the malls were comfortable; 40 percent found them cold but they were not dissatised. Green Sense said respondent satisfaction with a mall does not correlate with a low temperature.

But 42 percent say their consumption is very much affected by the temperature.

Green Sense feels there is an incentive for malls to raise temperatures because sales will drop if they are too cold.

It adds that Hongkongers should learn to shake off their reliance on air conditioners as global warming has become more intense.

(This article is published on Sing Tao Daily on 19 September 2016)

Green Sense
http://greensense.org.hk/en/

Energy Saving Charter
http://goo.gl/wo0TXX