An Analysis of the Implementation of Building Energy Codes in China

Shui Bin (sbin@aceee.org)

February 28, 2012

Outline
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Background Building Energy Codes in China Key Stakeholders and Compliance Process Results and Discussions Policy Implications Conclusions

1. Background

Building Stock and New Buildings

Building Stock in China
60 50 40 31.5 30 20 10 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Sources: China Statistics Yearbook (2011) , EIA varied years
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billion square meters

36.0 34.0 35.2

43.0 40.0 42.1 38.5

45.6

48.6

27.8

25.8 for residential buildings in the U.S.

6.7 for commercial buildings in the U.S.

1. Background

Building Energy Codes (BECS)

1. Building energy codes and standards (BECS) set minimum requirements for energy-efficient design and construction for new and renovated buildings.

2. In the U.S. The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except LowRise Residential Buildings (ASHRAE 90.1) The role of the U.S. DOE The role of local enforcement agencies

2. Building Energy Codes in China

Development Strategies

Climate Zone Severe Cold Cold Hot summer and cold winter Hot summer and warm winter Temperate

Mean Monthly Temperature Coldest Hottest 14 0F 14 - 32 0F 32 -50 0F 50 0F 77 - 86 0F 77 - 84 0F

32 - 55 0F

64 - 77 0F

From heating zones to warm zones From large cities to small cities From urban to rural areas
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2. Building Energy Codes in China

Design Standards
China Comm. Residential Comm. U.S. Resi. IECC 2009

Comm. buildings (2005)

Envelope HVAC Service hot water X

Heating zone (2010)

X

Hot-summer & cold-winter Zone (2010)

X

Hot-summer & warm-winter zone (2003)

X

ASHRAE 90.1 2007

Lighting
Electrical power Trade-offs and building component performance approach Renewable energy X

X
X

X
X

X
X

2. Building Energy Codes in China

Code Acceptance (2007)

1. Acceptance Codes are building energy codes for compliance during the construction stage concerning: Walls, curtain walls, doors and windows, roofing, flooring, HVAC, power distribution, lighting, monitoring and quality control 2. Appceptance Codes mandate compliance in the final acceptance of a construction project, and lift BECS to equal importance with safety-related building codes.

3. The Enforcement of Building Energy Codes

Key Stakeholders
Research & Development National Level Government-related Stakeholders Third Parties

China Academy for Building Research

Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHRD)

Developers Building Design Companies Drawing Inspection Companies

Local Level

Local Building Research Entities

Local Construction Administration Department

Local Quality Supervision Stations

Construction Companies

Construction Inspection Companies

Test Centers and Labs Shui (2012)

3. The Enforcement of Building Energy Codes

Certification and Registration of Third Parties

Key Stakeholders
Building design companies, building research entities Drawing inspection companies Construction companies

Title Exams for Certificate Employees Title Exams for Certificates

Building designers
Registered architect, certified structural engineer, certified electrical engineer, certified equipment engineer, quality inspector, geotechnical engineer, interior designers, certified cost engineer, cost engineer, etc. Constructor, certified cost engineer, cost engineer, construction workers, technician, security engineer, quality inspector, etc.

Drawing inspectors Construction managers Construction workers

Construction Construction inspectors inspection companies Testing companies or labs Quality supervision stations Testing engineers Quality supervisors

Certified testing engineer

Supervision engineer

Shui et al. (2011)

3. The Enforcement of Building Energy Codes

The Compliance Process

Stage 1: Preparation

Stage 2: Building design and inspection

Building design

Stage 3: Construction and inspection

Construction

Stage 4: Completion
Building completion
Final compliance report Certificate for occupancy Market

Land use permit

Team formation through a bidding process

Design inspection

Inspection

Construction permit issued

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3. The Enforcement of Building Energy Codes

Financial Issues in the Compliance Process

1. Local construction departments: the salaries of employees of local construction departments are not related to fees collected from the compliance and enforcement process, such as construction and occupancy permit fees. 2. Developers: Permit fees to local construction departments for land use, construction, and occupancy Service fees to third parties 3. Local quality supervision stations 4. The U.S. case
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3. The Enforcement of Building Energy Codes

Annual National Inspection

1. Since 2005 MOHURD has conducted annual national inspections of building energy efficiency. Notification Duration Selection of cities Inspection scope 2. Inspection results are publicly announced 3. Local inspections are conducted to prepare the national inspection

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4. Results and Discussions

The Implementation Results

Building Energy Code Compliance Rates in Urban Areas

MOHURD (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

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4. Results and Discussions

Discussion
Improvements suggest:

Impressive performance of overarching institutions

Definition of compliance a new compliance indicator is needed Training Rural areas

Other issues:

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5. Policy Implications

The Role of Regulatory Support

1. The Energy Conservation Law (1997, 2007)
Administrative structure Compliance with BECS in design, drawing inspection, construction, and construction inspection activities

2. The Rules of Energy Conservation in Civil Building (2006, 2008)

Responsibilities of each key stakeholder Specific penalties for violations

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5. Policy Implications

The Role of Supervisions with Feedback

Project Supervision Supervision of Local Government Supervision of National Government

Building Design Company

Drawing Inspection Company

MOHURD

Construction Company

Construction Company

Local Quality Supervision Stations

Local Construction Department

On-site inspection

Scheduled or random inspections

Annual, randompicked projects

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5. Policy Implications

The Role of Incentives

1. Incentives include financial and non-financial measures to motivate compliance among key actors 2. Publication of national inspection results creates benign peer pressure among provinces 3. National inspection results are directly or indirectly linked to the performance reviews of local officials
If a building design company fails to correct a flawed building design inspected by a drawing inspection company, the building design company shall be warned and fined between RMB 100K (US$ 15K) and RMB 300K (US$ 46K).
Source: Rules of Energy Conservation in Civil Building, 2008

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6. Conclusions
1. A sound policy deployment is critical to the effective implementation of solutions to real-world problems
Sufficient regulatory and financial support Multi-level supervision with feedback Well-designed incentives

2. The dramatic improvement of Chinas compliance rate indicates:

the impressive performance of overarching institutions the need to improve the current compliance index

3. Exchanging ideas and experiences between countries would contribute to energy saving and carbon mitigation at local, national and global levels
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Background:

Code Adoption in the U.S.

January 1, 2012

Residential Buildings

Commercial Buildings

IECC 2009

ASHRAE 90.1 -2007 / IECC 2009

http://www.energycodes.gov/states/
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