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Snitching is the act of providing information to the authorities in exchange for rewards. Although snitching is, strictly speaking, a taboo among street offenders and prison inmates worldwide, offenders regard some types of snitching as relatively more acceptable than others. Studies regarding the social meaning of snitching have mostly been conducted with reference to American and European contexts, while the situation in the Asian or Chinese context has not been thoroughly explored. This paper helps to fill a research gap by examining the characteristics of the social meaning of snitching in a severely under-researched context—the inmate culture within Chinese drug detention centers. Our discussion is based on data collected from semi-structured interviews with 28 former inmates of drug detention centers, and it endeavors to explore how offenders conceptualize snitching and why they perceive snitching in the way they do. Our findings show that, while inmates in Chinese drug detention centers generally despise snitching, they see some specific forms of snitching as normal or even necessary. We analyze how inmates rationalize snitching behavior in these specific cases, and argue that this process is shaped by the collective control system implemented in the detention centers: (1) the collective merit system that connects each person's well-being to the collective well-being, and (2) the informant mechanism that divides inmates into competing factions. Finally, theoretical implications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) Zero-Carbon Building is a net zero-carbon building that was designed for local hot and humid climate of sub-tropical Hong Kong. Over 80 sustainability features of the architecture and building systems have considered the life-cycle carbon emissions, including the embodied carbon of construction materials, emissions associated with the construction process, the 50-years of operation and decommission of the building. The total life-cycle carbon emission was off-set by on-site renewable energy generated by photovoltaics (PV) and bio-diesel combined cooling heating and power (CCHP) system. To optimise the design, a series of climate-responsive strategies on passive architecture were applied to the construction of the building. These include the high-performance facade, effective air tightness and optimised window design that allows the application of natural ventilation and daylighting. Reduction of 20% energy demand was achieved by these passive designs. To further lower the carbon emission on operation, energy-efficient air-conditioning (A/C) systems using desiccant dehumidification, underfloor air supply and radiant cooling have also contributed on achieving an ultralow energy use value. Amalgamated saving of these passive and active systems are over 45% when compared with the design per existing local building energy codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]