CHANGNING District Director Gu Honghui was present at the 2016 US-China Climate-Smart/Low Carbon Cities Summit in Beijing on June 7. Gu was there to share with conventioneers, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, information about Changning’s experience promoting low-carbon urban development.
Changning is currently implementing a World Bank project to support low-carbon city development by promoting green energy schemes. It is also an important measure as Chang-ning works toward the construction of an “ecological civilization.”
The project has two components: first, technical assistance and incremental support for near zero-emission buildings funded by a Global Environment Facility grant; a nd second, a low carbon investment component funded by a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
By 2018, Changning plans to lower carbon intensity per unit of GDP by 23 percent compared with 2010 levels.
By the end of last year, carbon intensity per unit of GDP had already dropped by around 20 percent.
Changning fully promotes energy conservation and emission reduction in existing buildings.
By the end of last year, the district had completed 23 retrofit projects to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings which together cover 1.35 million square meters of space. These efforts are believed to have cut carbon emissions by an estimated 60,000 tons. Such retrofits are also a major step toward promoting the district’s urban transformation.
Changning has raised energy efficiency standards for new buildings. District authorities strictly enforce mandatory green building energy-saving standards at each stage of construction, including planning, approval and designing.
The district has reviewed preliminary designs for new 51 projects, which together cover 2.26 million square meters. Each project was designed in line with local energy-saving standards.
Meanwhile, officials in Changning are also trying their best to improve building energy-saving standards. Indeed, three newly-completed, low-energy-consumption buildings in Changning exceed energy-saving standards imposed at the city-level by five percentage points.
By the end of last year, Changning had four two-star green buildings. Five others were rated as city-level building energy efficiency demonstration projects.
Another highlight are Changning’s near-zero-energy buildings. These buildings are part of a low-carbon practice area created as part of the district’s commitment to the World Bank. The Changning government teamed up with enterprises to retrofit an office building at Hongqiao State Guest Hotel. The building now features low carbon technologies, including a high efficiency retaining structure, a high efficiency illumination system, renewable energy and smart controls.
The project also piloted a whole process management mode. Without considering energy consumption at the socket CO2 emissions were controlled at 16.74 kilograms per square meter, which achieved near-zero emission standards.
At the same time, Changning actively promotes the application of new technologies and practices.
During the construction of low carbon demonstration zone, Changning paid high attention to the application of new technology, new energy and new equipment and adopted new management mode.
Fifteen retrofit projects in Chang-ning have adopted the Contract Energy Sources Management Mode. Moreover, the district is exploring news ways to integrate whole-process management, as well as fine-tuning measures, into construction. It has also adopted new energy-saving methods like intelligent power distribution networks and Internet-based intelligent energy saving management systems.
Changning authorities also strongly promote the application of new equipment and technology. For example, the application of magnetic suspension heat pump air conditioning systems make energy utilization 30 percent more efficient. The Grand Millennium Shanghai Hongqiao took the industry lead by installing concentrated solar power thermal storage systems which improve efficiency by at least 27 percent. The project won first prize at the 2014 China Energy Conservation Association awards.
Public buildings in Changning are encouraged to install ground source heat pumps or photovoltaic generation systems. By the end of last year, Changning had built seven photovoltaic generation projects which produced 1,185.5 kilowatts of electricity in total.
The district is upgrading its energy structure. All coal-fired boilers are set to be demolished. Oil-fired boilers will also gradually phase out and replaced by natural-gas fueled ones. Distributed energy-supply projects have also been tipped as a trend of the future.
Last but not the least, authorities in Changning advocate low-carbon living and green transport. A slow traffic system is being built in Hongqiao area. As part of this effort, 450 public bicycles equipped with GPS devices and smart card-readers are expected to help local commuters conquer the “last kilometer” of their journey within the city.
About the summit
The US-China Climate-Smart/Low-Carbon Cities Summit is jointly organized by the United States and China and aims to promote the implementation of the US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made by President Obama and President Xi in 2014. The summit will expand and deepen the leadership of city and local leaders on climate change and address key low carbon development topics such as carbon trading, air quality improvement, non-motorized transportation, green finance and technology innovation. This year, mayors of Chinese and American cities, including Boston, Wuhan and Shenzhen came together to share ideas and best practices on tackling climate change.
The above is orginally from http://www.shanghaidaily.com/district/changning/District-works-toward-building-lowcarbon-future/shdaily.shtml
