Ayesha de Kretser/Shanghai Daily

It makes sense to incorporate energy saving infrastructure into housing developments in a country like China. As energy issues continue to play a key role in economic development, and world oil prices grow exponentially, the importance of eco-friendly construction should be highlighted. But as well as this, air conditioning and heating units make our houses less comfortable because the air quality is poorer.
Ecobuild Shanghai 2006 is an initiative driven by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in conjunction with the Shanghai Construction Commission to promote ecologically sound building in Shanghai. With seven projects already nearing completion, the scheme is making haste in convincing developers that investing in energy saving design technology is worthwhile.
The recently completed first phase of Anting Villas (located in outer Shanghai's Jiading District) is one such example of their work, featuring advanced insulation, improved windows and solar collectors. The second phase of construction will go even further, however, incorporating a wider range of building techniques to reduce energy consumption as well as an innovative waste water management system.
Before the 1990s, the region to the South of the Yangtze River in China was the 'non-heating' area while that to the North was the 'heating' area. But because of the fast pace of economic growth over the past ten to 15 years in China, buildings in the southern part of the country have started to use heating as a matter of course.
Obviously this has boosted China's energy demands significantly, and while it is not possible, or reasonable, to ask for a return to yesteryear, it is now more important than ever before to make buildings work more efficiently.
"In fact, it makes no sense to prevent heating. But buildings must perform better," says Robert Meierhans, a Swiss professor working for the China Academy of Building Research in Beijing.
It doesn't take elaborate measures to reduce energy consumption dramatically. Rather than solving the problem of overheating or overcooling caused by buildings which have no insulation, merely treating the air temperature creates even more concerns.
Energy efficiency
Bad air quality (caused by the dryness resulting from air conditioning and heating units) leads to the commonly suffered 'sick building syndrome,' which has a direct impact on residents. It is far more comfortable to live in an energy efficient house.
Thomas Dittert of Dittert and Reumschussel Architects, Hamburg, says the trends in energy efficient building in Germany have already led to the creation of a 'passive house' standard, which calls for absolutely no air conditioning or heating whatsoever.
Granted, the temperatures in Germany are less extreme than those in Shanghai, but the principles whereby huge savings can be made are universal.
And, it seems, these concepts are not new to China at all, according to Professor Xu Jihuan from the Shanghai Pacific Energy Center.
"The no beam temple in Nanjing is a perfect example of this 'passive housing' concept. Whatever time of year you visit, the conditions are perfect, summers are cool and winters are warm," says Xu.
This is because the relationship between all the openings, windows and walls are in harmony.
Meierhans says there are four basic principles which, if adhered to correctly, will vastly reduce a home's energy consumption.
The first is good outside insulation. In northern China, Meierhans says there are buildings constructed with no insulation but 36-centimeter-thick brick walls. This leads to a 45-watt loss of power, while a 12-centimeter brick wall accompanied by just two centimeters of insulation reduces power loss to just nine watts.
But Meierhans says the concept of insulation is growing in popularity amongst young architects in China, who are using it as a focal point of their work, and it is sometimes used as a visible element tied to a building's design.
Flexible outside shading is the second important principle, making a huge difference to comfort levels inside. However, in contrast to air conditioning units, shading devices, which welcome sunlight but help avoid excess heat, are not very popular in China yet. Flexible shading makes sense, not least of which reasons is because of its price.
"Imported shades cost around 800 yuan (US$98.77) per square meter, and if the same can be manufactured in China it would only cost about 100 yuan per square meter," says Meierhans.
The third principle revolves around air tide building shells and mechanical ventilation units with energy recovery.
Lastly, suspended ceilings, which hide air conditioning units below the concrete floor/ceiling in multi-story buildings and make it difficult for air to escape, call for more hot or cold air to be pumped into a building, again making surroundings less comfortable.
While it costs around eight to ten percent more to construct these sorts of buildings, current estimations (based on the assumption that energy prices do NOT continue to rise) put the payback period at around ten to 15 years. In real terms, energy prices are rising very quickly, and these buildings are becoming far better investments than their less environmentally friendly counterparts.
In fact, at one of Ecobuild's non-residential projects, the Pujiang Intelligence Valley, which has been constructed using geothermal heat pumps, slab heating and cooling, advanced sun shading systems and a green roof, the extra costs will pay for themselves in energy savings in just four to five years, according to Ecobuild.
There's still much work to be done convincing Chinese developers that investing in eco-friendly building is worthwhile, but as the overheated real estate sector cools and people begin to demand better air quality and construction, it seems no one will be able to afford not to invest in energy saving technology.