ASHRAE Journal - September 2014 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS

Left: Some 53,000 visitors were welcomed to CR Expo, "Encouraging Innovation, Growth and Market Vitality through Green Development." More than 1,200 exhibitors participated.
Right: The world's largest residential air conditioner manufacturer, Gree, employs more than 40,000 people, with annual production topping 27 million residential units and 2 million
commercial units. The Chinese government owns 64% of Gree.

Energy Efficiency is China's New Proverb
BEIJING-An ancient Chinese proverb observes that when in China are adopting a "sustainability vision," seeing
"green" as a good marketing tool and improving investthe wind of change blows some build walls while others
ment with higher tenant occupancy rates and a premium
build windmills. At the China Refrigeration trade fair
on rents. There is also government incentive.
held here this past spring, philosophical proponents of
China's 12th Five-Year Plan for 2011 to 2015 seeks to
windmills were the norm as China wrestles with the chalreduce energy use by 16% per unit of GDP and carbon
lenges of transformation from a largely rural country to a
multitude of urban landscapes. An average of 300 villages dioxide emissions by 17% per unit by 2015. China burns
as much coal as the rest of the world combined, and only
a day have disappeared in the past decade, and each year
three of 74 Chinese cities met the country's minimum
about 20 billion ft2 (~2 billion m2) of new residential and
standards for air quality last year. The Ministry
commercial building stock is added.
of Housing and Urban-Rural Development
In a country where slogans are widely
requires some buildings, including new large
used as motivational tools and short phraspublic buildings, existing government-owned
ing is considered the clearest form of
office buildings, and large public buildings
expression in everyday Chinese speech,
that apply for government energy retrofit
exhibition organizers signaled a shift to
subsidies, to earn an energy-efficiency label
environmental concerns. "Encouraging
that ranks buildings from one to five stars.
Innovation, Growth and Market Vitality
The Ministry of Construction Green Building
through Green Development" welcomed the
more than 53,000 visitors who viewed dis- Holtop's stand proclaims "Technology Evaluation Standards' Green Building Design
plays of 1,209 exhibitors, 271 of which were Changes the World." The company Label, also known as "Three Star," has been
display featured the latest in its air- introduced on a voluntary basis for commerfrom outside China.
to-air heat recovery products. The
cial buildings.
Opportunity is abundant. China is the
company is a major heat exchanger
Chinese leadership has made no secret of
largest market for new construction in the manufacturer in China.
its intent to initiate economic and financial
world. The green building market has more
reform in the interest of greater long-term and susthan doubled every year since 2005, yet it remains only a
tainable growth. In the energy sector, the government
fraction of the total building stock.
has adopted market-based pricing schemes, energyThe challenge is that construction decisions are still
efficiency measures, and promoted competition among
largely based on short-term costs. But at this year's
energy firms, as well as made greater investments in
China Refrigeration trade show, products touting energy
renewable energy projects. The project approval process
efficiency and life-cycle cost savings are elbowing their
way into the Chinese market. More companies building
See China, Page 99
6

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