Keeping It Cool

Blue Star is the presenting partner of the 8 th Hotelier India Awards 2016. CP Mukundan Menon, executive VP-air conditioning and refrigeration products sales group, Blue Star Ltd, tells Vinita Bhatia that hoteliers should calculate the ownership costs while investing in air conditioning solutions, rather than concentrating on the initial CAPEX investment.

How have the refrigeration and air conditioning needs in the hospitality industry evolved? 

Earlier, the main purpose of air conditioning and refrigeration was cooling. Other aspects like noise, power consumption or aesthetics were ignored. But as the industry evolved, hoteliers realized the importance of these features and started focusing on low noise and minimal power-consuming units. They also wanted solutions that cost less on the operational expense (OPEX) front and were simpler and faster to deploy.

Hence, we developed products with Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems that are easier to install, ensure faster completion of projects, and are easier to manage in terms of operation, servicing and maintenance.

So hoteliers are finally focusing on OPEX, rather than being fixated on CAPEX while investing air conditioning systems?