For the first time, the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency – has given awards to six Chinese cities for their commitment to energy efficiency and climate protection. dena’s Managing Director Kristina Haverkamp and Dr Qiu Baoxing, the Chinese Vice Minister for Construction, presented the awards to the mayors of Jingzhou, Baiyin, Jiangyou, Jilin, Huai’an und Yinchuan on Tuesday in Beijing. The event, which was held as part of the Green Building Conference for energy-efficient construction, was also attended by the State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Gunther Adler, and Chen Yiming, a leading engineer in the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD).
To save energy on a sustainable basis, the six cities successfully introduced dena’s energy and climate protection management system in their administration. The management system has enabled the municipalities to tap into their energy efficiency potential in a step by step way, thereby systematically reducing energy use and CO2 emissions. The cities receiving the awards are aiming to reduce their CO2 emissions by at least 30 per cent. For this purpose, they have taken steps such as formulating guiding principles and creating organisational structures. They now aim to implement the first energy efficiency measures within the next couple of years, such as introducing the Chinese Green Building Standard for all buildings. To achieve this, they are specifically seeking support from German companies.
‘’Sustainable urban development has now become a hot topic in China. This is an area where dena, with its experience in Germany, can provide valuable input. We are delighted that six cities are already using the energy and climate protection management system specially developed for municipalities by dena,” said dena’s Managing Director, Kristina Haverkamp, at the awards ceremony. ‘’It’s our hope that many more cities will follow their example.’
Boosting Sino-German cooperation by forming networks and transferring knowledge
To further cement collaboration between Germany and China, dena organised several expert symposia with specialists from both countries on the fringes of the Green Building Conference. For example, on Monday the German Embassy hosted a forum on sustainable urban development in China and a networking event with German companies and figures from the efficiency technology market. The goal of this skills network for technologies aimed at improving efficiency is to bring together common interests, boost knowledge transfer and better position German industry within the Chinese market.
Additionally on Tuesday there was a meeting of the Sino-German working group for the promotion of energy-efficient construction and sustainable urban development in the People's Republic of China. This working group operates under the auspices of the construction ministries in both countries, as well as dena and Chinese stakeholders. As part of the meeting, the participants signed the joint working programme for 2017. Plans include further pilot projects for energy-efficient houses, introduction of dena’s energy and climate protection management system, expanding activities in Eco-Cities, and roadshows on the topic of energy efficiency in the autumn.
In addition, dena offered a seminar on the topic of energy-efficient buildings using passive building technologies as part of the ‘German Day’. The opportunity was also used to agree quality assurance contracts for two new efficient house pilot projects with Chinese project developers. Four completed pilot projects received the ‘Sino-German efficient house’ certificate of quality.
The ‘International Conference on Green and Energy-Efficient Building & New Technologies and Products Expo’ (GEBC 2017) takes place in Beijing from 21st to 22nd March. The energy and climate protection management award is part of dena’s Eco-Cities project, which is being implemented under the umbrella of the Sino-German urbanisation partnership. The "German Day" for energy-efficient construction was organised by dena in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the German Embassy in Beijing, and the German Society for International Co-operation (“Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit”, GIZ). Besides the Chinese Society for Urban Studies (CSUS) and the Center of Science and Technology of Construction (CSTC), dena’s project partners also include the companies Wilo, Wacker Chemie, Viessmann, Zehnder, Oventrop, VEKA, Baumit, HALFEN and Ejot.
Press contact:
Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), German Energy Agency, Sarah Koch, Chausseestrasse 128 a, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)30 72 61 65-672; fax: +49 (0)30 72 61 65-699; email: s.koch(at)dena.de; website: www.dena.de