??The?2008?Olympics?Water?Cube?looks?blue?but?it's?actually?very?green.

??That's?because?construction?of?the?celebrated?Beijing?National?Aquatics?Center?includes?cutting-edge?energy?saving?and?recyclable?building?materials?to?serve?the?"Green?Olympics"?concept.

??That's?because?a?large?amount?of?paperbacked?plasterboard?used?in?the?eye-catching?masterpiece?is?made?of?recycled?industrial?waste?-?de-sulphurized?gypsum?discharged?by?coal-fired?power?generation.

??The?Water?Cube's?new?recycled?cladding?material?supplier?is?Beijing?New?Building?Materials?Public?limited?Company,?a?fully?owned?subsidiary?of?China?National?Building?Material?Group?Corporation?(CNBM),?the?nation's?largest?building?material?conglomerate.

??CNBM,?as?the?nation's?major?building?material?producer,?has?experimented?with?various?industrial?waste?materials?to?develop?new?wall?cladding?materials.

??It?currently?uses?coal?waste?to?fire?building?brick?replacing?clay?brick,?and?coal?powder?ash?to?produce?cement.?CNMB?also?utilizes?de-sulphurized?gypsum?generated?by?thermal?power?plants?to?produce?plasterboard,?and?i?to?produce?mineral?wool?acoustic?board?using?blast?furnace?slag.

??CNBM's?new?cladding?materials?production?lines?can?all?utilize?and?reuse?20?million?tons?of?industrial?waste?annually.

??Its?plasterboard?made?from?recycled?de-sulphurized?gypsum?measures?an?annual?capacity?of?40?million?square?meters.
It?is?estimated?that?if?the?company?uses?100?million?tons?of?coal?ore?waste?and?coal?powder?ash?it?can?save?6?million?tons?of?coal?equivalent.

??"The?building?materials?industry?has?great?potential?for?the?recycling?business?and?China?currently?has?roughly?1.7?billion?tons?of?coal?waste?available?to?be?exploited,"?says?Yao?Yan,?the?dean?of?China?Building?Materials?Academy?and?vice?president?of?CNBM.

??In?2007?the?building?material?industry's?energy?consumption?exceeded?the?equivalent?of?195?million?tons?of?coal?and?accounted?for?10?percent?of?the?energy?used?by?China's?industrial?sectors.

??"As?a?high?energy,?resource-consuming?and?heavy?pollution?industry,?energy?conservation?in?the?building?material?industry?is?crucial?for?the?nation's?overall?goal?in?energy?savings?and?slashing?emissions,"?says?Song?Zhiping,?chairman?of?China?National?Building?Material?Group.?"Upgrading?the?manufacturing?technology?is?the?key".
Killing?the?kilns

??As?dynamite?blasts?roared?one?after?another,?nine?large?vertical?cement?kilns?were?blown?down?in?Zaozhuang,?Shandong?province?on?November?7,?in?an?effort?to?eliminate?outdated?and?heavy-pollution?cement?manufacturing?facilities.

??"It?pains?a?little?in?my?heart?to?see?our?company's?plants?collapse?within?a?second,?since?thousands?of?our?employees?had?been?living?in?those?factories,"?says?Cui?Xingtai,?president?of?China?United?Cement?Group?Co,?a?cement?production?unit?of?CNBM.

??"But?as?a?State-owned?enterprise?we?should?be?a?role?model?in?energy?saving?and?eliminating?outdated?capacity?even?though?it?causes?profit?losses,"?says?Cui.
To?date?China?United?Cement?Group?has?eliminated?more?than?30?energy-inefficient?vertical?cement?kilns?with?total?capacities?of?3?million?tons.

??"The?cement?industry?is?one?of?the?priorities?in?China's?mid-?and?long-term?energy?saving?plan.?CNBM?is?striving?to?serve?as?a?role?model?mobilizing?more?efforts?to?save?energy?and?for?environmental?protection?in?the?industry,"?says?Song?Zhiping.

??In?2007,?CNBM's?energy?consumption?of?per?unit?of?industrial?added?value?dropped?10?percent.

??China?is?the?world's?biggest?cement?consumer,?using?more?than?43?percent?of?the?world's?total?output.?In?2007,?China?produced?1.36?billion?tons?of?cement.

??But?numerous?cement?companies?in?the?nation?still?use?outdated?technology,?resulting?in?significant?energy?waste?and?pollution.

The?government?and?the?China?United?Cement?Group?have?pledged?to?improve?energy?efficiency?by?eliminating?vertical?kilns?and?promoting?more?advanced?technologies?using?rotary?kilns.

??The?China?United?Cement?Group?has?also?introduced?advanced?energy?efficient?dry-kiln?cement?production?lines?which?can?use?waste?heat?to?generate?electricity.

??Compared?to?the?old?vertical?cement?lines,?a?dry?kiln?cement?plant?can,?on?average,?save?electricity?by?35?percent,?increase?the?comprehensive?resources?consumption?by?10?percent?and?reduce?dust?emission?by?30?percent.
Waste?heat?recovery?power?generation?systems?are?also?