China will monitor the amount of energy consumption and carbon
dioxide emission of constructions in 15 major cities, including
Shanghai, before 2010.
An official with the Ministry of Construction made the
announcement yesterday.
The project will help the Chinese government gain a clearer
understanding of construction-related energy consumption before it
undertakes further conservation measures.
"The lack of scientific statistics is a key drawback of our
energy conservation works," Han Aixing, chief director of the
ministry's science and technology department, said in Shanghai at a
Sino-German seminar on energy efficiency in buildings.
He said many Western countries have detailed statistics on
energy consumption in buildings. The city of New York, for example,
has worked out the amount of carbon dioxide produced by downtown
buildings.
According to the plan, the government will be in charge of
measuring the overall amount of energy consumption - mainly power
and natural gas - of various types of constructions, such as office
buildings, shopping malls, hotels and residential complexes.
Besides Shanghai, other cities in the plan include Beijing,
Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
China has set a goal of reducing energy consumption by 20
percent by the end of 2010 compared with 2005. The amount of energy
consumed in buildings accounts for nearly 50 percent of that total,
Han said.
However, China's statistics on energy consumption in buildings
is mostly based on guesswork.
And there are many loopholes during the process of
administrative approvals for new buildings.
He said many building owners cheat the government by showing
false figures on energy efficiency.
At the seminar, China and Germany co-issued a pamphlet of
technical standards to make Chinese buildings more energy
efficient. The standards cover temperature limits on summer
cooling, the thickness of exterior walls and the layout and
material of windows.
Felicitas Kraus, head of Energy Efficiency in Buildings of the
Germany Energy Agency, said: "Building owners in Germany have to
show a certificate of energy efficiency for their buildings."
She said most German tenants prefer buildings of better energy
efficiency, even if they cost more.
She also said the German government has favorable policies to
encourage the construction of energy-efficient buildings, such as
low-interest loans and subsidies.
(Shanghai Daily August 24, 2007)
