The large, glass-enclosed and air-conditioned hotels that are springing up in Cuba as a result of the tourist boom have become the focus of local critics, who consider the structures more appropriate for temperate climates and countries with abundant energy resources.

Granma,the official Cuban daily paper, took this position in an article decrying the ultramodern structures, stating that "the large windows cause a greenhouse effect in the interior of these buildings and overburden the air-conditioning equipment."

The Granma article, by reporter Orfilio Peláez, a specialist in science topics, criticized the hotels' architects, noting that the buildings reveal "from their very conception a clear tendency to disregard our tropical climate, and other factors related to natural lighting and the use of shade."

The opinion of physicist Bruno Henríquez Pérez,a researcher with the state-run Cubaenergía, was even more harsh. The expert said that "it's contradictory for the country to have developmental policies that place the highest priority on a nation-wide program of energy conservation, while consumption goes through the roof in these buildings that disregard basic precepts of bioclimatic architecture."

Both Granma and Henríquez agree on the principles of bioclimatic architecture, which can be described as "taking into consideration all of the possibilities of a setting, especially solar energy, with the goal of reducing to a minimum the consumption of conventional energy sources for lighting and air conditioning, without either sacrificing comfort or damaging the environment."

Specialists such as Henríquez and Peláez support the notion that the very hot and humid Cuban climate requires that residences and buildings be completely protected from direct sunlight and have natural ventilation.

According to the Granma article, "It does not make sense to have a predominance of huge windows of dark glass, particularly on the side of the buildings that face south, because they heat up and raise the interior temperature to up to 50 degrees C (122 degrees F) -- known as the greenhouse effect -- so that the air-conditioning has to work harder to keep the interior cool."

The article further noted that more than 60% of the annual cost of electricity for these hotels goes toward air conditioning.

Granma stated that "bioclimatic design needs to be implemented, not just because oil is expensive and difficult to get, but also out of basic respect and concern for the environment."

Cuba has experienced a strong upsurge in foreign tourism since the middle of the last decade. This has led to an influx of foreign investment on the island. Often the hotel chains that have invested here want to maintain the traditional look of their buildings in other parts of the world.

It is expected that the Cuba tourist sector will play host to an estimated 1.9 million foreign vacationers in 2003.

Translated for Global Exchange by Jared Simpson