Public Buildings In China Research Articles

The Carbon Emissions from Public Buildings in China: A Systematic Analysis of Evolution and Spillover Effects

Public buildings, being the primary source of carbon emissions in China’s construction sector, present a pressing need for emission control. This imperative task not only ensures the sustainable progression of China’s building industry but also holds pivotal significance in the realm of global energy conservation and emission curtailment. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of carbon emissions from public buildings in China and assessed the spatial influence of related factors using a dataset covering 30 provincial units from 2006 to 2021. The analysis employed Theil’s index, Moran’s I index, standard deviation ellipse, and the spatial Durbin model. The study revealed an upward trajectory in carbon emissions from public buildings in China, although the growth rate was generally decreasing. Disparities in emission distribution among provincial units stem largely from intra-regional distinctions, notably prominent in the Low-Intensity High-Economy regions. Provincial carbon emissions from public buildings exhibited significant spatial correlation, manifesting as clusters of high–high and low–low patterns, indicative of mutual influence among adjacent areas. Additionally, the shift in carbon emission focal points from the northeast to the southwest underscored a more pronounced surge in the southwestern regions. Variables such as energy intensity, energy structure, per capita public building area, disposable income per capita, openness level, and environmental governance directly impact carbon emissions from public buildings. Among these, energy intensity, energy structure, disposable income per capita, and environmental governance also had spatial spillover effects. These findings provide a scientific reference and a foundation for policy-making, aiding local administrations in crafting strategies to mitigate carbon emissions from public buildings and foster sustainable progress.

Optimizing faade shading design for public buildings in China's hot and humid regions: A comprehensive analysis

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of faade shading design methods tailored for public buildings in Chinas hot and humid regions. Through a multidisciplinary approach integrating climatic analysis, quantitative modeling, and architectural principles, the study investigates the critical role of shading in enhancing energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Highlighting the climatic characteristics and solar radiation impact specific to hot and humid areas, the analysis underscores the necessity of tailored shading solutions. A review of traditional and modern shading strategies, alongside case studies, elucidates successes, limitations, and emerging trends. The paper also delves into mathematical modeling techniques for optimizing shading efficiency and explores the integration of shading with architectural design and renewable energy systems. The findings advocate for a holistic approach to faade shading, emphasizing its significance in achieving sustainable building practices in hot and humid climates.

Investigation of policy tools for energy efficiency improvement in public buildings in China—current situation, obstacles, and solutions

The energy consumption from the building sector accounts for more than 21% of the total in China, where the energy-use intensity of public buildings could reach 3 times that of residential buildings. Energy efficiency improvement (EEI) is considered to be one of the most rapid and cost-effective means for the building sector to achieve carbon neutrality. The Chinese government has carried out a series of policy tool exploration to promote the energy efficiency improvement efforts by public building owners since over a decade ago, but encountered various problems and obstacles. This paper investigated and compared the current status challenges, and problems in the implementation of EEI policy tools in China and developed countries through literature review, field investigations and interviews with experts and stakeholders, and finally also put forward some possible coping strategies for Chinese government. Results indicated that energy grading and labeling, energy benchmarking, carbon-emission trading and energy-consumption quota management were the main 4 EEI policy tools designed based on measured energy consumption data, where the first 3 ones had been widely used over the developed countries but the last one was unique to China. Difficulty in large-scale collection of building energy-consumption data, lack of scientific methods on building energy-use level evaluation, limited data application and feedback, undesirable association between stakeholders, etc., were the main obstacles for achieving the long-term effectiveness of the EEI policy tools. Cooperating with energy supply enterprises to collect data, establishing an effective energy grading system and a closed loop of policy implementation, exploring a new model of building carbon-emission trading and a differential pricing mechanism, combined with innovative financial supports, might be the solutions. The main contribution of this study is that a comprehensive investigation and analysis on the current development status, obstacles, and possible solutions of the public building EEI policy tools in China was carried out, which is expected to provide a reference for the government of China and even the world.

Prediction of carbon emissions from public buildings in China's Coastal Provinces under different scenarios --A case study of Fujian Province.

With the rapid pace of industrialization and the increasing intensity of human activities, the global climate change and energy crisis have reached a heightened level of severity. Consequently, achieving an early peak in carbon emissions has become an imperative in addressing this pressing issue. Particularly, coastal provinces, known for their developed economies, high population density, and substantial building energy consumption, have emerged as significant contributors to carbon emissions. Notably, public buildings, serving as critical constituents of the construction industry, possess immense potential for both energy conservation and emissions reduction. In light of this, the present study focuses on Fujian Province, situated along the coast, and constructs a carbon emission estimation model for public buildings based on the Kaya identity. This model takes into account various factors specific to Fujian Province, including population characteristics, economic conditions, tertiary industry development, public building area, and energy consumption. Through scenario analysis, the study projects that the year of peak carbon emissions for public buildings in Fujian Province is estimated to be 2030, 2035, and 2040 under low-carbon, baseline, and high-carbon scenarios respectively. The corresponding peak carbon emission levels are anticipated to reach 23.62 million t, 24.18 million t, and 24.76 million t CO2. Lastly, based on local policies and actual conditions, the study proposes a set of policy measures and feasible approaches tailored to Fujian Province, aiming to achieve an early peak in carbon emissions.

Exploration of establishing a unified carbon accounting method in the field of public buildings

Under the background of low-carbon development, the construction of green public buildings is an inescapable responsibility and mission. At present, there are relatively few studies on carbon emission of public buildings in China and there is a lack of unified and standardized carbon accounting methods. Therefore, based on the domestic research status, this paper reviews the research progress and trend of carbon emission in public buildings. Sorting out the common accounting boundaries and accounting scope in the field of public buildings; By constructing the interactive accounting method framework of public buildings, the process and method of carbon accounting are sorted out. Various points for attention in the process of accounting are clarified from data acquisition，data management, accounting analysis and other aspects. This study provides a theoretical framework for carbon accounting in the field of public buildings and lays a foundation for establishing a unified carbon emission accounting method system in the field of green public buildings.

Green renovation of existing public buildings in China: A synergy mechanism of state-owned enterprises based on evolutionary game theory

The high carbon emissions of public buildings owned by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) pose challenges to achieving carbon peaking and neutrality goals. Hence, the active participation of SOEs in green renovation is crucial. The literature mainly focuses on private enterprises and considers stakeholders' benefits from the perspective of economic incentives while neglecting SOEs, which are heterogeneous from private enterprises. To fill this gap in the literature, we propose a synergy mechanism underlying how the parent company and the operations and construction subsidiaries of a typical SOE cooperate and compete with each other to promote the completion of green renovation projects. We use an evolutionary game model to describe the synergy mechanism by analyzing political, economic, and reputational factors. We make the following conclusions: (1) Under the conditions of asymmetric game power, three equilibrium stable strategies are identified. The behavior of the parent company, which is notably influenced by political factors, is critical for the success of green renovation. (2) Political penalties are the fundamental factor breaking the dilemma of low implementation efficiency in green renovation. This event occurs when political penalties for non-incentive management exceeds the cost of incentive management. (3) Each factor exerts varying impacts on the synergy mechanism, with the impact of political, economic, and reputational factors decreasing sequentially. The government can rely on environmental benefit preference and reputational incentives to drive SOEs to actively participate in green renovation. The parent companies of SOEs can enhance political promotion penalties, increase political preference, and reduce decision-making error costs in green renovation to ensure smooth implementation.

Integrating LCA, BIM, and Surrounding Trees for Carbon Neutrality in Steel and Concrete Frame Public Structures: A Case Study in Hangzhou

The construction industry is actively working to improve its operations’ sustainability and reduce buildings’ ecological impact on climate change. One approach involves integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to streamline data input, calculate environmental impacts, and optimize output data. This case study focuses on using the One-Click LCA plugin to explore LCA-BIM integration for sustainable construction.The study examines the carbon emissions of steel and concrete frame public structures and assesses the role of surrounding trees in achieving carbon neutrality. Two innovative public buildings in China’s Zhejiang province serve as the case study’s subject. The One-Click LCA plugin in Revit is a quick and user-friendly tool, providing concrete and steel structure results and generating informative graphs for easy comparison.The findings reveal that the A1-A3 material stage during the design phase contributes the most to emissions and biogenic carbon storage. By demonstrating the practical implementation of LCA-BIM integration using the One-Click LCA plugin, this case study contributes to the knowledge base on sustainable construction practices. The results can guide decision-making for architects, engineers, and construction professionals, empowering them to make informed choices that minimize carbon emissions and promote environmentally-friendly design strategies.

Status of Typical Artificial Lighting Environments in Different Public Buildings in China, and Requirements for Their Improvement

The luminous environment is an essential factor that affects people’s working and living experiences in buildings. In order to clarify the building luminous environment parameters that are required for occupant satisfaction, we collected 2553 completed questionnaires while conducting field measurements of new and updated luminous comfort metrics in 15 contexts in four cities in China. By developing a five-step approach to identifying the luminous environment needs of different building occupants, including data cleaning, correlation analysis, and nonparametric testing, we determined the thresholds for all key metrics for each scenario. The research results show that different public building environments have unique luminous environment improvement requirements, and this conclusion can guide future lighting design, LED technology and daylighting integration technology.

Carbon neutral projections of public buildings in China under the shared socioeconomic pathways: A tertiary industry perspective

As the energy demand of public building (PB) in China continues to increase, it is meaningful for forecasting the future trend of carbon emissions (CE) of PB. This study analyzes the drivers of CE that affect the operational stage of PB in China by the Generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM), which considers the effect of the output value and structural transformation of the tertiary industry and makes a scenario prediction of the future carbon-neutral trajectory of CE in PB under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP). The results show that from 2010 to 2020, the added value of the tertiary industry (AVTI) is the strongest positive driver of CE from PB (31.912% of the total contribution), which correspond to a cumulative contribution of 212.3 million tons (MtCO2) in 11 years. Regulating the CE per unit of the AVTI is the key indicator in reducing CE from PB, with a cumulative reduction of 130.1 MtCO2. The results of the five scenarios under the SSP framework differ significantly, with SSP1 peaking first in 2026 at 884.5 MtCO2 (876.2–893.9 MtCO2) and SSP5 peaking latest in 2049 at 1372.3 MtCO2 (1362-1389.7 MtCO2). SSP1 yielded the smallest projection in 2060 with 189.8 MtCO2 (185.4–194.3 MtCO2). The findings could help public buildings to implement carbon reduction and provide more scientific and rational decision support for possible paths to achieve carbon neutrality in China.

CO2 Emission Allocation for Urban Public Buildings Considering Efficiency and Equity: An Application at the Provincial Level in China

China is currently recognized as the leading global energy consumer and CO2 emitter. A significant amount of carbon emissions can be attributed to urban public buildings. Establishing an equitable and efficient carbon emission allocation mechanism is a crucial step to meeting the ambitious targets in China’s 2030 carbon peak plan. In this study, we estimate the total amount of CO2 emissions from urban public buildings by 2030 and propose a preliminary scheme of carbon quota assignment for each province. By means of applying the zero-sum gains data envelopment analysis (ZSG-DEA) model, the carbon emission quotas allocation of urban public buildings in China’s 30 provinces is proposed, and the corresponding pressure to reduce provincial carbon emissions is analyzed. The results indicate that Qinghai has the lowest carbon emission rate (0.01%) for urban public buildings, while Guangdong has the highest (9.06%). Among the provinces, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Tianjin face the least pressure in reducing carbon emissions from urban public buildings. On the other hand, Hebei, Beijing, and Anhui are under great pressure to decrease carbon emissions. Notably, Hebei is predicted to have the highest emission reduction requirement of 95.66 million tons. In terms of pressures on carbon emissions reduction for urban public buildings, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Tianjin exhibit the least pressure. Hebei, Beijing, and Anhui are facing intense pressure to decrease carbon emissions. These findings offer policymakers valuable insights into developing a fair and efficient carbon allowance allocation strategy, while also contributing to China’s efforts to mitigate carbon emissions and combat climate change.

An Electricity Consumption Disaggregation Method for HVAC Terminal Units in Sub-Metered Buildings Based on CART Algorithm

Obtaining reliable and detailed energy consumption information about building service (BS) systems is an essential prerequisite for identifying energy-saving potential and improving energy efficiency of a building. Therefore, in recent years, energy sub-metering systems have been widely implemented in public buildings in China. A majority of electrical systems and equipment can be directly metered. However, in actual sub-metering systems, the terminal units of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, such as fan coils, air handling units and so on, are often mixed with the lighting-plug circuit. This mismatch between theoretical sub-metering systems and actual electricity supply circuits constitutes a lot of challenges in BS system management and control optimization. This study proposed an indirect method to disaggregate the energy consumption of HVAC terminal units from mixed sub-metering data based on the CART algorithm. This method was demonstrated in two buildings in Shanghai. The case study results show that the weighted mean absolute percentage errors (WMAPE) are within 5% and 15% during working hours in the cooling and heating seasons, respectively.

Energy Retrofitting Assessment of Public Building Envelopes in China’s Hot Summer and Cold Winter Climate Region

The retrofitting of existing public buildings to save energy and reduce carbon emissions is a priority for China’s building sector. Accordingly, the Chinese government requires all public buildings to be energy retrofitted based on the Design Standard for Energy Efficiency of Public Buildings GB50189-2015. However, few studies have been conducted to assess the energy efficiency of this design standard in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate region of China. The aim of this study was therefore to provide sensitivity analysis for the thermal properties of the envelope of a typical public building energy retrofit in China’s HSCW climate region. The results show that the thermal performance of the existing envelope of the sample building was very poor, with heating and cooling energy consumption 18.94% higher than the GB90189-2015 baseline model. It was found that better optimized parameters could reduce the heating and cooling energy load by 28.26% compared with the parameters of the sample building. The findings from this study provide valuable references for local governments and practitioners eager to improve the energy efficiency of existing public buildings in China’s HSCW region.

Regional differences and influencing factors of the carbon emission efficiency from public buildings in China

The rapid development of the tertiary industry has made the energy consumption of public buildings grow too fast during the operation stage, which has become a key area of energy conservation and emission reduction in China’s construction industry. This study uses the Minimum Distance to Strong effective Frontier function (MinDS) and Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index analysis methods to measure the public building carbon emission efficiency (PBCEE) of 30 provincial-level units in China’s eight economic regions from 2010 to 2019, and analyze regional differences and evolution. Then, the influencing factors of PBCEE in different regions were analyzed using the fixed-effect panel data model. The results show that: 1) China’s PBCEE is generally low, with an average efficiency value of only 0.74, and there are great differences among regions, showing the spatial characteristics of “high in the east and low in the west.” 2) Relying on the positive impact of technological progress, the PBCEE in the eight regions increased year by year, with an annual growth rate of 1.82%. 3) The influence results and degrees of various factors on PBCEE are different in different economic zones, but increasing the proportion of electricity consumption has a certain positive effect on improving PBCEE. The same influencing factor has obvious threshold characteristics for PBCEE in different regions, so the government needs to consider the actual situation of the region when formulating carbon emission reduction policies for public buildings.

Regional inequality in the carbon emission intensity of public buildings in China

Driven by urbanization and the growth of residents’ income, CO2 emissions from energy consumption in public buildings have gradually become an important source of CO2 emission growth in China. There is an obvious phenomenon of carbon emission inequality, and there is still a research gap. This study explores the inequality in the carbon emission intensity of public buildings and its drivers on two scales—carbon emissions per capita and per unit of floor area—using provincial panel data for public buildings in China from 2010 to 2019 by Kaya-Theil model. The following results are obtained: (1) The carbon emissions per capita increased from 415 kg to 605 kg, those per unit of floor area decreased from 70.67 kg to 62.16 kg, and those from public buildings in hot summer and cold winter regions and cold regions were significantly higher than those in other regions. (2) The overall regional variation in the carbon emission intensity of public buildings mainly consists of intra-regional variations, ranging mainly from 70% to 90%. The role of building climate zones in the spatial difference in carbon emissions per capita is gradually increasing. (3) The added value of the tertiary sector per capita is the main factor contributing to the inequality in the carbon intensity of public buildings, with a contribution of approximately 70% (±5%), and energy consumption per unit of floor area gradually contributes to the increase in carbon inequality. Our findings provide practical guidance for reducing the carbon emission intensity, thereby further promoting the development of global low-carbon goals.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Influencing Factors of Carbon Emission in Public Buildings in China

The rapid development of public buildings has greatly increased the country’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. Excessive carbon emissions contribute to global warming. This paper aims to measure the carbon emissions in the operation of public buildings, and to identify the multiple influencing factors of carbon emissions in operational public buildings. First, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of carbon emissions from public buildings in 30 provinces of China from 2008–2019 are analyzed. Second, a green building index is constructed, and the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model is utilized to explore the relationship between each influencing factor and carbon emissions, using spatial and temporal geographically weighted regression analysis. The results show that the effects of population, urbanization rate, GDP per capita, green building index, and industrial structure on carbon emissions from public buildings all show spatial correlation and differences. There are east-west differences in the operational carbon emissions of public buildings in China’s provinces. Cluster evolution shows a spatially increasing trend from west to east. To some extent, policymakers can develop appropriate policies for different provinces through the findings.

Allocation of carbon emission quotas for China's provincial public buildings based on principles of equity and efficiency

In accordance with China's commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, it is important to establish a fair and effective carbon emission allocation mechanism; this would help to achieve China's 2030 “carbon peak” target. Here, the fixed cost allocation model (FCAM) was used to allocate carbon emission quotas to public buildings in China in 2030, based on the principles of equity and efficiency. By comparing these provincial allocation results with those obtained using zero-sum data envelope analysis (ZSG-DEA), optimal carbon emission quotas were proposed for the public building sectors of thirty Chinese provinces. The results revealed large differences, with the public buildings of Guangdong having the highest quota (11.39%) and those of Xinjiang having the lowest (0.08%). Additionally, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Liaoning were revealed to be under high pressure with regard to the reduction of emissions from their public buildings; Heilongjiang was predicted to require the highest reduction, exhibiting a need to reduce 34 million tons of emissions. These findings will help provide new ideas for relevant policy makers to formulate fair and effective carbon allowance allocation plans.

Evaluation of airborne transmission risk in university towns based on IEQ surveys

This study aims to evaluate airborne transmission risk in university towns during the COVID-19 pandemic based on surveys of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Both on-site measurements and questionnaire surveys were carried out in public buildings in university towns in Changsha, China. Air temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 concentration in one library, ten classrooms, eight canteens, seven restaurants, and sixteen malls were measured. 2220 valid questionnaires concerning occupants’ sensation on thermal environment, air movement, and indoor air quality were collected. A 3-level evaluation method of airborne transmission risk that is dependent on building type and indoor CO2 concentration was developed. Excessive CO2 concentration is found in library (1045 ppm), classrooms (1151 ppm), restaurants (1242 ppm), and malls (1057 ppm). The percentage time of “high risk” accounts for 18–100% in these buildings. The results reveal a serious problem: numerous public buildings in China and probably other resource limited countries are not basically prepared and equipped to cope with airborne transmission. This fact should be taken into account when developing guidelines and formulating mitigation measures. Real-time monitoring and displaying IEQ and thus the transmission risk level should be an important way to be widely implemented in public buildings.

Evaluation approach of terminal energy consumption of public buildings based on a standardized model

The influencing degree of different factors on terminal energy consumption of public building varies distinctly. If the actual measured terminal energy consumption is directly analyzed, the comparison basis is often inconsistent, which may lead to errors of results. In order to evaluate the energy consumption based on a unified standard, eliminating the interference of influencing factors, the standardization and revision of the measurement value of the terminal energy consumption is necessary. By considering domestic public building samples of different climate regions as research objects, this research has introduced a dimensionality reduction and integration method for evaluating influencing factors that could affect the terminal energy consumption of public buildings based on principal component and clustering analysis. Then, the quantitative mathematical expressions of the relationship between terminal energy consumptions and influencing factors were established through multiple linear regression fitting, formulating the standardized mathematical model of the terminal energy consumption of public buildings. According to the energy consumption standardized model, the evaluation approach was provided and scored based on mode analysis method. This approach can evaluate terminal energy consumption level and energy efficiency potential, analyzing the level of terminal energy consumption of public buildings in China.

A new method of evaluating energy efficiency of public buildings in China

Traditional building energy evaluation methods usually adopt a single energy use indicator as the benchmark. However, such single-indicator based methods often lead to a paradox that switching off building service equipment or systems is equivalent to energy saving. To avoid such paradox for a more pragmatic and comprehensive evaluation of building energy use, this paper aims to establish a robust evaluation model of the operational energy efficiency for public buildings by coupling the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). Firstly, 23 quantitative indexes and 7 qualitative indexes are extracted from existing building energy codes/standards in the input-output perspective of energy performance evaluations for public buildings. The AHP is then used to determine the weight of each index based on a proposed index correction method, which extends the range of applicability of the index system. Finally, a three-level comprehensive evaluation model is established for the operational energy efficiency of public buildings. Furthermore, a case study is conducted on a typical office building to validate the evaluation results with the proposed model. The case building achieves an overall score of 84.9 at a “Good” level, and corresponding recommendations are made for further improving building performance indexes. The proposed method is of great significance to developing building energy efficiency assessment systems and guidelines in China and over the world.

Spatial characteristics and factors that influence the environmental efficiency of public buildings in China

The rapid development of the tertiary industry has enabled energy consumption by public buildings the fastest growing branch of China's construction industry. The operating stage has the biggest share in the perspective of whole life cycle analyses. To conserve energy and reduce emissions is a critical issue for the public building sector. This study employs the non-radial directional distance function and data envelopment analysis methods to estimate the environmental efficiency of the public building industries in 30 provincial administrative regions between 2010 and 2017. And the Moran index is used to explore its spatial distribution characteristics. Finally, the factors affecting environmental efficiency are analyzed using a spatial econometric model analysis. The results indicated that the environmental efficiency for the public building industries across China were generally low, whereas their spatial characteristics were high in the east and low in the west, and high in the south and low in the north. There are several kinds of measures that can promote environmental efficiency, such as increasing the proportion of tertiary industry, promoting gross domestic product per capita growth, increasing the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption, and attracting foreign direct investment. However, the increases in urban population may decrease environmental efficiency. Nevertheless, an obvious spatial spillover effect exists in the environmental efficiency of the public building sector.