SWITCH-Asia

The Challenge

China’s unprecedented socio-economic growth drives expansion in the building sector, which has added about 2 billion m2 annually over the last decades. The building sector accounts for about 30% of the final energy consumption in China. The Chinese government has issued its first green building standard in 2006. By 2020, the Chinese government aims at 50% of new constructions. Only 10% of the construction projects currently reach that standard, out of which 90% are located in the developed eastern China. In western parts of China, new construction of green buildings is still in a pilot stage.

The Objectives

The project aims at scaling up sustainable building practices in less developed western China, reducing climate and resource impacts of the building sector, and contributing to sustainable socio-economic growth in China. It seeks to foster sustainable building practices among MSMEs in Chongqing City and Yunnan province with replication potential for the western China.

The Way Forward

• Providing capacity building and technical support for MSMEs in the building supply chain;
• Raising MSME users’ awareness about energy saving and enhancing facility managers’ capacity of energy management in large commercial buildings;
• Developing concrete solutions to facilitate the access to finance for MSMEs producing building materials/components and energy service MSMEs;
• Supporting the development of policy instruments fostering the uptake of sustainable building practices;
• Improving business network fostering sustainable buildings;
• Disseminating key lessons of sustainable building practices to the whole China and at the regional level in Asia.