Building industry stakeholders are drawing up criterions to extend the average life expectancy for Chinese buildings to 100 years. Low carbon and energy saving are key ingredients to move towards this objective, an expert said on Thursday.

"To build a house that can be lived in for 100 years requires more than just using durable materials, implement of low carbon concept is also a decisive factor." said Sun Kefang, chief engineer of Center for Housing Industrialization within the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. "Built with sustainability and given proper maintenance, the buildings could last for decades even after its designed life expires."

The opinion was voiced when Sun addressed at the Low Carbon Building Forum, a part of the Sixth APEC SME Technology Conference. The forum also gathered representatives from the major real estate developers in China, including Wanke and SOHO, for the purpose of securing a sustainable future for the building industry.

"What we want now is a principle to follow when carrying out such inspection in building and maintenance afterwards." Sun said, "Once a standard is established, the houses we live in could be used for three or four generations, not just as fragile as they are now."

According to earlier reports, designed life for Chinese buildings is 50 to 70 years. However, most of the buildings in China could only last for around 30 years.

"The average life-span of buildings is figured up by the stocking houses volume in a country divided by the number of newly build houses." Sun said. "In China, this index has been substantially reduced due to the large number of new constructions as the denominator."

Research showed that 30 to 40 percent of the urban waste comes from the building industry, while the number of buildings demolished every year accounts for 40 percent of the gross amount in China.

Sun believed the building industry should play a leading role in delivering China's promise to reduce the carbon discharge of per unit GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020.

"Building sustainable new houses and making good use of the present ones is the biggest energy-saving contribution. China should its capability to do so." He added.

Materials are without doubt one influential factor to the sustainability of a building. For example, higher cement grade means longer durability. But it's the details, such as a water-repellent window sill, or a heat recyclable fireplace that help reduce the depreciation of a house, said Sun.

"We are now delivering new houses complete with energy-saving facilities, such as heat insulation layer, antiseep windows, and with decoration already done." said Qin Heng, an engineer in chief of Wanke Beijing. "This could save two tons of waste per house than to let the property owners decorate themselves."

"House with good quality has also proven to be also popular in the markets." Sun said, "As national and local policies bring down the housing price to a reasonable level, buyers would choose those houses with longer life expectancy."

By Wei Tian (China Daily Fuzhou Bureau)

Editor: Xu Xinlei