Eco-centre opens on China campus

The building has 70m bore holes to allow access to thermal energy

A building that is able to generate all of its own energy has been opened by the University of Nottingham on its China campus in Ningbo.

Known as the Paper Lantern, the environmentally-advanced building produces its own power from solar, wind and geothermal sources.

It has taken 18 months to build the complex at the university's campus in Zhejiang Province.

The Paper Lantern houses the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technology.

'Standard features'

Energy to run the building comes from heat pumped up from 70m (230ft) drill holes beneath the building, wind turbines and solar panels on the roof.

Peter Buttery, provost at the Ningbo campus, said: "The research centre in China will complement the research going on in Nottingham at the university's School of the Built Environment."

Jo Darkwa from the centre said: "I have no doubt that within the next 10 years that most of these technologies will become part of the standard features of most buildings in China, especially commercial buildings."

Research at the centre will focus on thermal energy, wind tunnel testing and work using solar panels.

The �40m Ningbo campus was completed in 2005 and has facilities for about 4,000 students.

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