China needs more energy-saving houses

Energy consumption from residential buildings accounts for a large chunk of China's overall energy expenditure. Every year, two billion square meters of houses are built, ninety-nine percent of them being high-energy-consumption buildings. Only four percent of buildings currently in use have adopted energy saving mechanisms.

An energy saving house uses less water and electricity for heating. And the power it consumes often comes in the form of recyclable sources. Modern technology now is able to save as much as half of the energy for any community.

Zhang Weilin, Ministry of Construction said "We installed a solar panel on the balcony, and the power it collects goes to the storage battery. The indoor and outdoor lights around this compound use this energy. What's more, the lamps will adjust their brightness according to the change of the natural lighting conditions."

But households like this remain solely as test models. According to the Ministry of Construction, over fifty percent of construction projects have never considered the efficient use of energy.

Zhang said "Materially we do have the technique to build energy efficient houses. But what we need to work on is promoting the concept of saving energy. That requires us to first nurture a market where this concept can sell well. "

Right now, energy saving is not a selling point on the housing market. The concept has been given a cold shoulder by consumers in a recent survey. Their main concern is that energy saving houses might be too expensive to afford. This issue also worries developers.

Zhu Yinxin, Tsinghua University said "Energy saving mechanisms will cost more in terms of the design process, and the purchase of raw materials. The project will last longer, and standards on construction and requirements on the workers will be higher. In consideration of costs and revenues, developers will be reluctant in launching energy saving projects. "

The government estimates the area of residential as well as public buildings will double in the following few years. Relevant departments are suggesting bonus mechanisms to encourage the building of energy saving houses. They say practical measures must be implemented before the burden of powering the buildings becomes too large.

Editor:Xiong Qu