The air conditioning industry will further promote
energy-efficiency ratings to reduce energy consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions.
"Energy-saving air conditioning is a good deal for consumers in
the long term," said Wang Ruohong, deputy director of the China
Energy Label Center under the China National Institute of
Standardization.
"Green consumption will also help the country hit its target of
cutting 20 percent of energy consumption per unit of gross domestic
product from 2006 to 2010."
The center issued the Management Method of Energy Efficiency
Label in August 2004. It took effect on March 1, 2005.
The regulation required home appliances to carry a China Energy
Label, indicating its energy-efficiency rating, from Class 1 to
Class 5. Domestic refrigerators and air conditioners were the first
two categories of products to meet the standards prescribed by the
regulation.
Ma Yitai, from the Thermal Energy Research Institute of Tianjin
University, told the forum that according to his estimation, the
price of a Class 1 air conditioner is about double a Class 5 air
conditioner, but consumes only 60 percent of the energy of a Class
5.
Dong Mingzhu, vice-chairman and president of Zhuhai Gree Xinyuan
Electronic Co Ltd, said: "With the standardized label, producers
are easy to promote green air conditioners."
"Before, when we were trying to persuade consumers to buy the
energy-conserving air conditioners, they could not understand how
much electricity could be saved and why the price was higher than
normal."
However, Dong confessed that there are still some difficulties
promoting green air conditioners.
A survey, conducted by Emerson Climate Technologies and released
at the forum, said 75 percent of respondents said they know nothing
about energy-efficiency labeling. More than 60 percent of those
surveyed put energy efficiency as a priority in air conditioner
consumption.
(China Daily June 8, 2007)