Government office buildings and large public structures will
face energy quotas, higher utility rates for overuse and public
releases of their efficiency ratings this year, the Beijing
News quoted officials with the Construction Ministry as saying
yesterday.
The measures are just a few of the new energy-saving programs in
the pipeline.
Data suggests that government offices and large public buildings
use 22 percent of the total electricity consumed in cities every
year.
In Beijing, State buildings use 85.4 kWh of electricity per
square meter of space every year. That is 10 to 20 times what
residential buildings use, according to a release by the Beijing
municipal committee of construction and the Beijing development and
reform committee.
The statistics are based on audits of the offices of 20 State
bodies and several large public buildings, including student dorms,
hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, sports venues and commercial
office buildings.
Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan called on State bodies to take the
lead in reducing their energy use during a national work conference
on Party- and State-level energy-saving initiatives last week.
Zeng said this year the central government will cap the
construction of State office buildings and employ more
energy-saving technologies.
The central government will also introduce a contract system for
energy-use and push for reform in the fees charged for air
conditioning.
In October, the Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Finance
jointly released a notice calling for the establishment of an
appraisal system to reward or punish State office buildings and
other large structures according to how efficiently they use
energy.
In 2006, the State electricity bill fell 12 percent from its
2005 level. The water bill fell 19 percent and fees for overall
energy consumption on a per capita basis fell 6 percent.
Kang Xiaoguang, a public management professor at Renmin
University of China, said State bodies should set an example when
it comes to saving energy.
"As energy pressures grow, the government should demonstrate its
willingness to restrict use so other sectors, especially industry,
which is hungry for energy, follow suit," he said.
New measures, especially economic tools such as pricing, will
help fix the situation, he said.
(China Daily January 4, 2008)
