Almost half of the electricity used in Beijing's residential buildings is consumed by 311 hotels rated three stars or more, accounting for just 5.4 percent of residential floor area.

The statistic was released by Chen Huaiwei, director of the energy conservation center of the municipal commission of development and reform, at the launch of the joint venture of China's Tell-how Sci-tech Co. Ltd., Panasonic and Mitsui.

The new company, Beijing Tsinghua Tell-how Intellectual Sci-tech Co. Ltd., will offer advanced technologies for energy conservation in office buildings and hotels.

Buildings, especially those for public use, have been blamed as one of the major energy wasters in China because of inefficiency in building materials, lighting, air-conditioning and heating.

The government launched ten major energy-conservation projects last year, including energy conservation of buildings.

A State Council decision on improving China's energy conservation last week requires new residential and office buildings to be constructed in line with the average energy consumption standard of 50 percent of the average in the early 1980s, and a 35-percent average energy consumption standard should be promoted in the four municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chingqing as well as major cities in north China.

During the five-year period from 2006 to 2010, the government has set a target of conserving the equivalent of 101 million tons of standard coal produced energy in buildings, while floor area up to energy conservation standards is to exceed 2.1 billion square meters.  

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2006)