China's top advisory body is calling for laws and regulations to promote energy-efficient buildings to counter soaring building energy consumption.

The Committee of Population, Resources and Environment under the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, suggested the country should set up laws on construction materials and management of energy saving in buildings, to "promote energy-saving technologies and materials, and to reform the heating system which is very wasteful".

The energy equivalent of about 350 million tons of coal is consumed by the country's 40-billion-cubic-meters of buildings each year, accounting for 27 percent of China's yearly energy consumption, according to the committee, adding that 99 percent of the buildings in the country are not energy-efficient.

The energy consumption of buildings would soar to the equivalent of 1.1 billion tons of coal in 2020 if uncurbed.

Coal-fired heating systems are also causing severe air pollution in some of the country's northern cities, where indexes for air pollutants are 1 to 4 times higher than world standards recommended by the World Health Organization.

According to the committee, China is unlikely to meet its own energy efficiency goals of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 4 percent this year.

Energy consumption per unit of GDP actually increased by 0.8 percent in the first half of the year and indexes for major pollutants have continued to rise, the report said, citing the rapid development of energy-consuming industries, the lack of economic incentives in favor of energy savings and poor energy management.

Source: Xinhua