The city will establish a comprehensive service platform for energy-saving retrofits of existing buildings. Through “tailor-made” energy-saving plans, it will achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption per unit of building area. This was learned by reporters on September 10 at the launch meeting of the Science and Technology Benefiting the People Program demonstration project “Application and Demonstration of Appropriate Technologies for Energy-Saving Retrofits of Existing Buildings.”

　　According to reports, the project is led by the Chongqing Design Institute. Using this platform, the city will carry out demonstration applications of five major specialized energy-saving technologies, including building envelopes, air conditioning, and electrical systems, and will establish a full-process energy-saving assessment system covering diagnosis, determination, and evaluation of existing buildings, so as to “tailor” a detailed set of energy-saving plans for public buildings that need retrofitting.

　　“These five specialized energy-saving technologies will first be demonstrated at Sun Moon Light Center Plaza, Jingtian Energy Company, and the office building of the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce, with a retrofit area of about 200,000 square meters,” said Jiang Han, deputy director of the Green Building and Energy-Saving Research Center of the Municipal Design Institute. Not only will this significantly improve the indoor environment of these buildings and enhance thermal comfort, but energy consumption per unit of building area is expected to drop by 20%, benefiting more than 330,000 person-times per year.

　　However, will implementing energy-saving retrofits cost too much and place an excessive burden on building owners or users? In response, Jiang Han said that for buildings undergoing energy-saving retrofits, the “energy performance contracting” model will be adopted to implement “zero-threshold” retrofits. “That is, initially, building owners or users do not need to invest a single cent. After the retrofit is completed and actual benefits are seen, a certain proportion will be taken from the annual energy cost savings as fees. This is more conducive to promoting advanced technologies.”

　　It is reported that if any organization wishes to carry out energy-saving retrofits, it may apply to the Municipal Urban and Rural Construction Commission and may receive subsidies. Jiang Han said that according to regulations, for energy consumption per unit of building area reduced by 25% or more, a subsidy of 40 yuan per square meter will be provided; for reductions of 20% to 25%, a subsidy of 35 yuan per square meter will be provided.