China to construct more energy-efficient buildings - Xinhua

China wants energy-efficient buildings to account for 30 percent of all new construction projects by 2020 to bring its building energy consumption ratio closer to that of developed countries, the official ...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will provide 31.87 billion yuan ($5 billion) in subsidies for the renovation of rural households this year, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday. The pilot scheme will cover 4 million poor rural homes, the agency cited a joint statement by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development & Reform Commission. Each dilapidated house will be given 7,500 yuan on average, while 130,000 poverty-stricken rural households located in the border areas will be granted another 2,500 yuan in subsidies each. ...

Guest blog by Andrew Bennett, International Trade Specialist and Smart Grid Industry Analyst at Commerce's International Trade Administration in the Office of Energy and Environmental Industries. With the Department of Commerce focused on winning the future and driving the president’s vision for a growing clean energy economy, it’s good to see early results from these efforts in the form of the green jobs of today. Green Buildings is a key sector where we’re laying the foundations for the green jobs of the future. Last month, Siemens USA announced 400 new positions across 39 states in its green technologies division, which is focused on helping cities across the country reduce energy costs through the implementation of a host of green building technology systems. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, MTC Logistics is working with Virginia-based solar energy services provider HelioSage and Southern Energy Management, a green building services company from North Carolina, to build one of the largest roof mounted solar installations in the state of Maryland. These ambitious green building projects not only create jobs, they also drive innovation, cut costs for businesses and government and help achieve important environmental benefits.

Bloomberg reports Japan Posts Back-to-Back Current-Account Deficit in December. Japan posted back-to-back monthly current-account deficits for the first time since 1981, highlighting challenges for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign to revive the economy.

MONTREAL – Quebec is taking significant steps to promote the use of wood in construction, joining B.C. in pushing for a fundamental rethink of the steel and concrete standard that has dominated Canada since the industrial revolution.

In Indebted Dragon, Professor Lynette Ong from the University of Toronto discusses how the Chinese economy relies on land as collateral to borrow money while paying the interest on the loans by selling and leasing the land. Ong notes this makes China susceptible to two problems: a real estate bubble and political instability stemming from displaced farmers who land has been taken from them.

Kungsbrohuset, in Stockholm, is one of the greenest buildings in the world, and recently sold to a Swedish insurance company for €200 million.It was built by Jernhusen who wanted to construct a building that would last the test of time, and be a monument for the city.

By 2020, the B.C. government anticipates three LNG export facilities could pump more than $20-billion into the provincial economy, generate 9,000 new construction jobs and more than $1-billion a year of additional revenue It is, by any reckoning, a methane superhighway in the making.