China Direct

Quezon City transitions to clean construction

 

CBI Member Buro Happold and C40 Cities have launched the fourth report in a series of Clean Construction deep dives. These reports support cities in resourcing efficient, net zero construction to deliver healthy, resilient and thriving urban communities.

 

The engineering, architecture and construction industry has a huge role to play in bringing about positive social, economic and environmental change. Almost 40% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to buildings and construction.

The built environment is therefore critical to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency. We must unite as a sector to drive change. Failure to reduce the impact of construction in our cities poses a serious risk to the environment.

Clean Construction in our cities

 

As a result, C40 Cities launched its global Clean Construction Programme in 2019. The programme supports cities to mitigate the impact of construction, strengthen resilience to climate risks, and facilitate dialogue within the industry.

A series of deep dives into six cities around the world — developed in partnership with Buro Happold — take this one step further. The reports provide local, actionable advice to help city leaders make the case for Clean Construction. They also offer guidance for other cities around the world.  The deep dive for Quezon City, in the Philippines, is the fourth report in the series.

 

A green and equitable future for Quezon City

 

The Quezon City Government (QCG) has set ambitious climate action goals and is part of multiple national and international working groups focused on delivering bold climate action.

The QCG has developed a number of locally specific plans and commitments, such as the Enhanced Local Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2050, which sets out a strategic framework and roadmap to build climate resilience, pursue carbon neutrality, and advance green economic development through inclusive and equitable climate action.

 

“With strong expertise in the retrofit of buildings and an effective (albeit informal) construction waste recycling system, Quezon City is primed for a Clean Construction transition. Having an extensive ability to use a range of hard and soft powers, the Quezon City Government is uniquely placed to lead such a transition.”

Fergus Anderson, Sustainability Associate at Buro Happold

 

Transitioning to Clean Construction

 

The construction sector is a major employer in Quezon City, across both the formal and informal sectors. Quezon City is grappling with a number of challenges linked to a growing population, climate resilience, informality and wealth inequality, a limited focus on preventative maintenance and an emerging skills gap in the construction sector.

However, the city is also home to a culture of reuse and retrofit, and has developed ambitious local building codes – albeit with limited uptake – that consider embodied carbon. Quezon City, and the Philippines more broadly, has significant experience in retrofit and refurbishment of buildings due to the country’s seismic risks.

In recent years, municipal buildings such as the high rise Quezon City Hall have been retrofit to strengthen the foundation and make them more resistant to seismic activity, the Department of Public Works and Highways has upgraded hundreds of structures across Metro Manila to reduce damage from climate-related events, and the Philippines Heritage Awards annually celebrates adaptive reuse; recognising projects that utilise buildings and other built-structures for purposes other than what they were intended originally.

 

Download the detailed policy infographic

 

How can Clean Construction support Quezon City?

 

Implementing policies that reduce carbon emissions from both building and infrastructure construction can support many social and environmental co-benefits, not just locally but also on a global scale.

 

The localised benefits of Clean Construction include:

• Designing new buildings and streets to accommodate increased climate risks, as well as undertaking retrofit and refurbishment today, will ensure the safety of current and future inhabitants of Quezon City to flooding and overheating, and protect the valuation of assets following these events.
• Adaptive reuse can retain community identity and foster local pride, whilst minimising disruption to local communities.
• Green and biodiverse spaces have also been found to provide mental and physical health benefits, reduce local crime rates, and increase land and property values.
• New industries for low carbon construction materials and waste processing will create jobs locally, and support the stabilisation of the informal sector, providing workers with stable sources of income and low-income communities with safer homes. 

 

The global benefits of Clean Construction include:

• Encouraging sustainable production and consumption practices
• Increasing citizen awareness of environmental and health issues
• Mitigating greenhouse gases and emissions
• Driving economic innovation, dynamism and competitiveness
• Fostering inclusive, just and transparent governance

 

“Extending the lifespan of buildings and developing build-sustainable supply chains can improve the quality of housing and build healthier communities. Our recommendations to raise awareness and knowledge of clean construction techniques will help establish secure, safe and just working conditions.”

Fergus Anderson, Sustainability Associate at Buro Happold

 

 

A sustainable future for our cities

 

All these positive outcomes are inextricably linked. To address the need for greater social and environmental justice, cities have a critical role to play in spearheading the vision and leadership needed to facilitate this transition.

The proposed Clean Construction policies for Quezon City will be applicable, to varying degrees, to all cities around the world.

Buro Happold and C40 are working with five other cities around the world to make the case for Clean Construction. This work forms part of the C40 Clean Construction Declaration. These cities have committed to reducing the embodied emissions associated with the construction of buildings and infrastructure by 50% by 2030.

More information about Clean Construction can be found on the C40 Knowledge Hub.

To download the Report please click here.

Our thanks to Buro Happold for kindly sharing these invaluable insights.

 

Salt battery design overcomes 'bump' in the road to help electric cars go the extra mile

Using salt as a key ingredient, Chinese and British researchers have designed a new type of rechargeable battery that could accelerate the shift to greener, electric transport on our roads.

Many electric vehicles (EV) are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but they can lose energy and power over time. Under certain conditions, such batteries can also overheat while working or charging, which can also degrade battery life and reduce miles per charge.

To solve these issues, the University of Nottingham is collaborating with six scientific research institutes across China to develop an innovative and affordable energy store with the combined performance merits of a solid-oxide fuel cell and a metal-air battery. The new battery could significantly extend the range of electric vehicles, while being fully recyclable, environmentally-friendly, low-cost and safe.

A solid-oxide fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity as a result of a chemical reaction. While they are highly-efficient at extracting energy from a fuel, durable, low-cost and greener to produce, they are not rechargeable. Meanwhile, metal-air batteries are electrochemical cells that uses a cheap metal such as iron and the oxygen present in air to generate electricity. During charging, they emit only oxygen into the atmosphere. Although not very durable, these high-energy dense batteries are rechargeable and can store and discharge as much electricity as lithium-ion batteries, but much more safely and cheaply.

In the early research phases, the research team explored a high-temperature, iron-air battery design that used molten salt as a type of electrolyte - activated by heat - for electrical conductivity. Cheap and inflammable, molten salts help to give a battery impressive energy storage and power capability and a lengthy lifecycle.

However, molten salts also possess adverse characteristics. University of Nottingham study lead, Professor George Chen said: “In extreme heat, molten salt can be aggressively corrosive, volatile and evaporate or leak, which is challenging to the safety and stability of battery design. There was an urgent need to fine-tune these electrolyte characteristics for better battery performance and to enable its future use in electric transport.”

The researchers have now successfully improved the technology by turning the molten salt into soft-solid salt, using solid oxide nano-powders. Professor Jianqiang Wang, from the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is leading this collaboration project has predicted that this quasi-solid-state (QSS) electrolyte is suitable for metal-air batteries which operate at 800ºC; as it suppresses the evaporation and fluidity of the molten salts that can occur at such high operating temperatures.

Project collaborator, Dr Cheng Peng, also from the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, explains a unique and useful design aspect of this experimental research. The quasi-solidification has been achieved using nanotechnology to construct a flexibly-connected network of solid oxide particles that act as a structural barrier locking in the molten salt electrolytes, while still allowing them to safely conduct electricity in extreme heat.

Professor Chen, who is leading a molten salt electrolysis laboratory in Nottingham, hopes the team’s “encouraging results” will help to establish a simpler and more efficient approach to designing low-cost and high-performance molten salt metal-air batteries with high stability and safety.

He adds, “The modified molten salt iron-oxygen battery has great potential applications in new markets, including electric transport and renewable energy which require innovative storage solutions in our homes and at grid-level. The battery is also, in principle, capable of storing solar heat as well as electricity, which is highly-desirable for both domestic and industrial energy needs. Molten salts are currently used at large scale in Spain and China to capture and store solar heat which is then converted to electricity - our molten salt metal air battery does the two jobs in one device.”

The full article, ‘Quasi-solid-state electrolyte for rechargeable high-temperature molten salt iron-air battery’, outlining the results, is published in the journal Energy Storage Materials.

ENDS

More information is available from Professor George Chen, Professor of Electrochemical Technologies in the Faculty of Engineering on +44 (0) 1159514171 or [email protected] or Emma Lowry, Media Relations Manager (Engineering) on 0115 84 67156 or [email protected]

The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally. Alongside Nottingham Trent University, we lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, a pioneering collaboration which brings together the combined strength and civic missions of Nottingham’s two world-class universities and is working with local communities and partners to aid recovery and renewal following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Honeywell opens new Wuhan HQ & Innovation Centre

CBI member, Honeywell, has opened a new emerging-markets and innovation centre in Wuhan. The new centre is part of Honeywell’s strategy to expand its presence in the fast-growing markets in the central and western regions of China.

Zhang Yufeng, president of Honeywell China said: “Honeywell is willing to expand cooperation with Wuhan, and take advantage of the talent and market advantage of the central and western regions in China, to boost technological innovation and better service within the central and western markets.”

Honeywell’s new centre will cover a wide range of operations, including management, research and development, and sales for the company’s intelligent building technologies, speciality materials and technologies, and other Honeywell business avenues.

Currently, Honeywell has over 50 wholly-owned enterprises and joint ventures in more than 30 cities across China, including 21 plants. Consequently, China is now Honeywell’s second largest country market outside of the United States.

Shell in UK-China battery investment deal

 

CBI member, Shell has announced that it has agreed a multi-year, power offtake deal with two Chinese state-owned enterprises invested in two 50MW batteries located in the town of Minety in Wiltshire. Shell plans to use the batteries to provide back-up power to the national grid.

The energy facility in Minety comprises of two 50MW batteries and is being developed by CNIC – China’s sovereign wealth fund – and state utility firm, China Huaneng Group. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. The Minety project will be built using more than 80% China-made equipment, China Huaneng said, when it announced the start of construction on the project at the end of December.

David Wells, Shell Energy Europe, vice president, said: “"Projects like this will be vital for balancing the UK's electricity demand and supply as wind and solar power play bigger roles in powering our lives. […] Batteries are uniquely suited to optimising power supplies as the UK moves towards a net-zero carbon system."

Power from the project, designed to balance intermittent wind and solar output on the UK grid, will be traded by Shell’s specialist Limejump subsidiary, which is claimed to manage the largest network of batteries in the UK. The deal marks the latest inroad into the power sector by Shell, whose interests in renewables and clean energy now include major solar developments, offshore wind project stakes, the floating wind pioneer Eolfi and Tesla’s rival in the battery storage space, Sonnen.

To read the press release in full, please follow the link.

Arup's Beijing ‘Zun’ building reaches for the sky

 

CBI member, Arup has published its latest edition of the Arup Journal. This quarter’s edition includes a feature on the firm’s work on Beijing’s Zun skyscraper, now the city’s tallest building (overtaking another Arup-designed construction, the 330m China World Trade Tower).

The article explores in detail how Arup tackled building a 528m skyscraper in an area with pronounced seismic activity. Arup was the lead structural engineer on China Zun, working with architectural practice Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The building’s intriguing profile – wide at the top and at the base and slender in the middle – is inspired by the zun, an ancient Chinese ritual vessel for drinking wine, which also lends the structure its nickname. Formally, the building is known as the CITIC Tower, after its developer and end user, CITIC Group.

The novel shape means that, of the 350,000m2 of premium office space that it adds to the city’s central business district, an unusually high proportion is in the top one-third of the building. This both provides the client with an abundance of high-level office space with spectacular views across the Chinese capital and makes the most of the building’s narrow site of just 11,000m2.

The unusual shape had implications for the engineering team: Beijing is located in a major seismic zone, although the building is not near any tectonic fault line. Beyond designing for its hourglass figure, the risk of an earthquake added complexity to the engineering design, which needed to keep the building stable during a significant seismic event.

To ensure that the design could be delivered safely, efficiently and cost effectively, Arup engineered a highly efficient tube-in-tube structural support system composed of a perimeter steel megastructure and a reinforced concrete core. The firm also employed advanced digital technology to rapidly assess more than 800 different options for the design in a short space of time.

To read more about how Arup handled this major design challenge, please follow the link.

Thales on track with Shanghai Metro Comms contract

 

CBI member, Thales has announced that Shanghai’s Metro Line 5, which incorporates Thales signalling and train communications equipment, has gone into full line service.

Thales was brought on to the project to provide its state-of-the-art dual Communication Based Train Control architecture for the re-signalling of the existing Line 5 route, which was the first metro line in China to undergo renovation and construction while maintaining operations. Thales’ CBTC was deployed to enhance the reliability and stability of communication along the track while the work was carried out.

Thales, along with its Chinese joint venture partner TST, was responsible for the re-signalling of the existing line and providing the new signalling for the extension in the meanwhile. To ensure no interruption to normal service, all the re-signalling and commission was conducted in only a few hours during the interval of normal operation during the night. Both before and after the commissioning, a switchover was made between the old and new signalling system to ensure normal operation the next day. After over 500 days of working against the clock, and more than 1,000 switchovers, Shanghai Line 5 had a seamless cutover to the new signalling system with no disruption to normal service.

Jerome Bendell, vice-president, North Asia and CEO of Thales China said: “By re-signalling a busy metro line in Shanghai and equipping the new signalling systems on its extension at the same time, Thales has once again proven its outstanding capabilities to deliver the complex projects in urban rail modernisation through its JV. It demonstrates the great success of our strategy on localising R&D through the JV. [Thales] is committed to supporting the future of Chinese cities with their Fast Forward plan and contributing to their increased public transit capacity.”

 

CBI Members - Beijing Daxing International Airport

Dear CBI members & partners,

Kindly find a short business briefing highlighting the role of CBI member companies in the new Beijing Daxing International Airport due to be opened on 01 October.

Thank you.

China Direct

Download Aviation - Daxing Airport2

Toyota accelerates in China market

 

CBI member, Toyota has announced that it plans to extend its partnerships with leading Chinese automobile manufacturers, such as BYD, and ride-hailing group, DiDi, to significantly improve its market share in the China market.

Toyota currently only has a 5% share of the China market, and remains far behind other foreign – predominantly German – car makers such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes. Consequently, 5 months ago, Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda, journeyed west to capture the attention of China’s automobile market.

Since coming in April, Toyota has signed deals with BYD and Contemporary Amperex Technology to develop batteries for electrified vehicles and invested $600 million in DiDi. Building on these initial investments, Toyota teamed up with Chinese start-up unicorn, Pony.ai to carry out a pilot programme for autonomous driving in July, which resulted in the Japanese marque joining Baidu’s self-driving car programme, Apollo.

As Chinese consumers become further entrenched in a trade war with the US, the Japanese group has benefited in a turn in fortunes. While reduced consumer spending saw China’s automobile market fall by 11.4% over the last 12 months, Toyota saw sales rise by 12%.

Mr. Toyoda said: “The potential rewards for Toyota are immense. Especially in this market, China, the speed of change is very, very fast. [Toyota] have to make a lot of effort to follow the changes in China. That’s the biggest issue for us.”

Company executives reportedly see China as one of the few markets where Toyota has the potential to sell its broad line-up of electrification technology used in hybrids, electric cars, and fuel cell vehicles. Beijing wants to become the world’s champion in fully electric vehicles by 2025, after all.

Arup design excellence incorporated into Beijing's new Daxing Airport

 

CBI member, Arup has reported that it was appointed as the fire engineering consultant by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design for the new Daxing Airport.

With a surface area of over 700,000m^2, Beijing Daxing Airport is set to be the world’s largest, by measure of physical footprint. Furthermore, it will have an anticipated maximum capacity of 100 million passengers a year, making it one of the world’s most heavily used airports.

Furthermore, the new airport has been designed to be a super transportation hub for Beijing – beneath the terminal building there will be three underground railway stations with a total area of 200,000m² for five railway lines to allow easy transfer for passengers to various means of transportation.

While the flowing, interconnected form of the terminal building creates a stunning piece of architecture, it also presents significant design challenges - as the entire building presents itself as a single vast fire compartment. This is further complicated by the transportation hub underneath, which is seamlessly linked to the airport upstairs.

Arup’s fire engineers took a performance-based design approach and adopted a series of fire protection strategies, including the installation of smoke curtains; as well as fire shutters and fire separation bands, to prevent the spread for fire and smoke from one control zone to another, replacing traditional solid walls that affect passenger circulation. Areas that Arup engineers identified as high-risk areas were fully contained by utilising fire resistant construction techniques.

Arup was also responsible for developing the airport’s evacuation strategy in the case of fire, where the terminal’s vast size and the large number of occupants once again presented a major design challenge.

The escape distance to outside is over 200m for most parts within the Central Zone of the airport. Arup needed to reduce this distance to within 75 metres. The solution, to install 29 emergency stairwells that would not only shorten the distance between the various floors of the terminal, but also divert passenger flow to prevent bottlenecks. However, Arup went one step further, and also devised a ‘smart evacuation plan’ that responds by providing a different egress route in response to the fire's live location.

To read more about Arup’s involvement in the Daxing Airport project, please follow the link.

Deloitte races ahead with China New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Report

 

CBI member and international consultancy firm, Deloitte has launched a new report outlining how companies can expect to “Race Ahead” in China’s rapidly developing New Energy Vehicles (NEV) market. Titled, A Revolution in the Making – How to Race Ahead in China’s Soaring NEV Market, the report draws on Deloitte’s world-leading practise, advanced research, analytical tools, as well as insights on both existing and potential new energy vehicle consumers in China to outline 5 major trends and drivers in China’s NEV market:

 

1. Technology Choices
2. Product Differentiation
3. Retail & Network Transformation
4. The Competitive Landscape
5. Value Chain Evolution

Deloitte China, Automotive Leader, Marco Hecker said, “The next two years will be crucial for the [NEV] industry in China, as the NEV market is transitioning from being policy driven to market led. The industry is set to usher in Era 2.0, with highly market-orientated, differentiated NEVS. New retail models, intelligent technologies and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) are reshaping the NEV value chain.” The report predicts that battery electric vehicles will dominate the passenger vehicle market and lead NEV development with fuel cell vehicles; smart, connected functions and human-centric design being the key differentiators within the NEV market. These will overtake hard features such as e-range and charging convenience as the primary factors in purchase decisions.

To read the report in full, please follow the link.