The thermometer on my desk is reading 28°C right now. If I had an air conditioner, I would probably turn it on right now. On the other hand… Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t. At least for the environment. But how do hotels, which always want (and need) to make their guests as comfortable as possible, do it? In the face of global warming, more and more sustainable accommodations are doing away with climate-damaging systems and cool without air conditioning – sometimes in surprising ways!

Why air conditioning is bad for the environment

Air conditioners use a greenhouse gas refrigerant that contributes to global warming. Just recently, experts at the Bonn Climate Conference warned that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C will not be achieved. At the same time, we are experiencing another summer of record global temperatures. Since I have been involved with air conditioning and room cooling for a number of years (in the fields of marketing, consumer protection and journalism), I was able to shed some light on the subject for the GREEN TRAVEL BLOG. There are two major problems with air conditioning:

#1 Greenhouse gas emissions

Air conditioners cool with refrigerants. These refrigerants are greenhouse gases and should be kept in a closed loop. When they leak (which can happen during operation or through improper disposal), they enter the atmosphere. The refrigerant R 410A is widely used (because it is very efficient). According to the German Consumer Magazine Stiftung Warentest, a leak of 500 grams has the same effect as a flight from Frankfurt to Dubai.

The refrigerant R 32 is slightly better, but the most modern refrigerant is the so-called “eco refrigerant” R 290. It is much less harmful to the climate, and its greenhouse effect is “only” three times that of carbon dioxide (as opposed to R 410A, which has a greenhouse effect 2,088 times that of carbon dioxide). It is still little used, but at least there is a significant improvement, which is also due to politics. In 2017, for example, the refrigerant R 134A was banned in the EU because in 2016 alone, 3.5 million tons of greenhouse gases were released into the atmosphere by (car) air conditioning systems! So, in case you were wondering if refrigerants really do leak: Yes, they do!

Good to know: Global Warming

According to the European Commission, man-made greenhouse gases are increasing global warming. The Earth is currently 1.1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels. At current rates, the Earth is warming by an additional 0.2°C every ten years. Once 2°C is reached, “severe negative impacts on the natural environment and human health and well-being” are expected. “Including a significantly increased risk that dangerous and potentially catastrophic environmental changes will occur worldwide.”

2# Power guzzlers

Modern, permanently installed air conditioners consume about 100 kWh of electricity per hour. Energy consumption alone produces CO2 emissions. In the U.S., according to the government’s Department of Energy, air conditioning (industrial and residential) is responsible for about 117 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. In countries like Dubai, where air conditioning is used throughout the hotel, air conditioning and ventilation accounts for 55 percent of a five-star hotel’s total energy costs, according to Hotel Optimizer. The Energy Handbook for Hotels in Dubai recommends that the air conditioning be turned off during the winter months (and open the windows instead).

There is another way: cooling without air conditioning in sustainable hotels

Ventilate, Ventilate, Ventilate

One of the most effective ways to cool your home (or hotel room) is to ventilate. Open the windows for a few hours at night to let the warm air out and the cool air in. Then, before sunrise, close the windows and lower the sun protection (awnings, blinds, curtains, etc.).

Note: Sun protection BEFORE the window (awnings, blinds) are more effective than sun protection BEHIND the window (thermal curtains, blinds).

Some hotel guests do not know how to ventilate their rooms

The Bavarian Hotel Das Rübezahl is located close to the famous royal castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau and is therefore often visited by international tourists. “Guests from abroad sometimes don’t even think about using the fresh mountain air to cool down in the evening,” the boutique hotel reports. Although most of the suites and public areas (lobby, bar, restaurant) are air-conditioned, Americans and Brazilians, in particular, do not understand that not everything is air-conditioned.

Automatic blinds prevent the rooms from heating up

At the HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu, guests won’t find air conditioning at all:

“We are proud of the fact that we have no air conditioning in the entire HUBERTUS. We have automatic shading in our rooms and in the spa area. If the sunlight gets too strong, the blinds go down automatically. – HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu

 

City hotel without AC – tips for cooling without air conditioning from eco-pioneer Ben Förtsch

The Creativhotel Luise in Erlangen has long been one of Germany’s pioneers in sustainable tourism. The following measures ensure a fresh and pleasant climate in the hotel:

• Natural shade from trees: This will increase in the future, as hotelier Ben Förtsch and his team have planted a micro forest.
• Unsealed outdoor surfaces: Sealed surfaces, such as asphalt floors, heat up in the summer and release heat into the environment at night. They also prevent rainwater from seeping away.
• The windows are triple-glazed and equipped with venetian blinds, exterior blinds, solar shading film, or roller blinds, depending on the location.
• In the ventilation concept, structural measures were already taken in 2001 to ensure that there is a draft in the building. The ventilation systems are heat/cold recovery.

STORM uses heat pumps

Another way to avoid air conditioning in summer is to use heat pumps. At the STURM in the Rhön, Germany, this is primarily used for heating in the winter. But it can also be used for cooling – and without refrigerants. A heat pump uses the available heat from the environment (water, earth and air) and transfers it (together with electric current) into the room. In the summer, you can switch the operation so that the warm air in the room is directed outside.

Clay walls for natural cooling in Sicily, Germany and Austria

As you know, in the past people lived without air conditioning. Accordingly, construction methods were adapted to the climate. Ancient Arab buildings, for example, have thick stone walls and tiny windows. Now, even in the desert, gigantic glass fronts are chic – but there must be a louvre in front of it, and the climate behind it!

In Italy, the loggia is a traditional building style. The pre-fabricated exterior gallery with columns ensures that no direct sunlight enters the house. ADLER Spa Resort SICILIA has also revived another Italian tradition: many rooms are lined with terracruda. This earthen building material is a moisture regulator typical of the country. When the humidity is too high, the terracruda walls draw moisture from the room; when the air in the room is dry, the walls release the moisture. Although the spa in southern Italy has air conditioning, several structural measures were taken to keep its use to a minimum. In the cover photo, for example, you can see how the restaurant’s glass doors can be fully opened in the evening.

In southern Germany, when eco-visionary and author Georg Schweisfurth converted Gut Sonnenhausen into a sustainable hotel, he also considered how to create a healthy and natural indoor climate in the rooms. To achieve this, the new walls of the 120-year-old former stud farm were insulated with jute sacks and plastered with clay.

The Hotel Klosterbräu in Tyrol, Austria, also relied on loam walls for its new natural rooms, which provide natural climate control. The loam walls consist of a construction of wooden slats (from the hotel’s own forest) with insulating wool, loam panels and a layer of loam plaster.

 

 

Take advantage of cool mountain air

If you live in the middle of the city and find it uncomfortably hot, despite air conditioning and a wet towel in front of the fan, you can always escape to the mountains for a while. “So far, we have not needed air conditioning because it always cools down nicely in the evenings here at 1620 meters,” says the Hotel Bella Vista Zermatt in the middle of the Swiss Alps.

Biohotel Grafenast reports, “We do not use air conditioning because we are located at almost 1300 meters and it is pleasant in every season.” From the hotel you overlook the Inn Valley of the Eastern Alps.

However, the cool freshness from the Inn River is also not as cold as it used to be. In 2023, climate researchers evaluated the water temperature development of the large Alpine mountain river over the last 45 years. It showed: Alpine river courses are warming faster than expected, which will inevitably have consequences for the ecosystem.

At only 528 meters in the South Tyrolean Alps, “it can be hot during the day,” according to the LA VIMEA in Naturno. However, since it gets cooler at night, this should be sufficient, they say. “It was deliberately decided not to equip the rooms with air conditioning, in keeping with the hotel’s environmental philosophy and to prevent the cooling gases from contributing to the greenhouse effect.”

“Seasons may be felt”

At the German eco-hotel Okelmann’s, they also believe that the most natural thing to do is to live according to the seasons and not artificially create the same room temperature summer and winter.

“We deliberately don’t have air conditioning, because we don’t consider it necessarily good for health, and for the climate either.” – Okelmann’s

 

Tips from Okelmann’s for cooling without air conditioning

When it’s hot, owners Maren and Kristin Okelmann recommend the following:

• Staying outside in the shade
• Drink plenty of fluids (e.g. fresh mint tea or homemade iced tea)
• Keep windows closed during the day and lower sun shades/draw curtains
• Air the room thoroughly in the evening
• Sleep with the window open at night
• Use fans

By the way, the temperature at my place still shows 28 degrees on the Galileo thermometer. The smartphone says 28° – “Feels like 28°.” 🙂 I think I’ll go for the refreshing drink for now. Cold Brew goes well with summer work in my opinion. Or if I want to be extra fancy, I’ll grab one of our summer mocktail recipes. Vacation at work quasi and stay cool despite the heat 🙂

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