Commission says EU-China energy efficiency links are ‘deepening

As the EU considers ways of renovating away the 40% of energy guzzled each year by its last-millennium housing stock, China is grappling with the consequences of a runaway housing boom. Buildings account for over 25% of China’s energy use and until recently, Beijing was reportedly constructing 2 billion square metres of buildings a year – the equivalent of nearly every building in Canada. A shared need to improve energy performance has thus spurred a flurry of contacts between the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) and the EU’s member states and Commission. “A deepening of collaboration at operational level has also been witnessed, in particular during 2012 and 2013,” said Marlene Holzner, spokeswoman EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger. This could be developed through joint workshops and further collaboration on building regulations, she added. By 2030, China has pledged that energy-efficient buildings will account for 30% of the country’s new construction projects. The EU has similarly vowed to make all new buildings ‘nearly-zero emitters’ of carbon by 2021, in its Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.