Building Energy Efficiency Policy in Chinese Cities and Comparison with International Cities
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Building energy efficiency policy in Chinese cities and comparison with international cities Wei Feng, Hongyou Lu, Xu Liu, Luke Sherlock Xia Wang Nan Zhou & Virginie Letschert C40 Cities Chongqing University Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 3 Queen Victoria Street, City 174 Shazheng St, Shipingba One Cyclotron Road, MS90R2121 London, EC4N 4TQ Chongqing, 400044 Berkeley, CA 94720 UK China USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Jing Hou [email protected] Tsinghua University [email protected] Haidian District, Beijing, 100084 [email protected] China [email protected] Keywords cities, renewable energy, buildings, energy efficiency policy,net U.S., the building sector represents about 40 % of the coun- zero energy try’s primary energy consumption (US EIA, 2018a), among which urban buildings energy consumption takes more than 90 % of the whole building sector energy use. China, Abstract as the top energy consumer and GHG emitter e country, has Buildings consume approximate 30 % of the world total prima- witnessed a fast increase of building energy use, due to the ry energy annually. With the fast urbanization in the world, fast-expanding construction activity and infrastructure de- urban buildings are the major energy consumer and green- velopment. By 2016, the building sector of China accounted house gases emitter around the world. In China, residential, for approximately 20 % of the country’s total primary energy commercial and public buildings in cities consume 80 % of consumption (Tsinghua University, 2018) and 25 % of GHG China’s building sector total energy use. To control the fast emissions (LBNL, ERI and RMI, 2016). Between 2001 and increase of building energy consumption, cities in China 2016, the energy consumption in China’s building sector more have issued policies to improve energy efficiency and reduce than tripled from 300 million tons of coal equivalent (Mtce) CO2 emission. This paper presents four Chinese cities (Bei- to 906 Mtce (Tsinghua University, 2018). Cities in China, even jing, Fuzhou, Qingdao, and Shanghai Changning) in terms of though host 55 % of the country’s population, consume 80 % policy framework and experiences on energy efficiency and of the country’s primary energy in its building sector. With renewable energy utilization in buildings. Different aspects the continuous urbanization process and increase of people’s of policies in Chinese cities are discussed, including: existing living and comfort criteria, it is estimated that energy use in building retrofit, ultra-low energy buildings, and renewable urban buildings will continue to increase. Therefore, there is energy application. To contrast the Chinese cities’ policies, an immediate need to advance policy and improve energy ef- several international cities building energy efficiency poli- ficiency in buildings. cies and best practices are compared. Recommendations for The purpose of this paper is to introduce policies that Chi- Chinese cities to further develop building energy efficiency nese cities have taken to improve energy efficiency and encour- policies are given. age renewable energy adoption in buildings emanate by the Chinese central government. The paper firstly reviews Chinese central government past and on-going policies for energy effi- Introduction ciency in buildings. Then, this study selects four Chinese cities: Buildings consume approximate 30 % of the world primary Beijing, Fuzhou, Qingdao and Shanghai (Changning district). energy (IEA, 2017). With the rapid urbanization process, These cities are located in different climate zones and with dis- buildings in cities contribute a significant portion of energy tinct characteristics. The authors discuss the policy measures consumptions and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. In the that are chosen by each city. The paper follows by introduc- ECEEE SUMMER STUDY PROCEEDINGS 513 3-129-19 FENG ET AL 3. POLICY AND GOVERNANCE Table 1. Building Energy Efficiency Requirement in 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020). Indicator 2015 2020 Five-Year Type Change Urban new building energy efficiency improvement (%) [20 %] Control Urban green buildings percentage in total new building 20 % 50 % [30 %] Control construction (%) Green materials percentage in urban new building construction [40 %] Projection (%) Existing residential building energy efficiency upgrades (m2) [500,000 m2] Control Existing commercial building energy efficiency upgrades (m2) [100,000 m2] Control Average residential unit heating energy intensity decrease (%) [-15 %] Projection Urban level commercial building unit overall energy intensity [-5 %] Projection decrease (%) Urban building level renewable energy proportion of overall power 4 % 6 % (projected) [2 %] Projection (%) Energy efficient residential building in all residential buildings (%) 40 60 (projected) [20 %] Projection Rural buildings that utilize energy efficiency measures in 10 (projected) [10] Projection developed areas (%) Source: MOHURD, 2017. ing the experiences of international cities as well as their poli- As such, Chinese cities are making concerted efforts to im- cies which are compared to the ones of Chinese cities. Finally, plement their own building energy efficiency policies and pro- based on the policies comparison, recommendations are given grams to support the ambitions of the 13th FYP. The cities select- to Chinese cities for the adoption and implementation of build- edhere, Beijing, Fuzhou, Qingdao, and Shanghai’s Changning ing energy efficiency policies. District, are working to accelerate building energy efficiency policies aligned with their wider policymaking priorities. These 4 pilot cities who are the leaders in 4 different policies to im- Building Energy Policies in China plement China’s 13th FYP. Beijing is the first city in China pilot Reflecting on the importance of the building sector in de- and launch ultra-low energy new construction; Qingdao is the livering China’s emissions reduction targets, a range of en- pilot city to conduct residential building retrofit; Fuzhou has ergy efficiency policies have been established by China’s na- implemented very comprehensive policies to promote renew- tional 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2016–2020), as shown in able energy utilization in buildings; and Shanghai Changning is Table 11, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The “Control” type of targets are mandated the first city and district participate voluntary existing building goals, and the “Projection” type of policies are reach targets, energy efficiency improvement. i.e., recommended to be reached by 2020. Beijing: Piloting Ultra-Low Energy Buildings The City of Beijing, located in China’s Cold Climate Zone, has a 2 1. Urban new building energy improvement is measured against the national and population of 22 million with more than 1 billion m construc- local building codes and standards. Performance will need to improve by 20 % dur- tion space exists (CABEE, 2017). In order to control energy ing the 13th FYP. Since energy efficiency codes and standards are often mandatory in China, any improvement in codes and standards will result in new construction use and reduce CO2 emissions from buildings, Beijing has de- performance improvements. veloped several policies to improve the energy efficiency of the 2. China has its own green building standards, often called “three-star standards”. city’s building stock, as outlined in the 2016 Beijing Civil Build- The standards specify three tiers, from low to high performance: one-star, two- th start, and three-star. Like the U.S. green building council LEED standards, the Chi- ing Energy Saving Development Plan for the 13 Five-Year Plan nese green building standards cover comprehensive building performance such as (Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural energy, water, indoor environment, and so on. This policy calculates the percent- age of green buildings by taking the total floor space of buildings rated at least Development and Beijing Development and Reform Commis- “one-star” or above and comparing this with the total amount of new construction. sion, 2016). As the capital city of China, Beijing would like to 3. Green buildings materials represent energy efficient and environmental friendly be the first city to leap forward from the requirements of cur- materials applied in new construction. This policy measures the amount of floor th space of buildings which employ green building materials and compares this with rent building energy standards. In the 13 FYP, the city setup the total new construction floor area. a target on the promotion of “ultra-low energy buildings” and 4. Urban building level renewable energy proportion of overall power: This policy 2 requires the energy generated or saved by applying renewable technologies to take plans to build no less than 300,000 m of “ultra-low energy 6 % of total urban building primary energy demand by the end of the 13th FYP. buildings” by 2020. The ultra-energy buildings are defined 5. The percentage of energy efficient urban residential buildings refers to the ratio as 15 % or more efficient than the city’s current building -en of building floor space which meets energy efficiency codes and standards in new construction and retrofit, against the total urban residential stock. ergy efficiency standard. Policy actions are further elaborated 6. Rural buildings that utilize energy efficiency measures in developed areas: The in the Beijing Ultra-low Energy Building Development Action percentage target is calculated to use the floor area