The “Guiding Opinions on the Reform of Wall Materials during the 12th Five-Year Plan,” released by the National Development and Reform Commission, stipulate that by 2015, more than 30% of cities nationwide will have implemented “restrictions on clay bricks,” and over 50% of county-level cities will have achieved a “ban on solid clay bricks.” The national output of solid clay bricks will be controlled below 300 billion standard bricks, while the share of new wall materials in total production will exceed 65%, with their application in construction reaching over 75%. Moreover, energy consumption in the production of new wall material products will be reduced by 20%.
The NDRC stated that in the future, it will organize demonstration projects for new wall materials, selecting several central cities and focusing on targeted, goal-oriented development of multi-functional, integrated new wall material production bases. It will also promote demonstration applications of these multi-functional, integrated new wall materials in urban construction. By identifying leading enterprises and large-scale companies, the NDRC will implement policies aimed at supporting and strengthening the strongest players, fostering 10 equipment manufacturing enterprises and 100 leading demonstration production enterprises. On this basis, the NDRC will further strengthen guidance through funds and tax policies, fully leveraging the guiding role of special funds and tax incentives, and continue to refine and implement relevant tax policies to encourage social capital to invest in the development of new wall materials.
Currently, the primary wall material used in China’s buildings—commonly referred to as “wall materials”—is still solid clay bricks, often called “red bricks.” Since the production of solid clay bricks requires excavating earth and extracting soil, this practice has caused significant damage to land, particularly to arable farmland. The 10th Five-Year Plan for the building materials industry once pointed out that China produces nearly 600 billion solid clay bricks annually, consuming about 660,000 mu of land each year. Under the combined influence of environmental protection requirements and policy regulations, solid clay bricks are increasingly being phased out of the market, and the resulting market vacuum is eagerly coveted by a number of emerging manufacturers of new wall materials.
Since 2005, China has significantly raised its standards for energy efficiency in building construction. By 2010, urban buildings in China were required to meet design standards for 50% energy savings. By 2020, newly constructed buildings must achieve at least 65% energy savings. Currently, China’s efforts in building energy conservation are just beginning; the primary materials used are currently polystyrene-based. To reach the 2020 target of 65% energy savings, comprehensive energy-saving measures will need to be implemented on the exterior walls of 43 billion square meters of existing buildings.
Promoting the use of external wall insulation is one of the effective ways for China to reduce energy loss. Currently, in Chinese residential buildings, energy losses are roughly distributed as follows: walls account for about 50%; roofs account for about 10%; doors and windows account for about 25%; and basements and ground floors account for about 15%. Therefore, thermal insulation of walls and roofs is a crucial component in improving building energy efficiency. Selecting wall insulation materials that are both safe and environmentally friendly is an issue that the industry urgently needs to address today—and it is also the key to ensuring the healthy development of China’s building energy-saving and insulation materials sector.
