China

CCFED SCI-TECH INNOVATION BUILDING

China – Guangzhou

Subtropical New Building

Organisation : China Construction Fourth Bureau Urban Development Investment Co., Ltd.

86.5 %
annual energy
savings achieved
Level : Master

Energy performance

86.5 %
Energy savings
8.9 kWh/m²/year
Absolute performance
41.6 kgCO₂/m²/year
Carbon intensity

Operational Context

Describe the building’s operational context (history, occupancy, specificies, …)

  Basic Information & Building History:

CCFED SCI-TECH INNOVATION BUILDING is located in the East Zone of Guangzhou International Financial City, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, serving as the new corporate headquarters of China State Construction Fourth Engineering Division Corp., Ltd.. Construction commenced in April 2022, and official operation commenced in January 2025. The total gross floor area (GFA) is 104,402.14 m² (86,919.45 m² above-ground, 17,482.69 m² underground), with a conditioned area of 63,360 m². The building features a concrete-filled steel tube frame-core wall structure with a height of 176.00 m (36 floors above ground, 3 basement levels) and a shape coefficient of 0.11.


  Occupancy & Operating Schedule: 

Serving as the headquarters and a commercial office complex, the podium (1F–4F) houses the lobby, commercial areas, a staff canteen accommodating 5,000 person-times/day, and a museum. Tower floors accommodate standard offices (10F–28F, designed density 8 m²/person) and headquarters offices (30F–35F, designed density 20 m²/person).
Operating Schedule: The HVAC cooling plant operates on workdays from 08:00 to 18:00 during the cooling season (April 15 to November 30).
Load Profiles & Schedule: Occupancy and lighting ramp up from 07:00 on workdays and gradually shut down and leave between 18:00 and 19:00. Peak electrical loads occur during the cooling season and daytime office hours. The building is equipped with 21 Class-A energy-efficient passenger elevators and 1 freight elevator, operating in variable-frequency group control and energy-regeneration modes.


  Building Specificities & Key Features:

Climate Zone & Layout: Located in hot-summer and warm-winter zone B, equivalent to a subtropical climate zone. The building innovatively adopts a dual natural ventilation system combining "Lingnan cold alleys" and a "super-tall solar chimney". The 1F–8F through-atrium "cold alley" utilizes thermal pressure and wind pressure to enhance natural ventilation, while a 120-meter-high "solar chimney" is installed on the north side of the tower. The proportion of main functional rooms meeting natural daylighting compliance (  h/day) reaches 96.37%.
As the first super-tall near-zero energy building demonstration project in the hot-summer and warm-winter zone, it achieves a building envelope energy-saving rate of 51.0%, a comprehensive energy-saving rate of 61.0%, a renewable energy utilization rate of 25.4%, a comprehensive energy consumption of only 29.36 kWh/(m²·a), and carbon emissions reduced to 16.7 kgCO₂/(m²·a) (a 58.9% carbon reduction).


  Unit Cost & Incremental Distribution:

The unit building cost is 11,000 RMB/m².
 


 

Key measures implemented

The main actions implemented to reduce the energy consumption of this building.

Efficiency Investments

  Building Envelope, Insulation & Shading:

Roof & Exterior Wall Insulation Upgrades: Inverted roofs utilize 100 mm XPS boards and green vegetation (K-value = 0.25–0.32 W/(m²·K)). Exterior walls integrate 200 mm aerated concrete blocks with 40 mm vitrified bead insulation mortar and 100 mm rock wool batts (K-value = 0.72–0.75 W/(m²·K)).
High-Performance Glazing & Shading Systems: Unitized triple-silver Low-E insulated glass curtain walls (K-value = 2.07 W/(m²·K), base SHGC = 0.19) are paired with 700 mm horizontal fixed shading fins on south, east, and west facades, lowering the composite SHGC to 0.16 and cutting envelope cooling loads by 41.2%.Air tightness is optimized to effectively block outdoor thermal infiltration and reduce energy losses from unorganized ventilation.


  High-Efficiency HVAC & Heat Recovery Equipment:

Ultra-Efficient Central Cooling Plant: Deploys three 750 RT variable-speed centrifugal chillers (COP 7.2, IPLV 10.0) and one 450 RT variable-speed screw chiller (COP 6.7, IPLV 9.0) with variable-speed pumps and cooling towers, targeting a cooling plant SEER-sys of 6.0.
Total Heat Recovery & Advanced Terminals: Integrates split evaporative total heat recovery fresh air units (efficiency ≥ 70%, recovering 1.01M kWh/a heat in cooling season); headquarters office floors utilize BLDC FCUs with stepless speed control; canteen DHW is supplied by 4 x 90 kW air-source heat pumps (COP 3.52).


  High-Efficiency Lighting & Electrical System:

100% LED Lighting & Smart Controls: Employs 100% LED fixtures with smart control systems. Office Lighting Power Density (LPD) is restricted to 4.77–5.77 W/m² (61.5% below national code limits), saving 95,000 kWh/a via daylight harvesting and scene scheduling.
Class A Energy-Efficient Elevators & Regeneration: Equipped with 21 passenger elevators and 1 freight elevator, all ISO Class A certified. Featuring variable-frequency group dispatching and regenerative feedback (25%–45% energy recovery rate), vertical transport achieves a 56% energy reduction over Class C baselines.


  Renewable Energy & Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV):

Rooftop & Facade BIPV Systems: Large-scale integrated application of renewable energy, adopting a comprehensive layout of "rooftop monocrystalline PV + facade CdTe thin-film PV". Rooftops install monocrystalline PV panels (188.87 kWp capacity, 916.63 m² area); south, east, and west shading fins integrate CdTe thin-film BIPV modules (1,012 kWp capacity, 6,936.08 m² area). Total installed capacity reaches 1,200.87 kWp across 7,852.71 m², generating 653,400 kWh (7.52 kWh/m²·a) in the first year with a 25.4% renewable energy utilization rate.
 

Technical Optimization

 Building Automation & HVAC Optimization Control (BMS & HVAC Optimization Control):

Central BAS & Cooling Plant Group Control: Deploys a centralized Building Automation System (BAS) integrating chillers, variable-speed pumps, cooling towers, and FCUs. Headquarters floors utilize Brushless DC Fan Coil Units (BLDC FCUs) networked with BAS using PID algorithms (temperature precision ±0.5°C) for stepless fan speed and valve modulation.
Automated Solar Chimney Control Strategy: The 120m-high, 3-section north solar chimney works with motorized window actuators, controlled by BMS based on real-time weather thresholds (wind speed < 20 m/s, dry-bulb temp < 25°C, relative humidity < 70%) to drive stack-effect natural ventilation and night purge cooling during shoulder seasons.


  Indoor Air Quality Sensing & Demand-Controlled Ventilation (IAQ Sensing & Demand Ventilation):

CO₂ Demand-Controlled Fresh Air: CO₂ sensors installed in occupied office and conference spaces link directly with split evaporative total heat recovery fresh air units (efficiency ≥ 70%), dynamically maintaining indoor CO₂ ≤ 900 ppm and automatically modulating fresh air supply between 50%–100% of design thresholds to eliminate over-ventilation cooling loss.
High-Efficiency Air Filtration Controls: Fresh air units integrate C4/G4 coarse filtration paired with electrostatic precipitators (F7 rating, >90% PM2.5 filtration efficiency) to ensure optimal indoor environmental quality.


  Intelligent Lighting Scene Scheduling & Daylight Harvesting (Intelligent Lighting & Daylight Harvesting):

Zoned Scene Modes & Time Clock Scheduling: Public lobbies, canteens, and meeting rooms adopt smart lighting controls integrating time clock schedules (peak, off-peak, late night) and multi-scene modes (Welcome, Meeting, PPT, Energy-Saving, All-Off) to eliminate non-operational lighting waste.
Daylight Harvesting & Continuous Dimming: Illuminance sensors in high-zone open offices, podium lobbies, and exhibition areas continuously measure ambient natural light and modulate LED fixtures via 0–10V stepless dimming, saving 95,000 kWh/a while maintaining constant task illumination.


  Energy Sub-metering & Digital Operations (Energy Metering & Digital Operations):

Comprehensive Energy Sub-metering: Deploys an automated sub-metering system monitoring electrical energy across central cooling, fresh air ventilation, lighting, power, elevators, and the 1,200.87 kWp rooftop and BIPV solar PV installations.
Data-Driven Performance Tuning: Leverages DesignBuilder energy simulations and continuous monitoring analytics to track cooling plant seasonal performance (SEER-sys ≥ 6.0), elevator regenerative feedback (25%–45% energy recovery rate), and PV system efficiency, identifying performance drift for proactive maintenance tuning.

Use Sufficiency

  Operational Scheduling & Demand-Driven Management:

Zoned Office & Public Space Scheduling: Central cooling plants operate on workdays 08:00–18:00 during the cooling season (April 15–November 30). Office occupancy and lighting ramp up from 07:00 and ramp down between 18:00–19:00, after which systems automatically enter low-energy standby mode.
Canteen & Exhibition Space On-Demand Operation: The 1F–3F staff canteen (serving 5,000 meals/day) operates full lighting and HVAC strictly during meal service hours (11:00–14:00, 17:00–20:00), switching to low-power modes during off-peak periods. The 4F China Construction Museum schedules ventilation and lighting based on event timetables to eliminate non-operational energy waste.


   Environmental Guidelines & Sufficiency Standards:

Summer Thermal Comfort & Setpoint Restrictions: Indoor summer cooling setpoints are strictly restricted to ≤26°C with relative humidity controlled at ≤60%, optimizing predicted mean vote (PMV) thermal comfort while avoiding energy waste from over-cooling.
IAQ-Driven Demand Controlled Fresh Air: Fresh air supply across office and conference spaces dynamically links with indoor CO₂ sensors (maintaining CO₂ ≤ 900 ppm) and modulates fresh air between 50%–100% of design thresholds, fostering employee habits that align health and comfort with energy restraint.


  Tenant/Employee Engagement & Sustainability Showcase:

Construction Museum & Carbon Neutrality Demonstration: Leveraging the 4F China Construction Museum and HQ building demonstration platform, real-time data from the 1,200.87 kWp composite PV system, sub-metered power consumption, and carbon reduction performance (reducing CO₂ by 2,090 t/a, a 58.9% reduction rate) are displayed to staff and visitors, serving as a low-carbon education and behavioral engagement portal.
Smart Lighting Scene Modes & Power-Down Habits: Integrates smart lighting scene controls (Welcome, Meeting, Energy-Saving, All-Off) with daylight harvesting across open offices and meeting rooms, promoting daylight-first habits and user practices like powering down lights and workstations upon leaving.


  Operational Governance & Maintenance Practices:

PV System & Cooling Plant Maintenance Protocols: Establish routine inspection and cleaning protocols for the 7,852.71 m² PV installation (rooftop monocrystalline and facade CdTe thin-film) and cooling plant (design SEER-sys 6.0) to ensure long-term peak generation and efficiency.
Elevator Group Dispatch & Nighttime Standby Management: The 21 passenger elevators and 1 freight elevator (ISO Class A certified) utilize intelligent group control and regenerative energy feedback (recovering 25%–45% of braking power). During off-peak and nighttime hours, unused elevator banks and public lighting circuits are automatically shut down to minimize standby energy consumption.

Technical context

Floor area 104,402 m²
Activity type Office
Year built 2022-2024
Certifications
LEED BD+C Gold (2023)

Consumption data

Measurement periods

Reference period
Jul 2022 - Jun 2023
Monitoring period
Apr 2025 - Mar 2026

Annual Energy Impact