Building a better world

A growing number of environmentally conscientious homeowners are renovating their houses to save energy and cash. Cheng Anqi reports.

While Jack Frost has been knocking at Beijingers' doors for weeks, Du Xiangsi sends him packing. This has been made possible by the aluminum corridor Du has constructed in front of his house's main entrance. "It protects my family from cold in winter and heat in summer," he says. "It works better than an air conditioner." He can even turn off his storage heater on sunny days. Du is among the growing ranks of "green builders", who believe the value of apartments should be judged less by size and interior design than by energy efficiency. The 60-year-old lives in an old dazayuan, or tenement courtyard, in Xicheng district. His neighborhood comprises a dozen ramshackle homes with poor heating and insulation.

"Even the heater offers little protection from cold in winter," Du says. "It's a waste of energy."

He explains he used to dread receiving his heating bill until the NGO Friends of Nature included his among the 21 homes that underwent energy-saving renovations though the organization's Good Houses Save Energy project.

Du's corridor acts as an "insulator", Tsinghua University's professor of energy saving technology and project consultant Qiu Jizhe says.

The house's south-facing windows can warm it until sundown.

"So the house's interior heat is retained in winter while the summer's heat moves around the corridor to flow out the open windows and keep the inner rooms cool," Qiu says.

Weatherizing makes the house comfier. It blocks drafts and creates a more uniform temperature inside, Qiu says.

Friends of Nature assistant director Zhang Hehe adds, "We want our trial households to have diverse income levels and situations."

There are incentives to using less electricity, other than protecting Mother Earth, Qiu explains.

"Saving energy directly translates into saving money," he says.

Buildings consume up to 30 percent of the country's energy supply, Ministry of Construction figures show. Most of that goes to heating and cooling.

"Most people want energy-efficient homes but don't know where to start," Qiu says.

Energy efficient lighting is a bright start, he explains. Customers should start by thinking about brightness and color, and then decide between compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs), Qiu explains.

LED bulbs cost from 50 yuan to 300 yuan but last up to 30 years, Qiu says.

Wang Yuan recently replaced five traditional incandescent bulbs with LEDs. The 29-year-old had paid about 15 yuan ($2.3) a month for 200-watt bulbs. But the 60-watt LEDs enabled her to reduce her electricity bill to 5.4 yuan a month.

"LEDs are expensive," Wang says. "I hope prices will drop as more products enter the market."

Other items that are helping homeowners like Kong Qingling save money and energy include "green switches". These are power strips that operate on a timer that shuts off power to appliances - especially "energy vampires", which are items like water heaters that suck power even when turned off.

"The energy a TV uses when it's on standby is simply wasted," Kong says. "A green switch allows you to save a lot of energy without unplugging anything."

Kong filters bursts of dirty air shot into her apartment by the trains that traverse Haidian district's Sidaokou stop across from her apartment with 30 potted plants.

She has considered buying an air purifier.

"But if nature can help freshen air, why not use it?" she says.

"Gardenia can contribute visual appeal to a room, and its fragrance can bring clarity of mind."

Magazine editor Luo Huixin finds joy in tending the vegetable garden she cultivates on her balcony.

The hydroponic setup has produced its third batch of green beans. A timer-operated system drips a nutrient solution through tubes to each plant. Excess is collected in a reservoir for reuse.

Buying goods certified as produced in an ecologically friendly way plays a vital role, Beijing Biechu Space Design Studio engineer Guan Huilong says.

"People like internationally certified furniture but don't realize it creates vast amounts of carbon dioxide as it's transported by air and train," Guan says.

"Buying products made with local materials and labor reduces pollution and prices."

This is advice Li Xiaolin took to heart when redecorating her home according to a low-carbon plan.

She had her old traditional Chinese cabinet polished and repaired rather than buy a new one, she says.

"It has become the living room's centerpiece," she says.

"All of our guests praise it and ask where we bought it."