NANJING -- China will stress the use of environment-friendly materials in building affordable housing in major cities starting this year in an effort to promote greener homes.

Yang Rong, an official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that under the national plan, more than 70 percent of affordable housing will be constructed under the green standards by 2020.

China has been plagued by high energy cost of its constructions, which consume around a third of the country’s total energy use.

The country released the first green home standards in as early as 2006, which require the houses be both water and energy-saving, friendly to the environment and with less land use.

The central budget has allocated subsidies of as much as 80 yuan ($13) for each square meter of green houses.

China is now working on its plan to finish construction of 36 million apartments of affordable housing for low and middle income families during a five-year period ending 2015.