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Energy waste in buildings 'to stop'

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-01-19 08:49

Enforcing strict energy efficiency standards and renovating the existing constructions will be the two key factors to prevent energy waste, he said.

"The period before 2020 will be crucial to decide if China takes a growth mode with low energy and resources consumption."

All new buildings in China have to cut their energy (heating, lighting and air conditioning) consumption by 50 percent, with the level being raised to 65 percent in more prosperous cities like Beijing and Tianjin, Qiu said.

"If we could achieve the goal, we can save energy equivalent to 350 million tons of standard coal by 2020 and 110 million tons during the11th Five-Year Planperiod (2006-10)," Qiu said.

The added cost to make buildings more energy efficient is 100 to 200 yuan ($12.8-25.7) a square meter, and it shouldn't raise real estate prices by much, he said.

A spot check on 610 projects nationwide found that 10 percent builders hadn't followed energy saving standards. An international conference on "intelligent, green and energy-efficient" buildings will be held in Beijing in March.