Being one of the fastest growing sectors of industry, tourism is rapidly gaining in influence on energy consumption worldwide. At many travel destinations, the accelerating and inefficient use of energy and other resources is causing serious environmental damage, thus jeopardizing the very basis of sustainable tourism development. The hotel industry is a particularly energy-intensive branch of the tourism industry, and about 50% of the energy consumption in this sector is due to the use of HVAC systems for space conditioning. The environmental impacts of HVAC-system operation can be partially described by the TEWI factor, which considers parameters including the emission of environmentally hazardous refrigerants, and system-related CO2-emission. The ODP factor can be additionally used to describe the effects of CFC and HCFC refrigerant emission on ozone depletion.

This paper discusses the use of advanced types of HVAC systems for hotel facilities in the Mediterranean, designed to provide comfortable indoor environments at substantially reduced environmental impacts, by incorporating measures of energy efficiency and using renewable energy resources. An energy and environmental impact analysis of typical systems is presented. Possibilities for CO2-trading in this sector ar additionally discussed.