Despite government’s resolve, improving energy efficiency in buildings is an uphill battle in China
　　
　　It’s been nearly four years since Tang Youcheng, who holds a master’s degree, landed a job in Beijing, but the young man and his wife are still packed into a rented apartment.
　　After the couple married at the end of 2004, they set out to buy a home in the face of skyrocketing housing prices in the city. In the past year, they have checked out 40 apartments listed for sale, only to be frustrated by their staggering prices.
　　For them and many other people, price is the top concern, while a building’s energy efficiency is not a consideration.
　　Tang said, “When I cannot even afford a home, how can I care about its energy efficiency?” He added that it would certainly be best if apartments were both affordable and energy saving, “but I don’t think they can make that happen at present.”
　　Many low- and middle-income people like Tang do not expect their future homes to be on the technologically cutting edge.
　　Yet a number of homebuyers have the opposite view. Wang Lei, an employee of a foreign-invested company in Beijing, is one of them. Like many young women with financially rewarding jobs, Wang, who is single, is thinking of buying a small apartment. She is not too worried about the price, but wants her home to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
　　To her surprise, most of the real estate developers she contacted did not take “energy efficiency” seriously, she said. Almost all of them use price and location as selling points while giving short shrift to the energy issue. The few developers who did claim that their buildings were energy-efficient or even had energy efficiency provisions incorporated into the sales contract could not produce a detailed energy-saving plan, despite their assurances about how much energy she would be able to save.
　　“Most ordinary consumers are not energy experts,” she said. “If there isn’t a lengthy energy-saving plan, how can we tell whether the building is energy efficient or not?”
　　Against the backdrop of a severe energy shortage in the country, the Chinese Government is making an effort to improve energy efficiency in buildings. However, it seems that Wang’s experiences speak of the questionable prospects for this endeavor. What has caused this dilemma, and what can the government do to provide an effective stimulus for building energy efficiency across the board?
　　
　　An urgent matter
　　
　　A strained energy supply is the biggest problem hindering China’s economic development. However, few people could imagine that building complexes have become increasingly voracious energy guzzlers.
　　Official statistics show that while energy consumed in buildings accounted for 10 percent of total energy consumption in the country in the late 1970s, the rate has risen to 28 percent over recent years and is forecast to soar to 35 percent soon. If energy indirectly consumed by buildings is taken into account, it has already exceeded 46 percent.
　　
　　Worse still, new buildings are mushrooming nationwide. Gu Yunchang, Vice President of the China Real Estate Association, said that in China, a country dubbed “the world’s No. 1 construction site,” some 1.6 billion to 2 billion square meters of buildings are put up every year, almost more than the combined floor area of new buildings in all developed countries.
　　However, only 10-15 percent of them can meet the government’s energy efficiency standards, with over 80 percent regarded as highly energy consuming structures whose energy consumption per unit floor area is two to three times that of buildings in developed countries, Gu noted.
　　According to statistics released by the Ministry of Construction in February last year, among the 40 billion square meters of buildings currently in use in China, only 320 million square meters in urban areas are energy efficient, accounting for less than 10 percent. Experts estimate that if this trend continues, high energy consumption buildings will reach 70 billion square meters by 2020. Some say reducing energy consumption in buildings is not only a technical issue, but also a political issue of strategic importance to China’s energy security.
　　Deng Xiaomei, a construction management expert at Tsinghua University, believes the reason that construction has become a high energy consumption industry in China is that many designers are preoccupied with “grandness, novelty and exoticness” rather than energy conservation.
　　For example, glass buildings were extremely popular a couple of years ago. Glass walls easily absorb heat, boosting the energy consumption of the central air conditioning system. In addition, air conditioners have to be kept working throughout the year because of inefficient ventilation, resulting in an alarming waste of electricity.
　　Wu Liangyong, a renowned architecture expert, has noted that unusually shaped buildings, which are highly energy consuming and impractical, are being built in a few large Chinese cities such as Beijing. In fact, such sumptuous buildings are seen nowhere in the West out of books, magazines and exhibitions. He warned that Chinese cities are being reduced to the “testing ground of foreign architects.”
　　
　　The harsh reality
　　
　　The Chinese Government has long been aware of the necessity of promoting energy efficiency in buildings. In 1986, it unveiled the first regional residential building energy efficiency standard, targeted at north China, where it is cold in winter and hot in summer, which marked the beginning of a nationwide campaign to popularize energy-efficient buildings.
　　China took this initiative only 13 years after Western countries, which began improving building energy efficiency in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. However, despite government departments’ fervent advocacy, the campaign has not produced any substantive results because of the absence of economic and policy incentives and a mandatory requirement.
　　In September last year, Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao disclosed the findings of a survey conducted in 17 provinces and municipalities on energy efficiency in residential dwellings from 2000 to 2004. According to the survey, only 23.25 percent of such buildings in different climate zones across the country meet the government’s energy efficiency standards. The rate is 31 percent in the north, less than 15 percent in central China and 11 percent in the south.
　　
　　The Ministry of Science and Technology’s main office building, completed over two years ago, is an energy-efficient model, using 72.3 percent less energy than the typical building. The building was launched as one of the technological cooperation projects between China and the United States. Five international seminars were held to discuss the building’s design, and three rounds of computer simulation analysis based on the meteorological records of the past 50 years were conducted. The most appropriate technologies and products were adopted in accordance with parameters worked out in the analyses to minimize energy consumption.
　　Yang Guoxiong, a ministry official, said the building cost about 10 percent more than ordinary buildings, but it was anticipated that the extra cost would be offset by the energy savings in seven to eight years. However, harsh reality has intruded.
　　In north China, heating and electricity are two major energy-consuming areas, accounting for over half of the total energy consumption in buildings. According to Yang, the ministry office building consumes only one third of the energy needed by ordinary buildings to heat up. However, at present, heating fees are calculated on the basis of the floor area. In other words, despite the considerable amount of energy saved, the ministry cannot pay any less for the heating.
　　“If energy efficiency is not linked to economic benefits, who will bother to develop energy efficient buildings?” Yang commented to Beijing Review.
　　Over the past two years, Yang has been busy raising this complaint with relevant departments in the hope of persuading them to rectify the fee system. “We have waited for two years,” he said. “What’s to be done now? Nothing but wait.”
　　Apart from the property owners, developers also have their grievances.
　　“I think there will be major difficulties with the extensive promotion of building energy efficiency in China,” said Gao Kun, Board Chairman of Beijing Xuanyi Real Estate Development Co. “The government means well, but it may lead to bad consequences.”
　　He pointed out that China’s environmental industry is not mature, as evidenced by its small-scale production and high prices. As a result, a dramatic shift to energy-efficient buildings will increase construction costs, further driving up housing prices.
　　“For most middle- and low-income consumers, price is the top priority,” said Gao, adding that consumers will not welcome costly energy-efficient buildings.
　　Tang’s experience provides a telling example. No matter how energy efficient a building is, there will be no point if it does not sell. In addition, without any government incentives such as a tax reduction, making buildings energy efficient will mean a cut in the developer’s profit margin. That is why real estate developers like Gao are reluctant to go ahead with energy-efficient buildings.
　　Gao also complained that many government departments are authorized to regulate the energy-efficient building sector and they have imposed different standards. This inconsistency often leaves real estate developers confused.
　　He recalled that the authorities once designated three heat-preservation materials for the exterior walls of a building his company was working on. However, tests and trials showed that none of them fit the local conditions. Although the problem was settled through negotiation, the project was nevertheless delayed.
　　“Frankly speaking, the government’s energy efficiency standards are too general, unworkable and sometimes impractical,” he said. “So, it is very easy for real estate developers to go through authorities’ perfunctory checkups.”
　　In Gao’s view, energy-efficient buildings can only become popular in the country when they are accepted by most consumers. Negative consequences might arise if the government tries to enforce energy efficiency standards without taking consumers’ actual needs into consideration.
　　
　　New standards
　　
　　The Chinese Government put forward the concept of a “conservation-minded society” in 2005, while attaching strategic importance to energy security. It also highlighted 10 major energy-saving projects, including improving building energy efficiency, as part of a medium- and long-term energy-saving program adopted last year. In this context, the Ministry of Construction and other departments have stepped up efforts in this respect. After pilot programs were carried out, they came up with mandatory national standards.
　　Having enforced an energy efficiency standard in private buildings, China adopted the first comprehensive national standard for energy efficiency in public buildings in July 2005. In the following six months, a series of policies were enacted. Unlike previous official documents, these policies made it clear that a breach of the standards is punishable by fines, denial of market access and other sanctions. At the same time, departments have conducted extensive studies on the introduction of an incentive mechanism and produced a first draft, which will soon be submitted to the State Council, China’s cabinet, for examination and approval.
　　The Chinese Government has made it a long-term goal that new buildings in urban areas will be able to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent by 2010, and by 65 percent in the north, economically developed coastal areas and mega-cities by 2020, while converting most existing buildings into energy-efficient ones.
　　As required by the Central Government, many local governments have also made efforts to promote energy efficiency in buildings. Today, many provincial and municipal governments have stopped approving new projects that fail to meet energy efficiency standards.
　　As the capital city, Beijing has taken the lead. It is among the first cities that have vowed to achieve the national goal ahead of time--using 65 percent less energy in its new buildings by 2010. The municipal construction authorities have required real estate developers to incorporate design features guaranteeing such energy savings and related compensation provisions into the sales contracts as of July last year.
　　As of September 1 last year, construction companies are required to register with a competent municipal government department before they can get a license to begin construction. The license will not be granted unless the companies achieve the energy efficiency standards. In addition, buildings that fail to meet these standards will not be able to go through inspection procedures when completed.
　　Such standards are spreading across the country. Last November, the Ministry of Construction issued a document requiring real estate developers to indicate energy-saving measures, exterior design and insulation capacity in easily spotted places in their sales offices and to include these in the instruction booklets.
　　Wang Tiehong, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Construction, described the forthcoming campaign as an “energy-saving storm.”
　　Jiang Yi, a professor at the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, estimated that an urban household spends 1,500 to 3,000 yuan ($185-370) a year on energy, or about 10 percent of its annual income. Because energy is a major expense for ordinary families, buildings’ energy efficiency is set to become an important consideration for homebuyers, he said.
　　The problem today, however, is that there are few measures by which energy efficiency in buildings is judged. “To kick the energy efficiency campaign into high gear, the key lies in establishing an assessment system to evaluate building energy consumption with clearly defined indicators,” said Jiang.
　　Since buying a home is a major financial investment, homebuyers definitely cannot afford to turn a blind eye to these indicators, he said. Given this, real estate developers will be compelled to compete in energy efficiency performance to win clients. Jiang said only in this way can the concept of building energy efficiency prevail in society.
　　Zheng Guangfu, a professor at the School of Architecture, Southeast University in Nanjing, favors more compulsory measures from the government. It is his view that the government should intervene in the design of private dwellings using its economic leverage. For example, it can impose taxes on high energy consumption buildings to force consumers to buy energy-efficient ones.
　　Other experts attribute the unpopularity of energy-efficient buildings to the lack of legislation in this area. They suggest that China should amend its existing laws or come up with new ones, referring to the experiences of Western developed countries. Incentives for energy-efficient buildings as well as the rights and obligations of the government, real estate developers and homeowners should be enshrined in the laws.

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