Expo in Tianjin highlights green buildings as way to curb carbon emissions
Tianjin — The apartment’s lighting and air conditioning systems can be controlled, and its skylights and curtains opened or closed. In a smart room displayed at an expo in North China’s Tianjin municipality, all these futuristic home ideas have been translated into commercial reality.
The room made its debut at the China Building Science Conference and Green Intelligent Building Expo, which concluded on June 27, along with over 500 other exhibits dedicated to environmentally friendly technologies.
“The room is recyclable and renewable and can respond to environmental changes,” said Yang Wei, project leader and professor at Tianjin University’s School of Architecture.
Photovoltaic materials have been installed on the facade to collect solar energy to power the apartment, and surplus electricity can be shared with the power grid, bringing both environmental and economic benefits to owners, he added.
Zhong Jing Building Materials, another expo exhibitor, showcased its latest construction materials produced by 3D-printing.
While they give the appearance of wood, the company’s floorboards are actually made of silicates and calcium. “We can also turn waste materials from chemical plants, like dust, into marketable panels and boards,” said company representative Zhang Bo.
A scale model of the Huoshenshan Hospital grabbed the attention of many participants. The hospital was built in Wuhan in just 10 days, the first temporary facility of its kind to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus.
Yu Dihua, one of the principal engineers involved in the hospital’s construction, said they adopted methods of prefabrication.
“The hospital consists of a number of building blocks, and all its components were produced in the factory and transported to the site for assembly,” Yu said, adding that this approach greatly reduced construction time, resources and waste.
High-tech took center stage at the expo. The China Construction Second Engineering Bureau showcased a digital platform capable of recording the life cycle of steel used in construction. “It can monitor the entire steel process, from design and purchasing to transportation and installation, which effectively helps avoid installation errors and reduces the waste of construction materials,” the company’s Wu Libo said, adding that each piece of steel was assigned a unique QR code for continued tracing.
Nowadays, green buildings are springing up across China, and intelligent, energy saving technologies are creating new possibilities for home design and lifestyle.
The expo, which features green building materials, examples of ecological cities, and the latest technologies in the construction industry, aimed to promote green and smart buildings, which will help the country achieve its peak carbon dioxide emission and carbon neutrality goals.
Wang Jun, president of the China Academy of Building Research, said during the expo that green building is important for China’s green and low-carbon development.
He said that carbon emissions from China’s construction sector reached about 2 billion metric tons per year, accounting for about 20 percent of the country’s total emissions.
“In the future, the construction industry will integrate low-carbon and smart technical measures to promote the large-scale and highquality development of China’s green buildings,” Wang said.