Regulatory standards related to building energy conservation and indoor-air-quality during rapid urbanization in China

The number of airtight buildings equipped with air-conditioning units along with levels of energy consumption from residential and commercial buildings has both increased markedly in China since 1990 due to rapid economic growth and urbanization. During this same period, home refurbishment/decoration/remodeling activities in newly constructed or existing apartments have become very popular and brought attention to a wide range of health concerns. This paper reviews building energy-saving and indoor-air-quality (IAQ) related standards in China. In summary, the two systems of building energy-saving and IAQ-related standards have been already established separately, although Chinese IAQ standards contain some indices related to building ventilation and energy (e.g. fresh air volume, relative humidity, and temperature). Building energy-saving systems are applicable to buildings existing in a wide range of climatic conditions. Formaldehyde was selected as a pollution index in "Chinese Evaluation Handbook of Ecological Residence Technology" (promulgated in 2001) for buildings mainly contaminated with harmful compounds emitted from interior decorating materials. As part of its IAQ control strategy, China promulgated a series of IAQ-related standards and compulsory national standards for limits of harmful substances contained in interior decorative materials (LHSCIDM), which placed strong emphasis on source control. When enacting the IAQ-related standards, China adopted some of the standards used in developed countries and related international standards for reference. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.