Since the State Council issued the "2014—2015 Action Plan for Energy Conservation, Emission Reduction and Low-Carbon Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") on May 26 this year, in the face of further strengthened and clarified energy-saving and emission-reduction targets and measures, the traditional construction industry, long characterized as “two high and one high-consumption” (high pollution, high energy consumption and high resource consumption), has been significantly affected. Some industry experts predict that this energy-saving and emission-reduction plan will bring huge development opportunities to a series of emerging industries, including energy-efficient green buildings.

The reporter learned that national statistics show that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, China will build 140 million square meters of new green buildings while completing energy-saving renovations of 620 million square meters of existing buildings. In this regard, Shan Yinmu, chairman of Zhejiang Hangxiao Steel Structure Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hangxiao Steel Structure”), China's first listed steel structure enterprise, said that vigorously developing green buildings, accelerating the construction of energy-saving, emission-reduction and carbon-reduction projects, and implementing energy-saving technological transformation and the industrialization of energy-saving technologies and equipment are inevitable choices for a resource-saving and environment-friendly society and sustainable development. As an excellent form of green building, steel structures are the “vanguard” of building energy conservation and emission reduction.

Steel structure buildings drive energy-saving renovation of public buildings in the next two years

Relevant data show that China's domestic construction industry and its related industries account for 46.7% of total social energy consumption, and the carbon emissions of the traditional construction industry account for nearly 50% of total emissions. Xie Ji, deputy director of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection of the National Development and Reform Commission, recently said that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the state will implement mandatory energy efficiency standards in the building sector and will promote public buildings, especially key energy-using buildings, to achieve energy consumption reduction targets through energy-saving renovation or the purchase of energy savings.

Industry insiders pointed out that concrete construction, commonly used in traditional buildings, causes serious pollution, consumes huge amounts of energy and is difficult to recycle. To break through the bottleneck restricting energy conservation and consumption reduction, the proportion of energy-efficient buildings must be expanded. It is reported that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has recently designated nearly 40 cities across the country as key cities for energy-saving renovation of public buildings during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, requiring each city to complete renovations of no less than 4 million square meters of building area within the next two years. The promotion of energy-efficient green buildings across the country is a key step in the national strategy of stabilizing growth, adjusting the structure and conserving energy and reducing emissions.

Fang Hongqiang, chief engineer of Hangxiao Steel Structure, told the reporter that as an outstanding representative of green energy-efficient buildings, steel structure buildings run through the circular economy development principle of “reduction, reuse and recycling, with reduction given priority” throughout the entire life cycle of the building. Due to their superior economic and technical performance, green emission reduction, circular economy and suitability for industrialized and industrial development, they can better adapt to and meet current energy-saving and emission-reduction needs, maximize resource conservation, environmental protection and pollution reduction, and provide people with healthy, suitable and efficient usable space.

Leveraging innovative technologies  to promote energy conservation and emission reduction

Research data show that building energy consumption accounts for 25% of total social commercial energy consumption, of which air-conditioning energy consumption accounts for about half of building energy consumption. Some experts suggest that large-scale use of steel structure buildings featuring complete sets of prefabricated internal and external wall technologies, including autoclaved asbestos-free cellulose fiber cement flat sheet (CCA board) grouting walls, can reduce pressure on the power grid during peak electricity periods and is of great significance for energy conservation and emission reduction.

It is understood that compared with ordinary internal and external walls in traditional buildings, the complete CCA board grouting wall technology applied to green steel structure buildings has the core advantage of “energy conservation and emission reduction.” Fang Hongqiang provided the reporter with a detailed technical analysis. Taking the core complete technology for prefabricated waterproof, fireproof, energy-saving, thermal-insulating and durable external walls, and the core complete technology for prefabricated fireproof, insect-proof and sound-insulating internal walls, of Zhejiang Handebang Building Materials Co., Ltd. —— Hangxiao Steel Structure's green building materials production and integration base —— as an example, the panels are green, energy-saving, lightweight, high-strength, waterproof and fireproof CCA boards produced by Handebang, matched with a light steel keel system, and lightweight EPS material is poured into the wall cavity. This high-density CCA board is compacted by a 14,000-ton hydraulic press, greatly improving the product's dry-shrinkage and wet-expansion performance and strength. The board has a low thermal conductivity and good thermal insulation performance, three times that of traditional brick walls, and can significantly reduce energy consumption during operation.

Zhejiang Handebang Building Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hangxiao Steel Structure, is located in the Tonglu Economic Development Zone, with registered capital of 140 million yuan, covering an area of 400 mu, with a factory building area of 100,000 square meters. Its annual output is 15 million square meters of prefabricated steel bar truss floor bearing plates (TD boards) and 20 million square meters of autoclaved asbestos-free cellulose fiber cement flat sheets (CCA boards). This green and environmentally friendly lightweight, high-strength and high-density CCA board is a high-tech product made using world-leading German production equipment and processes, with imported virgin wood pulp fiber, Portland cement, fine quartz sand, water and other materials, through computer-programmed precise batching, sheet forming, compaction by a 14,000-ton hydraulic press (high density) and special technical treatment such as high-temperature and high-pressure autoclaved curing. It is 100% free of asbestos, formaldehyde, benzene and other harmful substances, has no radioactivity whatsoever, and its scope of use is not subject to any restrictions. It is green, environmentally friendly, efficient and energy-saving. The product has excellent properties such as being lightweight, high-strength, highly tough, large-format, A1-class non-combustible, impermeable, fireproof and moisture-proof, heat-insulating, anti-corrosion and insect-proof, and good weather resistance. It is a new type of green building material product that the state vigorously develops and recommends for application. It greatly improves the overall performance and building quality of steel structure buildings; moreover, the material can be recycled, reducing the output of “construction waste,” turning waste into treasure in industrialized construction, and minimizing harmful pollution to the environment.

With the strategic deployment of new urbanization and the promotion of administrative system and fiscal and taxation system reforms, localities are currently intensively introducing “green actions” related to the construction of ultra-low-energy or zero-energy energy-efficient buildings, further increasing the project approval and planning and construction of green buildings. Industry insiders believe that the rapid “spread” of market demand for building energy-saving technologies will not only help achieve the energy conservation and emission reduction targets of the “12th Five-Year Plan,” but also drive the sound development of China's green building market, making it a treasured area for relevant enterprises to seize.