2nd project steering committee meeting
August 2nd 2022 | Jilong Zhu
On July 20, the second meeting of the Project Steering Committee for the “China-Switzerland Zero Emission Construction Cooperation Project” was held. The online meeting reported on the progress in the first year and provided an outlook on the work plan for 2022/2023.
In order to effectively reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector in China and strengthen cooperation between China and Switzerland in the field of climate protection and energy efficiency of buildings, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD) of the People’s Republic of China signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of Sino-Swiss cooperation in the field of building energy efficiency on November 24, 2020. In this context, the “Sino-Swiss Zero Emission Building Cooperation Project” was launched and implemented by the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) on the Chinese side and the joint intep/Skat team on the Swiss side.
After more than a year of intensive work and exchange, which was challenging due to epidemic travel restrictions between China and Switzerland, the project has reached some important milestones. The national standard “Technical Standard for Zero Emission Buildings” is nearing completion after more than a year of preparation. Several key issues – including definitions, boundaries, technical indicators, accounting methods and the design of buildings for carbon reduction, have been explored. Swiss experts from intep, Infras and SIA translated and analyzed the existing draft and provided advice accordingly.
After careful selection, the first group of lighthouse projects for the Sino-Swiss zero-emission building cooperation project was identified. The Sino-Swiss implementation team evaluated the three projects, provided optimization suggestions, and prepared a responsibility manual to guide them throughout the implementation process.
In addition, platforms for exchange between China and Switzerland were established, such as the “Sino-Swiss Zero Emission Building Technology Exchange” and the “Sino-Swiss Zero Emission Building Talks” (ZEB Talks) webinar series. In addition, intep offers several innovative Swiss solutions to help the building sector become carbon neutral, including wooden high-rise buildings, the ZEB digital management system, the creation of zero emission neighborhoods, and recycling solutions for building materials.
