China to invest blns in energy-saving buildings

China will invest 1.5 trillion yuan ($193 billion) to make existing buildings more energy efficient by 2020 in a bid to save millions of tonnes of polluting coal, an official said on Thursday.

Warning that energy waste was hurting economic growth, Vice Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing said 350 million tonnes of coal could be saved in the next 15 years if existing buildings were renovated to make them more efficient and new buildings adhered to green standards.

But he added that China was already failing to meet existing energy efficiency targets.
AlertNet