A new building fitted with advanced energy-saving technologies
opened its doors on Thursday.
The building, constructed on the campus of China's prestigious
Tsinghua University jointly by China's Ministry of Science and
Technology and Italy's Environment Ministry, will be used as a
teaching building for Tsinghua's Environmental Science and
Engineering Department.
Italian Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, who
declared the building officially opened, said energy-saving
technologies and renewable energies were essential to achieving
sustainable development.
The building also represents a new platform of cooperation in
environment and energy between China and Italy.
Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua said that
China must construct more environment-friendly and energy-saving
buildings on an urgent basis to meet the demands for sustainable
development and the building of a harmonious society.
The structure was designed by Italian architect Mario
Cucinella.
With a total investment of 260 million yuan (US$32.5 million),
the C-shaped building is 40 meters high, with a total floor space
of more than 20,000 square meters.
A special sunshade on the outside can be used to adjust the
intensity of the sun's rays filtering into the building so that
strong light in the summer can be blocked out and more allowed in
during the winter. An intelligent control system halts operation of
the sunshade when the building is unoccupied.
The entire building is powered by natural gas, and the heat
produced by the gas generator will be used for heating its interior
in the winter and to power cooling pipes in the ceilings to
maintain indoor temperatures at about 18 degrees.
Fitted with these advanced energy-saving technologies, the
building could use 70 percent less energy than a comparatively
sized building, Cucinella said.
China faces serious challenges in meeting rising energy
consumption demands. Despite these challenges, 95 percent of new
buildings fail to meet energy-saving standards.
(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2006)