China’s Hunan Province New Standard for Energy Conservation, the first provincial criteria of its kind nationwide, took effect on Oct 1.

Sunward Equipment Group, one of the pilot companies, has added chilled water thermal storage to its air-conditioning system and installed automatic temperature control devices in order to save more electricity.

“Thanks to the new standard, we estimated that the total energy use will see a 7.38 percent decline in comparison with that of last year’s, the biggest drop in our history,” the manager of the corporation said. “The benefits we can get from energy conservation are far more than the cost.”

At the same time, Hunan Children's Hospital has identified several energy-saving places including public lights, air conditioning and lifts, and a few possibilities by adopting new devices in accordance with the new policy.

“We will promote the new standards to more companies in the city and later the whole province,” said Miao Chenguang, head of the Changsha energy administration.

The new standards were co-drafted by the Changsha energy administration and China Certification and Inspection Bureau.