Energy-saving rules for new buildings

China, which builds the equivalent of half the world's new floor space annually, has announced new rules to make its buildings more energy efficient, as part of efforts to save dwindling (become less) fuel resources.

From this year, new property developments that fail to meet mandatory energy-efficient building standards will not be allowed to go on sale, said Vice Minister of Construction, Qiu Baoxing.

A certification system, which will require new buildings' levels of energy, water and land conservation to be rated, will also be introduced.

There are also plans to halve the amount of coal used to heat buildings in winter, from an average 25kg of coal for one square metre to 12.5kg of coal.

Said Qiu: "If by 2010, China can halve the amount of coal used to heat our buildings, we would have conserved 350 million tonnes of coal."

The government will also complete, over the next two years, an overhaul of the pricing system for heat supplied to households.

Residents will then be encouraged to save energy, as they will be charged according to the amount used, rather than on a per-sq-m basis, Qui said at a recent news conference. China is the world's second largest consumer of energy, due in part to the grossly inefficient use of energy resources.

It produced 4.4 per cent of global gross domestic product last year, but consumed 7.4 per cent of the world's crude oil, 31 per cent of its coal and 40 per cent of its cement.

Chinese households' demand for energy continue to grow, said Qiu, warning that "if every Chinese person lives and uses energy the way Americans do, even the entire world's supply of energy will not be enough".

He estimated that a third of existing buildings needed to be upgraded to become more energy efficient, at a cost of 2.6 trillion yuan (S$528 billion).

China, which has 40 billion sq m of existing floor space, adds two billion sq m of floor space each year. This is roughly equivalent to half of the world's annual constructed floor space.

Qiu said that to construct energy-efficient buildings, costs would rise by as much as eight per cent, but that Beijing would consider cutting property taxes to offset the increase in costs.

Other measures to encourage developers to construct green buildings and consumers to buy them include preferential tax treatment and subsidies.

Energy-efficient construction includes the insulation of windows, doors and walls; low energy lighting; better heating, gas and electrical systems; and alternative technologies like solar water heaters.

The shift towards energy-efficient buildings, Qiu pointed out, not only "influences the sustainable development of China, but also has an effect on the world economy and climate change".

The Straits Times