Beijing APEC Summit Leaders Reception Hotel Hot Water Project

As a landmark venue for hosting major national diplomatic events, the Beijing Sunrise Kempinski Hotel has been entrusted with multiple missions since its inception. It is not only a key livelihood and diplomatic supporting project promoted by the Beijing Municipal Government, but also the core reception hotel for the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting. Meanwhile, as the "only foreign-related five-star hotel in the Yanqi Lake Scenic Area", it serves as an important window to showcase Beijing's ecological and service quality. Standing in the core area of the Yanqi Lake Scenic Area, this building covers an ecological area of approximately 14 square kilometers. Its 595 guest rooms and suites are like pearls scattered along the lakeside, meeting the needs of high-end business and diplomatic receptions while providing tourists with an immersive lake-view vacation experience. Among the key supporting facilities that sustain the daily operation of this "diplomatic card", a highly efficient and energy-saving solar hot water system is writing a model for the green operation of five-star hotels with the dual power of technology and environmental protection.

In the operation of high-end hotels, hot water supply is one of the core indicators to measure service quality. Especially for an APEC-designated hotel that has received leaders from many countries, the stability, continuity and comfort of the hot water system are directly related to the professionalism of the reception service. The hot water demand for guest room bathing in Beijing Sunrise Kempinski Hotel covers the daily turnover of 595 guest rooms, and the constant-temperature swimming pool in the hotel has strict requirements on hot water temperature and flow rate. The water temperature of the swimming pool needs to be stably maintained within the international standard range of 26-28°C for a long time, and it is necessary to continuously supplement the hot water consumption caused by evaporation and water change. This poses extremely high challenges to the production capacity and regulation capability of the hot water system. To balance the contradiction between "high demand" and "low energy consumption", the hotel abandoned the traditional hot water solution that solely relies on gas or electric heating during the planning stage, and instead chose to introduce a solar hot water system as the core energy supply source, creating a green hot water solution that balances practicality and environmental protection.

The core advantage of this solar hot water system is first reflected in its strong production efficiency. After on-site surveys and calculation simulations by a professional team, the system finally achieved a stable daily hot water production capacity of 50 tons, which exactly matches the hotel's total daily hot water demand. Among this, about 35 tons of hot water are used for guest room bathing, ensuring that each guest room has 24-hour access to constant-temperature bathing hot water at 45-50°C, without problems such as water pressure fluctuations or sudden drops in water temperature during peak check-in periods. The remaining 15 tons of hot water are directly transported to the hotel's swimming pool. Through the linkage between the intelligent temperature control system and the swimming pool water circulation system, the heat lost from the swimming pool is supplemented in real time to maintain a constant water temperature. It is worth noting that the system is also equipped with a gas auxiliary heating module as an emergency guarantee. In case of continuous rainy weather or insufficient sunlight, the auxiliary module will start automatically to ensure the uninterrupted supply of hot water. This dual-mode design, with "solar energy as the main source and gas as the supplement", not only maximizes the use of renewable energy, but also completely avoids service risks under extreme weather conditions.

From the perspective of economic benefits, the application of the solar hot water system has brought long-term and stable cost savings to the hotel. Data shows that the system can directly save 60,000 cubic meters of gas for the hotel every year. Based on Beijing's benchmark commercial gas price, this translates to a reduction of approximately 200,000 yuan in annual gas procurement expenses. This cost advantage is not a short-term benefit. With the maturity of solar equipment technology, the service life of core components of the system (such as collectors and hot water storage tanks) can reach 15-20 years, and the daily maintenance cost is only 1/3 of that of traditional gas hot water systems. In the long run, it will save the hotel millions of yuan in operating costs. For five-star hotels, this energy-saving solution with "one-time investment and long-term returns" not only reduces operational pressure, but also enhances the enterprise's cost competitiveness in the high-end market.

In addition to the significant economic benefits, the environmental value of the solar hot water system is the core reason for it to become a "city green benchmark". Traditional gas hot water systems generate heat by burning natural gas, which emits a large amount of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in the process. In contrast, the solar hot water system converts solar radiant energy into heat energy, with zero combustion and zero emissions throughout the process, reducing the environmental burden from the source. According to calculations by professional institutions, the system saves 60,000 cubic meters of natural gas every year, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 230 tons. This emission reduction is equivalent to the annual carbon absorption of 120 adult trees or the annual exhaust emissions of 100 family cars. At the same time, it can also reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 1.8 tons and dust emissions by 0.8 tons. These two types of pollutants are important factors that cause air pollution and affect air quality. Against the backdrop of Beijing's vigorous promotion of the "Blue Sky Protection Campaign" and continuous optimization of the atmospheric environment, this initiative of the hotel not only fulfills the enterprise's environmental social responsibility, but also provides a "corporate model" for the atmospheric pollution control in the capital with practical actions, becoming a model for the cultural and tourism industry to implement the "dual carbon" goals.

Today, the solar hot water system of Beijing Sunrise Kempinski Hotel is not just an infrastructure, but also an important part of the hotel's "green brand image". After the APEC Summit, the hotel has hosted many international conferences and high-end business events, and its concept of "low-carbon operation and environmentally friendly reception" has been widely recognized by domestic and foreign guests. At the same time, this system also provides replicable and promotable experience for the energy-saving transformation of domestic five-star hotels. From site selection and survey, system design to later operation and maintenance, it comprehensively demonstrates the application potential of renewable energy in the high-end service industry.

From a "reception benchmark" bearing national diplomatic missions to an "environmental model" leading the green transformation of the industry, the solar hot water system of Beijing Sunrise Kempinski Hotel not only reflects the improvement of service quality by technology, but also demonstrates the enterprise's commitment to environmental responsibility. In the future, with the continuous innovation of new energy technologies, such "green practices" will be more integrated into urban construction and high-end service fields, injecting more impetus into Beijing's efforts to build a "world-class harmonious and livable capital" and the global cultural and tourism industry's pursuit of "sustainable development".