A newly released roadmap document outlines a strategy for integrating renewable energy technologies into buildings in China’s Changjiang River (CJR) basin.  The region covers an area of 1.8 million km² with a population of over 500 million. It includes China's major industrial centres and generates 40% of the country's GDP. The region is also growing quickly, with 500 million m2 of new construction added each year.

China’s existing buildings have an area in excess of 43 billion square metres. Most of them have poor insulation properties and less efficient heating/air conditioning systems than is the case with buildings in developed countries.