Qihang Chen

  Unusable paper straw (Feilu 2021) In Hangzhou, there has been a lot of controversy over an initiative to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: replacing traditional plastic straws with paper straws. The amount of plastic straws used in China is quite large. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics (2020), nearly 46 billion plastic straws were produced in 2019, weighing around 30,000 tonnes. These straws can potentially cause significant environmental damage due to their small size and difficulty in degradation. Moreover, the production and burning process of plastic straws generates enormous amounts of pollution and carbon emissions. In contrast, paper straws are recyclable, naturally degradable and made from renewable materials. Using paper straws as an alternative to plastic straws then becomes a reasonable approach to achieving sustainable development goals. However, neither consumers nor food companies are satisfied with this initiative. Firstly, paper straws a...

  Rooftop garden of the Hangzhou International Expo Centre (Yadong 2016) The rooftop garden of the Hangzhou International Expo Centre, the main venue for the 11th G20 Summit in Hangzhou in 2016, was very impressive. Apart from discussing the garden's architectural style, its sustainability is also worthy of attention. Firstly, the greenery will reduce the exposure of the roof to direct sunlight or rain, thus extending the life of the building. Secondly, the vegetation on the top could serve to regulate the temperature. Compared to concrete roofs, green roofs have a significant cooling effect in summer (Kim, Lee, & Kang 2020). While in winter, the indoor temperature is instead increased due to the plants' respiratory effect and thermal insulation capacity. This can all contribute to energy savings. Therefore, some communities are considering building green rooftops on a large scale on their buildings. However, I do not think green rooftops will be popular in Hangzhou's r...

  Solar PV roof retrofit for office buildings (Hangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Committee 2021) By retrofitting existing buildings, Hangzhou has reached its goal of reducing carbon emissions. According to the Hangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Committee (2021), Hangzhou has reduced 38,722 tonnes of carbon emissions and saved energy equivalent to 14,893 tonnes of coal through retrofitting public buildings. The public facilities that have been upgraded include municipal government offices, universities, secondary schools and social houses. The transformation consisted of installing photovoltaic power on the roofs, upgrading lighting systems, modifying air conditioning systems, installing energy monitoring systems and more. The challenge remains how such retrofits can be extended to private and commercial buildings. For the non-public sector, undertaking energy efficiency retrofits is not always profitable. Firstly, the owner must pay the cost of retrofitting, and it may be im...

Solar charging station 3D model (3d_molier International 2019) According to a report by China Business News in January 2022, Hangzhou has become a leader in China's new-energy vehicle industry (China Business News 2022). This situation is probably achieved because Hangzhou is one of the clustering areas of China's internet industry, which has numerous technological resources to offer. Moreover, as China's internet market is close to saturation, many companies are keen to expand their influence and increase their benefits in the physical industries. In this context, new-energy vehicles have become a good choice. They do not need to challenge traditional vehicle industries' existing technology, experience and brand status and can be strongly supported by the local government. This leads to a debate about whether new-energy vehicles could facilitate sustainable energy development in Hangzhou. This article takes a positive view of this. Although more than 30% of Hangzhou...

Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court (Wikiwand 2021) In March 2022, Hangzhou Development and Reform Commission published an announcement titled "Implementation Suggestions on Further Accelerating the Construction of Photovoltaic Power Projects in the City". This document suggested that all companies, institutions and public facilities in Hangzhou should have solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities on their rooftops. This proposal aims to improve the city's self-sufficiency in electricity and contribute to the achievement of zero carbon emissions (Hangzhou Development and Reform Commission 2022) . The proposal was not well accepted. Although some local businesses have been trying to install solar PV roofs since this announcement was released, the first one that fulfilled all its requirements was the distributed solar PV project on the roof of the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court, completed in February 2023(Hangzhou News 2023). There are two possible reasons local bu...

Overlook of Hangzhou West Railway Station (Sohu 2021) The Hangzhou West Railway Station project is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by 2028. A total of seven skyscrapers will be constructed, the tallest of which will be 399 metres, and is expected to become the 'third centre' of Hangzhou and a central transport hub for the new district (Sohu 2021). These towers will be integrated with the new railway station in Hangzhou and available for office, hotel and tourist businesses. Furthermore, pedestrian plazas will be built around the railway station to allow citizens and tourists to shop and leisure. They will be linked to the city park on the north side to form a landmark TOD (Transit-oriented Development) complex for the city . The primary purpose of having so many high-rise buildings in one project is to maximise the land resources around the public transport hub and increase the density of the area. The next objective is to enhance the urban image an...

Rendering of the future community (People's Government of Hangzhou 2022) Yunfan Future Community will be the first construction project in Hangzhou to comply with the 'Near Zero Energy' standard. In 2019, the Hangzhou People's Government introduced the concept of "Future Community", and as the first new project under this concept, the construction of Yunfan Future Community started in 2021 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The project adopts a series of innovative energy-saving technologies and is expected to achieve a comprehensive energy-saving rate of 76.93% and a renewable energy utilisation rate of 74.3% through both active and passive methods (People's Government of Hangzhou 2022). The project plays an important role in the sustainable development of Hangzhou and the achievement of the net zero emissions target. Firstly, it has a guiding function. As a new community led by the government, the Yunfan Future Community will provide a ...

Urban Green Space in Hangzhou ( Hangzhou Landscape Design Institute 2009) Hangzhou has been promoting an urban greening programme called "Forest City" since 2009. An ecological network of greenery with local characteristics is being realised by adding green belts to the local road and river network. Moreover, urban forests and wetlands have been built in some districts to form the ecological landscape and an urban greening coverage of 40.58% has been achieved by 2021 (National Forestry and Grassland Administration 2021). The project has brought benefits to the city in various respects, including promoting local tourism, attracting a cluster of industries related to forests, improving residents' living quality, and protecting the local ecological environment. My opinion is that there is real value in building green cities and Hangzhou has achieved significant results so far, but the focus can now be shifted from development to conservation and maintenance. One aspect is th...

According to the China Association of Circular Economy (2023), in recent years, Hangzhou has been implementing a project to promote the circular economy and sustainable development in the city by collecting recyclables from the public. The government started by setting up several collection sites in various districts of the city. Residents who collect their recyclable waste individually from their homes or offices can use a mobile phone app to find the location of a local collection site and visit it. The staff at the sites will offer credits based on the type and amount of recyclables for citizens to exchange for goods.   This project is supposed to be feasible and could be part of a sustainable strategy. However, as the project is still in the experimental phase, only a few comments and recommendations can be made based on the limited information available on the internet:   l   The incentives for citizens may not be sufficient. The project transfers part of the...

  The shared bicycle project was popular in Hangzhou. At first, people were amazed at the convenience and cost-effectiveness of shared bikes and were happy to contribute to sustainable development by using them. During this time there was a plethora of shared bicycle brands, and you could find and pay for a shared bicycle online in almost every corner of the city. However, as its popularity faded and the market gradually settled down, many bicycles were destroyed and abandoned, and the public began to rethink whether this was sustainable.   Bicycle sharing initially complies with the requirements of sustainable development. The promotion of non-motorised travel to reduce emissions and the installation of storage points in various locations for the convenience of the public have economic, social and environmental benefits. However, after some bike-sharing platforms went bankrupt, many of the remaining bikes were not repaired or recycled but abandoned in the suburbs. This re...

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a sustainable community certification system promoted by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The first community to be officially certified by LEED in China is the  precinct  project named Vanke Future Sky City. The design of this precinct focuses on a TOD complex with office, commercial, residential, cultural and sports functions, and its sustainability performance consists of three main aspects: l   High-density land use.  Several high-rise residential towers are erected next to the metro station to achieve more effective usage of land resources and reduce travel distances. l   Greening. Providing large areas of grassland to enhance life quality and satisfy the requirements of green, low-carbon development. l   Change in transport options. Achieving environmental sustainability by encouraging low-emission forms of transport such as metro, cycling and walking. Compared to...