Office buildings along downtown Huaihai Road in Shanghai, will receive an energy consumption check by architectural and environmental protection professionals.

They will also work out tailor-made energy-saving plans for individual buildings over the next six months.

Luwan District government has teamed up with Shanghai Energy-Saving Inspection Center and Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences to offer energy checks for major power consumers.

The first round of energy checks will cover office buildings such as Jiushi Renaissance Mansion, Lippo Plaza as well as district government buildings and an innovation industry park on Zhizaoju Road.

Professionals will collect information about the building's past electricity, gas and water bills, and carry out on-site inspections on devices such as elevators, air-conditioners and lighting to determine their energy consumption.

Inspectors are expected to diagnose hidden power overuse problems and give detailed suggestions for improvement, district officials said.

"As energy saving has topped the work agenda of the whole city, these energy checks for buildings could be an effective approach for us to have a clear idea of consumption," said Jin Qunle, an official with Luwan's economic commission.

Previously, companies could only learn about their energy consumption by studying their bills. Neither the companies nor the government could identify opportunities for saving energy, Jin explained.

He added that the government would expand the checks to 65 industrial manufacturers which consume more than 400 tons of coal a year and companies with an annual coal consumption of 500 tons.

The district government has also started to replace street lighting across Huaihai Road with energy-saving bulbs. That could cut the area's electricity consumption by 90 percent, officials said.

The district has set a target to reduce energy consumption by 4.4 percent by December, higher than the city target.

(Shanghai Daily September 3, 2007)