China Energy Group Participated in APEC Nearly (Net) Zero Energy Buildings Workshop

Wei Feng, Principal Scientific Engineering Associate at China Energy Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory attended the fourth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Nearly (Net) Zero Energy Buildings Working Group meeting in Taiwan in April, 2016. In the workshop, Dr. Feng gave a talk about recent net zero energy building development in the U.S. There were another forty-four delegates participated in the workshop, including experts from Canadian Smart Net-Zero Energy Buildings Strategic Research Network, Nagoya University in Japan, Taiwan Industrial  Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Korean Institute of Building Research,  China Academy of Building Research, and experts from Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand etc.  Mr. Zhang Shicong, Associate director at the China Academy of Building Research hosted the meeting. He was a visiting scholar at LBNL in 2013.

During the 21th APEC meeting in 2013, leaders from APEC set the goal of reducing building energy intensity in the APEC region by 45% in 2035 compared to the 2005 level. To help achieve this goal, the APEC Energy Working Group established the APEC Nearly (Net) Zero Energy Buildings Program. The Program aims to promote the policy making, to enhance technology standards, and to expand demonstration impacts for building energy efficiency. With joint efforts from 52 experts from 21 economies, the First Phase final report for Nearly (Net) Zero Energy Buildings has been completed in 2015.

This fourth APEC Group Meeting in Taiwan focused on large-scale application of nearly (net) zero energy buildings in APEC Economies. Delegates shared experiences and achievements in policy making, financial incentives, technology guidance, pilots demonstration and industry association and NGO establishment to identify barriers and explore the feasibility of applying zero energy buildings in larger scale in the future. The workshop also developed the organizational framework for APEC nearly (net) zero energy building roadmap.

China Energy Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has a long history of collaborating with Chinese partners in the zero energy building area. Publication can be found:

Feng, Wei, Ke Huang, Mark D. Levine, Nan Zhou, and Shicong Zhang. Evaluation of Energy Savings of the New Chinese Commercial Building Energy Standard In The American Council for An Energy-Efficient Economy 2014 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency. Pacific Grove, CA: The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 2014.

APEC Energy Working Group. Nearly (Net) Energy Building. November, 2014.

Dr. Feng gave a talk about recent net zero energy building development in the U.S.

A group photo of the fourth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Nearly (Net) Zero Energy Buildings Working Group meeting in Taiwan