To secure energy and resources for its booming economy, China has set targets to make new buildings 50% more energy efficient by 2010. But only 53% of new buildings has met energy-conservation standards, the China Daily said, citing a construction ministry survey that blamed cost-cutting developers.
Song Chunhua, president of the China Real Estate Association, called the findings "alarming". Construction and building materials consume 16 to 18% of China’s energy use, analysts have estimated. About half of the world’s new buildings go up in China each year.
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