近日，由长江设计集团规划设计的汉口滨江国际商务区江水源能源站项目登上央视国际频道。以下为原文。

Summer heat is a challenge to many cities. And in China, one city is adopting a new approach to cooling urban buildings. Our reporter Ning Hong visited Wuhan – known as one of the "Four Furnaces" of China – to see a cooling method already up and running there.

The inland city of Wuhan in central China is known as one of the country's "Four Furnaces." Summer stretches for roughly five months, with average highs above 35 degrees Celsius.

So it's hard to imagine going without air conditioning. But in one district, that's what they're doing. And even high-end international hotel chains have embraced the choice.

WANG YAO Owner's Representative Ascott Poly Riverside "The comfort level is better, because the air comes out cooler than conventional air conditioning. And the operating cost is only about a third."

NING HONG Wuhan, Hubei Province "This is a newly developed business district, and these towers aren't cooled by conventional air conditioning. Instead, the answer lies beneath the surface of the nearby Yangtze River."

The Yangtze is China's mother river and its longest shipping channel. In Wuhan, the river is not only wide but also deep – in many stretches, over 20 meters. Water drawn from the riverbed is roughly ten degrees cooler than the surface.

Now, let's follow the water and see how the Yangtze's cool temperature is brought to local residents.

First, river water flows through pipes into a massive pump room. It's located more than 20 meters underground. This is where Yangtze water is pressurized and sent to the underground heat exchange station.

NING HONG Wuhan, Hubei Province "I'm now four stories beneath the Binjiang Business District at the River Water Renewable Energy Center."

XIAO HAIXI Executive Deputy General Manager Hankou Riverside CBD River-Water Energy Station "What we're using here are water-source heat pump units. After the Yangtze water goes through heat exchange here, the chilled or heated water is then sent to the next exchange station downstream."

The heat exchange station also houses an enormous thermal storage tank, which uses off-peak electricity pricing to manage power consumption. And once the Yangtze water has done its job, it is returned to the river in full. The entire cycle operates in a closed loop.

XIAO HAIXI Executive Deputy General Manager Hankou Riverside CBD River-Water Energy Station "The air today is 36 to 37 degrees. The water we draw from the riverbed reads around 28. What we send back is about 32 – almost the same as the river surface temperature. Because the Yangtze is flowing and its volume is enormous, from an environmental standpoint, this has no impact on the river."

At the user's own heat exchange station, the water undergoes a second round of heat exchange. In summer, it carries the heat away; in winter, it leaves the warmth behind.

NING HONG Wuhan, Hubei Province "This is the final stop on the water's journey. There's not a single outdoor air-conditioning unit or noisy cooling tower in sight, yet the entire district stays at a comfortable 24 degrees."

WU JING Gym Manager Jiang'an District, Wuhan "A conventional system would run us 13 to 15 thousand yuan a month. On river water, it comes to about 10,000."

Once the entire district fully comes online, spanning 2.1 million square meters, this station is expected to cut carbon emissions by 18,000 tonnes a year. NING HONG, CGTN, Wuhan.