China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently issued an announcement on the national standard “General Specification for Building Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Utilization“. The document will take effect from April 1, 2022 as a compulsory project construction specification, of which all provisions must be strictly implemented. The relevant mandatory provisions of the current engineering construction standards shall be repealed at the same time.
Specification takeaways
1. The full text is mandatory and must be strictly enforced;
2. The general specifications for building energy efficiency and renewable energy cover a wide range, involving newly built buildings, existing buildings, renewable energy systems, construction, commissioning, acceptance, operation management, etc.;
3. Take building carbon emission calculation as a mandatory requirement;
4. Refine requirements for the utilization of renewable energy;
5. The energy-saving design level of newly built buildings is further improved. The document raises the thermal performance limit requirements of residential buildings and public buildings. Different from the current energy-saving standards in most regions, the average design energy consumption level is reduced by 30% and 30% respectively on the basis of the current national and industry standards for energy-saving design;
●The average energy saving rate of residential buildings in severe cold and cold areas should be 75%
●The average energy saving rate of residential buildings in other climate zones should be 65%
●The average energy saving rate of public buildings should be 72%
6. New design index requirements for energy-saving industrial buildings in mild areas;
7. The efficiency and lighting requirements of the HVAC system have been comprehensively improved.
It’s worth mentioning that there are clear mandatory standards for carbon emission intensity compared with previous recommendations.
The document was launched to implement national laws and regulations on energy conservation, ecological environment protection, and response to decision-making and deployment on climate change, implement carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality, and improve energy resource utilization efficiency. It is also issued to promote the use of renewable energy, reduce building carbon emissions, create a good building indoor environment, and meet the needs of high-quality economic and social development.
It can be predicted that after the implementation on April 1, 2022, the building envelope structure industry (door and window, thermal insulation material industry) and other industries in the field of building energy conservation will benefit and usher in a new wave of growth.
