Wu Zhanyun, Institute of Ecological Civilization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Promote energy conservation and carbon reduction based on resource endowments

Carbon emissions from the construction sector are one of the main sources of carbon emissions in urban and rural construction. According to statistics from the China Building Energy Conservation Association, my country's entire building energy consumption accounts for 45% of the country's total energy consumption, and carbon emissions account for 50.6% of the country's total emissions. All localities regard promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction in the construction sector as an important starting point for implementing the "double carbon" goal. Based on resource endowments, they explore according to local conditions, and have formed a number of distinctive and practical results that can be used for reference.

The first is to optimize design and improve the level of energy conservation and carbon reduction in new buildings. Energy conservation and carbon reduction in new buildings are key measures to promote energy conservation in the construction sector from the source. Based on national standards and different climate zones, various localities continue to promote green and low-carbon transformation in the construction field by optimizing design, promoting integrated construction of building photovoltaics, and promoting ultra-low-energy buildings. For example, Xiongan New District of Hebei Province, Jiading District of Shanghai City, Huangpu District of Guangzhou City, and Longgang District of Shenzhen City took the lead in building "optical storage and direct flexible" buildings integrating photovoltaic power generation, energy storage, DC distribution, and flexible electricity consumption, and explored and formed system solutions for different scenarios such as industrial factories, public buildings, and residential buildings.

At the same time, combine climate conditions and resource endowments to build a local technology system to promote the development of ultra-low-energy buildings. Hainan Province has compiled technical guidelines for ultra-low energy consumption buildings based on the characteristics of hot summer and warm winter areas; Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region vigorously promote the large-scale application of ultra-low energy consumption buildings in severe cold areas; Shanghai City has established technology and product systems based on the characteristics of hot summer and cold winter areas, and actively promoted ultra-low energy consumption building policies and technologies to be piloted in the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Demonstration Zone. In 2023, the new green building area in cities and towns in my country will be approximately 2.07 billion square meters, accounting for more than 90% of the new urban building area. By 2025, new urban buildings will fully implement green building standards.

The second is to implement classified policies to promote energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovation of existing buildings. my country's existing buildings are large in size and high in carbon emissions, which is the focus of energy conservation and carbon reduction. Various localities have combined the renovation of old urban communities, the improvement of rural living environment, and clean heating in northern areas to promote energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovations of existing buildings in categories. In terms of renovation of old communities, energy conservation and carbon reduction have been steadily promoted through lighting systems, envelope structures, and renewable energy transformation. In terms of energy conservation and carbon reduction in rural buildings, various forms of energy-saving renovations of rural houses have been carried out in various places. Hebi City, Henan Province, Jinan City, Shandong Province, and Baoding City, Hebei Province implemented the "Rural Ultra-Low Energy Consumption Rural House Construction Pilot Project"; Zhejiang Province promoted the construction of large-scale photovoltaic power generation projects such as complementary agriculture and light, complementary fishing and light, and complementary water and light;XizangThe autonomous region uses herdsmen's roofs to implement photovoltaic power generation, realizing "spontaneous self-use + heating" of electric power in pastoral areas. The northern region is actively exploring new methods of clean heating. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region uses wind and solar power for heating, Liaoning Province uses straw reuse to carry out rural heating and biomass power generation, Hebei Province relies on abundant geothermal resources to promote ground source heat pump heating, and Taiyuan City in Shanxi Province has achieved heating for more than 1 million residents in the Urban area by recycling waste heat from power plants. Data from the National Energy Administration shows that the clean heating rate in northern my country will reach 76% in 2023.

The third is to limit energy consumption and strengthen energy conservation and carbon reduction management in building operations. According to statistics from the China Building Energy Conservation Association, carbon emissions during the construction operation phase will account for 21.6% of the country's total carbon emissions in 2021, of which public buildings contribute about 41% of carbon emissions with 21% of the building area. All localities promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in public buildings through energy consumption quota management. In 2013, Beijing City took the lead in using power consumption quota management as the starting point to manage energy consumption of public buildings. In 2023, it launched a pilot energy efficiency assessment hierarchical management to promote the shift of power consumption quota management of public buildings to full energy consumption hierarchical management. From 2014 to 2022, the city's public buildings included in the scope of management saved a total of 4.57 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2.8 million tons. Shanghai City introduced the design concept of dual control of building energy consumption and carbon emission limits, and built the country's first carbon emission supervision platform for the construction sector, covering all energy and the entire process, realizing the "design-construction-operation-renovation-demolition" full life cycle supervision. Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, integrating power, gas, green electricity and other energy data from 278 public buildings, is the first building "carbon efficiency code", and expands market-oriented application scenarios such as carbon emission accounting, quota management, and transaction assistance to assist building operators to achieve self-management of carbon assets.

The fourth is to develop green finance and increase financial support. In recent years, green finance has become an important tool to smooth the supply, consumption and industrial circulation of green buildings. Various localities have continued to strengthen financial support for the entire chain and full cycle of green buildings. Guangdong Province is accelerating the mutual recognition of green building standards, green finance standards, green certification services, and green identification technologies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the field of cross-border financing, and encourages financial institutions to include project financing that has obtained internationally accepted green building certification into the scope of financial support. Qingdao City, Shandong Province, innovated its system and mechanism, implemented the country's first "carbon reduction insurance" building energy conservation insurance policy, and issued Shandong's first green project loan with "green building performance liability insurance." Green buildings in the city account for 100% of new civil buildings. At present, the scope of green finance support in various places covers multiple links and fields such as green building development and construction, energy conservation and green transformation of existing buildings, and resource utilization of construction waste.

Although my country has made positive progress in energy conservation and carbon reduction in the construction sector, building energy consumption and carbon emissions still account for a high proportion of the country. It is recommended to coordinate efforts in technology research and development, improvement of statistical accounting systems, formulation of regulations and standards, and financial support to provide strong support for achieving the "double carbon" goal.

The author is an associate researcher at the Institute of Ecological Civilization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences