Energy used by projects may be monitored

• Source: Global Times
• [08:17 August 02 2010]
• Comments

By Ni Dandan

China is considering monitoring the energy consumption of major public works in the future, the country's vice minister of construction said over the weekend at a forum run by organizers of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

Qiu Baoxing made the announcement at a conference dedicated to the exchange of ideas on sustainable living between Chinese and Singaporean government officials.

According to Qiu, energy consumption in the transport and architecture sectors plays a strong role in the country's sustainability levels.

"In China, the figure for the two industries alone account for more than 60 percent of the country's total energy consumption," he said. "Therefore, promoting low-energy consumption and green architecture is an urgent task for us."

Qiu said that the government hopes to work towards a plan that would make relevant information regarding energy consumption for large-scale projects available to the public.

Meanwhile, Mah Bow Tan, minister of national development for Singapore, said that urban planning is a necessity for his country, which has the challenge of managing development within a limited space.

"For a country as small as Singapore, it's difficult to guarantee sustainable living," he said. "That's why we have to enforce strict rules to make markets work towards achieving related goals."

For example, Mah said that the government chooses not to provide water subsidies to discourage waste and over-consumption.

He added that Singapore also heavily invests in the sector, with some 500 million yuan ($74 million) set aside for research on green technologies for architecture.