Comparative study of commercial building energy-efficiency retrofit policies in four pilot cities in China

The energy efficiency of existing commercial buildings is more challenging to regulate and improve than the energy efficiency of new constructions. In 2011 and 2012, the Chinese Government selected four cities- Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Chongqing- to implement pilot commercial building energy efficiency retrofit program. Based on site surveys and expert interviews in these pilot cities, this research conducted a comparative analysis on incentive policies of local city level. The analysis results show that policy designs of existing commercial buildings should be further improved. The aspects that influence the implementation effect in the future, such as subsidy level, installments, and business model promotion, should be specified in the policy clauses. Referring to the technical solution and cost-benefit in Chongqing, we found that lighting system is the most common retrofit objects while envelope system is the least common one. And the subsidy incentive is greatest for educational buildings, followed by office buildings. In the end, we further discussed the problems and obstacles in commercial building retrofit market, and provided a series of recommendations

Pilot to improve linkage of domestic tomato supply chains to local high segment markets

The pilot aims to link smallholder tomato farmers in both Kenya and Tanzania to local high segment markets as supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and hospitals

The Role of the Economic, Technological, and Demographic Environments

[Excerpt] This chapter examines how various forces in the environment influence labor relations in emerging countries. We focus in particular on how factors in the economic, technological, and demographic environments influence the bargaining power of both labor and management. In doing so we are moving downward in our three-tiered framework by examining how external environmental factors influence the functional level of labor relations

A Research on the Development Path of New Urbanization Based on Low-Carbon Perspective

China is in a decisive phase of building a moderately prosperous society, and the steady sequence of urbanization has great significance in promoting economic and social development. While in the process of urbanization, some problems are challenging the development quality of Chinese urbanization and the planning concepts of new urbanization, such as urban industrial pollution, agricultural high carbon emissions, high-carbon lifestyle of urban residents, etc.. Therefore, from low-carbon perspective and with the current status of Chinese urbanization development as the object for the study, the paper introduces the mainly high-carbon emissions in all aspects of the urbanization process in China and proposes a low-carbon ecological path for the sustainable development in the future.China is in a decisive phase of building a moderately prosperous society, and the steady sequence of urbanization has great significance in promoting economic and social development. While in the process of urbanization, some problems are challenging the development quality of Chinese urbanization and the planning concepts of new urbanization, such as urban industrial pollution, agricultural high carbon emissions, high-carbon lifestyle of urban residents, etc.. Therefore, from low-carbon perspective and with the current status of Chinese urbanization development as the object for the study, the paper introduces the mainly high-carbon emissions in all aspects of the urbanization process in China and proposes a low-carbon ecological path for the sustainable development in the future

Regional Interdependence, Industrialization and Rural Land Conversion in Java

Global and regional interdependence among ASEAN countries under the open market is leading to unprecedented industrialization and urbanization. The benefit of transnational investment are expected by rural economy and urban systems, as they are becoming more articulated are also benefiting from these investment forces. With market trends, investment activities, and industrialization such rapid change in both urban and rural areas, the theoretical and practical research on urbanization is also undergoing change. In the Bandung Metropolitan Region, which is experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization, rural areas are being marginalized The phenomena of agricultural persistence in the face of urbanization in the Bandung Metropolitan Area is important to examined so the combination of urban examined and rural activities within this region is explained in the light of desakota development pattern

Prestigious Houses or Provisional Homes? The \u3ci\u3eghar\u3c/i\u3e as a Symbol of Kathmandu Valley Peri-Urbanism

Compared to the uniform brick architecture and contiguous courtyard structure of houses in the urban core of Kathmandu Valley cities, the houses of the growing urban periphery appear fragmented, disorganized, and unplanned. While critics attribute this haphazard growth to a site-then-services (house first, then infrastructure) approach of rural migrants, in this paper I consider it a result of an alternative formulation of planning generated by three-plus decades of economic and governmental liberalization. The practices of new homeowners in the periphery must be understood within the greater context of peri-urbanism controlled by a complex negotiation of brokers, contractors, housing companies, and neighborhood associations. I draw from the multiple expressions of what ‘ghar’ (house/ home) means to make sense of everyday life in a new neighborhood on the western edge of Kathmandu Valley. While ghar references the singular focus on building a prestigious house, it also indexes aspirations of neighborly cooperation and collective action to develop neighborhoods. Based on an ethnographic account of one family’s struggles to build a ghar, I track how such aspirations can unravel into debt, shame, and alienation, which ultimately produce a provisional sense of place in the city

A Review of Green Building Development in China from the Perspective of Energy Saving

This paper reviews the history of green building development and assessment standards in China, particularly from the perspective of energy saving. It is divided into four parts: (1) the development of policies of green building in China that have been proposed for meeting energy-conservation and emission-reduction targets; (2) the scientific research on green building by the Chinese government, including the promotion of maximum resource sustainability, environmental protection, and the reduction of pollution; (3) the development of assessment standards for green building in China; and (4) the development of green building technologies in China