Transition to low-carbon buildings in Chinese cities

This research project is one of the subtopics of IDDRI’s “Urban fabric” programme. It aims to examine possible paths to low-carbon cities in emerging countries by focusing on the building sector in Chinese cities. More than 60% of the Chinese population will live in urban areas by 2030 and China will have built more than 15 billion square metres of urban housing in the next 20 years, equivalent to the European Union’s entire current building stock. The building sector accounts for 40% of energy consumption in OECD countries, compared to 20% in China to date, which suggests considerable increases in potential energy demand in buildings (heating, cooling, electrical appliances, etc.) with the improved quality of life in the coming decades. 

As coal will still be the primary energy resource in China in the foreseeable future, and the timing of large-scale deployment of carbon-free supply technology such as CCS is still uncertain, building energy efficiency (BEE) improvement is emerging as the key to ensuring the transition to low-carbon buildings in the near future given the irreversible characteristics of buildings in terms of energy demand and carbon emissions. It is therefore imperative to immediately implement enhanced measures to improve building energy performance in order to avoid the long-term carbon lock-in dilemma.

This project seeks to establish a dynamic link between the energy performance of new buildings constructed today and the financial capacity to invest in new technologies to decarbonise the energy supply in cities tomorrow. Barriers and opportunities to and policy tools for carbon emissions management in the building sector in China will be investigated. Integrated urban governance is required, linking upstream energy supply systems and downstream building infrastructure as well as energy and property markets, to allow Chinese cities to move gradually towards an energy-efficient and low-carbon future.

Contact :  Jun Li