Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is today focused on making new construction in China more energy efficient by working with leaders to upgrade building codes.
Paulson has worked on the front lines of environmental protection in China for years and has the ear of the top Chinese leadership, the Wall Street Journal reports.
China is constructing more than half of all the new buildings in the world, Paulson says, and buildings account for 40% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. As the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China could help to significantly reduce worldwide emissions if it upgrades its building codes.
“There’s nothing else I could do in the U.S. and have that kind of impact,” Paulson told the Journal. Paulson, a former head of the Nature Conservancy, recently hosted leading multi-national business executives at a Beijing hotel along with leaders of State Grid Corp., a gigantic monopoly power distributor, and China State Construction Engineering Corp. to discuss ways to reduce China’s greenhouse gas impact.
Some 100 million rural workers in China are expected to move to cities before 2020, keeping demand for new construction strong.
(http://www.wsj.com/articles/hank-paulson-targets-climate-change-via-chinas-building-codes-1415776456)
Related Stories
| Jul 31, 2014
Stalled $1.5 billion Miami mixed-use redevelopment project advances
A long-delayed $1.5 billion mixed-use development in Miami moved ahead after city planners approved the project’s first phase.
| Jul 30, 2014
USGS updates National Seismic Hazard Maps
The U.S. Geological Service recently released an update of U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps that reflect the latest analysis of where future earthquakes will occur, how frequently they may occur, and their strength.
| Jul 23, 2014
Fairfax County, Virginia toughens green standards
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently strengthened its green building policy, requiring higher standards for residential, retail, office and other construction projects seeking approval for rezoning.
| Jul 23, 2014
Berkeley National Lab’s FLEXLAB is a test bed for energy efficient office design
FLEXLAB, short for the Facility for Low Energy Experiments, opened this summer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
| Jul 23, 2014
House passes 2015 GSA budget with 17% cut for new construction projects
The General Services Administration’s construction budget for fiscal year 2015 passed by the House this month includes cuts in both new construction and renovation/repairs compared to 2014.
| Jul 16, 2014
Coastal flooding increasing along East Coast, says report
An analysis of tidal levels and flood data by the news organization Reuters concludes that flooding has increased along the Eastern Seaboard over the past four decades.
| Jul 16, 2014
Local hiring requirement a tough challenge for new Detroit arena project
An agreement for a land transfer from the City of Detroit to Ilitch Holdings Inc., that enabled construction of a new arena for the Detroit Red Wings requires that 51% of the project’s construction workers must come from the city.
| Jul 16, 2014
Local hiring requirement a tough challenge for new Detroit arena project
An agreement for a land transfer from the City of Detroit to Ilitch Holdings Inc., that enabled construction of a new arena for the Detroit Red Wings requires that 51% of the project’s construction workers must come from the city.
| Jul 16, 2014
Massive $6.5 billion Silicon Valley development gets key city approval
The Santa Clara (Calif.) City Council approved the next steps for a massive development project next to Levi’s Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers.
| Jul 11, 2014
California Supreme Court rules that architects can be sued by condo association
The decision held that even though, on most projects, the developer has the final say on design choices, the architect can’t escape liability to the end user.