Abstract:

In the context of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality target, it is important for building sector to establish a roadmap to achieve these targets. Many countries have already committed to carbon peaking and neutrality goals to tackle climate change. The global comparison of building energy use and carbon emissions is an essential tool to understand the current state, predict future developing trend and design a carbon neutrality pathway for building sector in China, which can also provide guidance for other developing countries to establish similar pathways. In this paper, a method for calculating and comparing building operation energy use in different countries is proposed. The method applies the electricity-equivalent method to calculate the total energy use of building operation, and uses energy conversion factor benchmark to decouple building energy use and energy conversion system. Additionally, a comparative method for building operational carbon emissions is presented. The method is applied to conduct a global comparison of building operation energy use and carbon emissions in various countries. Then, the dominant factors of carbon emissions and the main issue in achieving carbon neutrality are analyzed. The results indicate that building operation energy use per capita or per unit floor area and carbon emission intensity in China are still relatively low compared to developed countries. However, carbon emissions per capita and carbon emission per unit equivalent electricity consumption of building operation in China are both higher than the global average. Finally, policy recommendations are proposed for carbon neutrality pathway in China’s building sector. On the one hand, it is important to maintain a green and low-carbon lifestyle and keep building energy demand reasonable. On the other hand, it is suggested to promote the electrification of building energy use, as well as promoting the low-carbon transition of energy system to increase the proportion of renewable electricity generation.

Key words: Carbon neutrality of building sector, Building operation energy use calculation, Electricity-equivalent method, Carbon emissions, Global comparison