Temperatures in banks are lower than necessary and banks should redesign staff uniforms to reduce the need for air-conditioning, a green group says.
Green Sense measured the temperatures at 68 banks in Hong Kong beginning last month. The average temperature was 22.9 degrees Celsius. Fourteen of the branches had an average temperature of below 22 degrees. A Hang Seng Bank branch on Hennessy Road was the coldest, at 18.8 degrees.
Daniel Chan Wai-tin, of Polytechnic University's Department of Building Services Engineering, said people should change their ideas about air-conditioning, and that each company should set the temperature in its offices according to the level of staff activity.
'They should not think that having a low indoor temperature must be a good thing,' he said.
Professor Chan said banks should take the initiative to redesign staff uniforms to make them cooler. He said male staff should be allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts and women staff should not be required to wear scarves. He said uniforms should be made of materials that dissipate heat easily.
Green Sense chairman Roy Tam Hoi-pong said wearing thinner clothes would make the staff feel fresher.