Guangzhou, China’s first high-rise commercial building planned to be most energy efficient in the world is expected to finish construction this year, highlighting the potential of green buildings in China’s major manufacturing region.

The Pearl River Tower is the first in the Chinese mainland to integrate a high level of advanced sustainable technologies, incorporating wind and solar power technologies.

Jaime Velez, from the United States-based planner Skidmore, Owings & Merrill L.L.P., said they have attached importance to using natural resources to generate electricity for the building since the beginning of the design process.

He pointed out some of the building’s wind and solar power harvesting features, which included the installation of wind intake gaps to propel wind turbines, and the use of wind management and redirection technology to help maintain building stability.

He said energy consumption in the building would be reduced by maximizing natural day lighting, reducing heat buildup in air-conditioned spaces, retaining rainwater for reuse and using sunlight to heat the building’s water supply.

Meng Qinglin, a professor at South China University of Technology’s Architecture and Design Institute, said buildings consume about 40 percent of energy worldwide, underscoring the need for energy efficient buildings.

Buildings also contribute significantly to carbon emissions. China had a per capita carbon emission of nearly five tons in 2008, surpassing the world average of 4.18 tons per capita.

In China, Mr. Meng said buildings would likely consume 2.6 billion tons of standard coal by 2030 unless stricter controls were implemented on projects with high energy usage.

The adoption of more energy-saving technologies in buildings, residential houses and sports facilities would play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions, he said.

The Pearl River Tower would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 3,000 tons per year, and achieve an overall energy savings rate of 30.4 percent annually.

Jamie Horne, president for Asia Pacific at real estate service company Colliers International, said the tower will help demonstrate that office buildings in China are on par with international standards.

The building also demonstrates how to develop sustainable green buildings without compromising the environment.

China’s Pearl River Delta, which includes such important areas as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau,

is home to nearly 30 percent of China’s exports, with a heavy manufacturing and industrial base responsible for much of the pollution in the area.

Recent studies by Greenpeace have shown heavy concentrations of heavy metals such as beryllium, copper and manganese in wastewater and sediment samples at the delta.

The Pearl River Tower is the first energy-saving building that Skidmore, a leading architecture and engineering company, has designed. The company also designed Chicago’s Sears, Shanghai’s Jinmao and the United Arab Emirates’s Dubai towers.