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Green living makes headway in China

By Qian Yanfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-07 13:45

"China's increasing appreciation of green has made green building certification sought-after for many real estate developers with an eye for market differentiation," Zhou says.

In partnership with USGBC for LEED projects in China, EMSI has been engaged in more than 20 green building projects that cover a total construction area of more than 5 million sq m.

China has one of the world's largest and fastest-growing construction industries. Statistics from McKinsey Global Institute show that China will build almost 40 billion sq  of floor space over the next 20 years, requiring the construction of between 20,000 and 50,000 new skyscrapers.

The World Bank also estimates that by 2015, half of the world's new building construction will take place in China. By that time, urban China will account for 20 percent of the global energy consumption and up to one-quarter of the growth in oil demand and pulling environmental concerns right to the top of the government's agenda.

Pushed by rising environmental concern as well as the demand for better living environments, China has become increasingly interested in LEED and other international green building certification systems.

The Ministry of Science and Technology, for example, has introduced The Green Olympic Building Assessment System for the 2008 Olympics, which is modeled primarily on Japan's Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency and, to a lesser extent, LEED.

China has also developed its own green building certification system. Released on June 1, 2006, the Green Building Evaluation System officially defines eco-friendly buildings in China and has three rating levels looking at similar areas of environmental health.

Based on the average energy efficiency of buildings in 1980, the system sets minimum requirements on all new construction in China to decrease their energy use by 50 percent before 2010 and by 65 percent before 2020. But cities like Beijing and Tianjin have already raised their minimum requirement to 65 percent, according to Xu Qiang, chief engineer from Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences.

Such certification systems do not only address environmental issues, but also target long-term savings as well. The trend towards sustainable design and high-performance buildings has progressed in tandem with the demand for energy efficiency, says Xu.

According to Qiu Baoxing, deputy director of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, new constructions in China during the first 10 months of last year reduced the consumption of 5 million tons equivalent of coal. The momentum is expected to continue as buildings represent the greatest opportunity for considerable reductions in CO2 emissions, analysts say.

Yet despite the push, the green building industry in China has yet to win recognition from mass consumers, Xu notes.

"Many developers and consumers in China do not have a proper understanding of a building's green standards. Maintaining green lawns and clear swimming pools does not necessarily guarantee a minimum impact on the environment. The certification of a green building should cover the design, construction and operation of a building during its life," Xu says.

"Comfort, resource conservation, and overall environmental health are seen increasingly as the new standard for healthy living, and this is exactly the essence of green buildings," Xu adds. "We need more people to identify with such a life style, even if it comes at an additional cost. These people will help drive the market demand for green buildings."

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