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A survey on energy consumption and energy usage behavior of households

and residential building in urban China

Article  in  Energy and Buildings · March 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.03.064

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A survey on energy consumption and energy usage behavior

of households and residential building in urban China

Shan HU, Da YAN*, Siyue GUO, and Ying CUI, Bing Dong

Building Energy Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

E-mails: hu-s06@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn (S. Hu); yanda@tsinghua.edu.cn (D.

Yan); guo-cy12@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn (S. Guo); cui-y14@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn (Y.

Cui);

Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio,

One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249

*
Corresponding author. yanda@tsinghua.edu.cn (D. Yan)

Abstract: Building performance, equipment efficiency, and occupant behavior

play important roles in China urban residential building energy conservation. An online

survey was conducted in 2015 to study the urban residential energy and usage

behavior. A total of 4,964 Chinese urban households participated in the survey,

answering questions about their family composition, buildings, energy use and

conservation behaviors, and reactions to specific energy conservation policies. The

results suggest that the general trend in Chinese urban households is larger unit sizes

(on average, 109 m2 per household) and smaller families. The average electricity

consumption of urban residential buildings is 1,690 per year per household in 2015

and it continues to grow as home electronics become more widespread and the

demand for higher quality of life increases. Energy consumption of China urban

residential buildings energy use has the following characteristics: steady growth in size

and energy consumption of the buildings associated with rapid urbanization,

decentralized and individual equipment with diversified energy usage behavior, and

relatively low energy consumption level compared to other countries. In addition to the
current energy efficiency programs, China should focus on retaining traditional

behaviors and lifestyles, as well as promoting outcome-based energy conservation

policies and technology systems.

Key words: China urbanization; residential building; household energy

consumption; energy use behavior; questionnaire survey; international comparison

1. Introduction

Rapid development of Chinese economy and high concentration of urban

populations resulted in increases in the number of urban residential buildings and

related energy consumption. The urbanization rate in China increased from 37.7% in

2001 to 55.0% in 2014, and the urban population grew from 155 million to 264 million

households [1]. Rapid urbanization promotes the development of the construction

industry and drives growth in energy demand, especially demand for electricity. The

completed floor area has been increasing by more than 1.5 billion m2 every year since

2001[1]. Among these newly constructed buildings, 75% are residential to

accommodate the growing urban population. According to BERC (Building Energy

Research Center of Tsinghua University) [2], the total floor area of China’s urban

residential buildings has reached 21.3 billion m2, with primary energy consumption of

0.32 billion tons of coal equivalent (TCE), which is 39% of the total building energy

consumption and 8% of the total primary energy consumption. Urban residential

electricity use has more than tripled between 2001 and 2014, from 123 billion kWh to

408 billion kWh [2].

In response to the growing trend in consumption of energy, the Chinese

government has implemented a series of policies aimed at controlling the increase in

primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions[3]. In 2013, The 12th Five-Year

Energy Development Plan was released, with the ambitious goal to cap the total

energy consumption in 2020 at 4.0 billion TCE [4]. In 2014, the cap was raised to 4.8

billion TCE by the National Energy Development Strategy and Action Plan for 2014

to 2020 [5]. In addition, measures have been put in place to peak CO2 emissions by
approximately 2030, and efforts are being made to reach this peak value even sooner

[6,7]. Considering the energy consumption predictions for the industrial, transportation,

and building sectors, energy use for the building sector in 2020 should not exceed 1.1

billion TCE in order to meet the stated goals [8].

Building energy use are mainly driven by weather, house size, building envelope,

building energy and services systems, indoor environment, building operation and

occupant behavior[9].It is essential to make available building energy related

information to allow suitable analysis and efficiently plan energy policies for the future

target achieving. However, available information on China’s residential building is

clearly insufficient and not proportional to its importance. There is a lack of consistent

and comprehensive building energy data from national level, which makes it difficult to

understand the underlying changes and key factors that affect energy consumption in

urban residential building sector. The National Bureau of Statistics of the People's

Republic of China releases total amount of urban residential energy consumption in

national energy balance sheet annually [1]. However, this statistical data only provides

overall energy consumption of urban residents sector, the lack of specificity in the

information generates barriers to policy makers in promoting urban residential building

energy conservation and technology recommendations [10].

In order to get more information on key factors and promote suitable energy

efficiency technologies and policies, researchers conducted detailed surveys of urban

households at the regional or city-level explicitly focusing on indoor comfort and

household energy consumption. For example, BERC [11] conducted a survey in seven

cities from five climate zones, with a valid sample of approximately 1,000 from each

city, providing information on urban residential energy use including electricity and

natural gas consumption, family and building information, and energy systems. In

addition to nationwide surveys, several researchers have carried out city-level surveys

focusing on space heating and space cooling due to their large proportion on building

energy use. Such as Ling [12] surveyed seven urban residential districts in Beijing to

find key characteristics of urban household energy consumption and space heating

energy use, and Li [13] surveyed space cooling consumption and factors that influence
the consumption level in Beijing.

Occupant behavior was observed to be a predominant factors influencing urban

residential building energy consumption by these surveys and other detailed case

study, including activities such as switching on and off lights, turning on and off cooling

and heating systems, and adjusting the thermostat[9]. A high rebound effect of at least

30% in the household energy efficiency of China is presumed by reference to the

rebound effects of other countries, which is mainly caused by demand growth and

occupant behaviours transition[14]. With rapid growth of urbanization and economy

booming, the diversity of urban households has been so large that the energy

consumption of most energy consuming families could be ten times higher than that of

the lowest energy consuming families. For instance, measured electricity consumption

of air conditioners per unit floor area in the same apartment building varied from almost

zero to 14 kWh/m2 (on average 2.3 kWh/m2); the discrepancy was caused by the

operating mode of the split-type air conditioning (AC) system [15].

Past studies showed that different occupant behavior requires specific technical

solutions, which may induce or alter the behavior patterns and that the occupant

behavior influences the adaptability and implementation of technologies [16][17]. The

lack of a clear cognition on occupant behavior in urban residential building causes

misunderstanding and erroneous decision on both policy making and engineering

design. Unsuitable technologies are improperly promoted without full understanding of

occupant behavior, such as centralized space heating was wrongly recommended to

promoted in hot summer and cold winter zones in urban China without understanding

of the major difference of space heating behavior in northern China and HSCW

zone[18].

Generally speaking, the research gaps are:

(1) Lack of nationwide surveys to understand the full picture of urban households

and residential buildings. Surveys from a few cities are not enough for policy makers

to identify the national energy saving potential and regional disparity.

(2) Energy consuming equipment and related behavior was identified to be one of

the most significant influence factors on building energy use, understanding on typical
behaviors is critical for engineers to optimize building system design. But occupant

behavior has never been described and surveyed in previous research, this is the

emphasis and difficulties of this research.

(3) Energy efficiency products promotion and energy-saving behaviors leading are

important energy saving policies in China urban residential building, their energy-

saving effect and residential’s feedback are also the vacancy of previous research but

urgent for future energy technologies and policies perspective.

In order to address the weaknesses and knowledge gaps in current research on

the urban residential building energy use in China, an online survey was undertaken

in 31 regions of China (not including Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan) during the autumn

of 2015. The survey has following three goals to achieve:

(1) Understand the characteristics and trends of urban residential building energy

consumption.

(2) Get a full picture of the urban residential building energy usage behaviors and

understand the distribution of typical behaviors of urban households.

(3) Investigate the effect and reactions of current energy efficiency policies and

behaviors leading policies in urban residential building sector.

The result of above study could provide policy makers comprehensive information

on predominant influence factors of urban residential building energy use and urban

households’ energy usage behavior, accordingly improve related policies, such as

efficiency labeling awareness raising and electricity pricing scheme adjusting. It would

also help residential architects and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning)

system engineers to better understand the real demand from occupants and real

behavior distribution, leading to proper apartment size design, more suitable

technology selection and capacity chosen. Last but not the least, recognition and

distribution of occupant behavior is also critical for building simulation researcher to

improve accuracy of building energy simulation result, and greatly expands the use of

building simulation tools.

2. Methodology

2.1 Survey design

Device and Occupant Energy consumption

behavior • Electricity, natural gas,
• Space heating LPG, other
• Space cooling • Annual fuel consumtion
• Lighting • Annual fuel cost
• Appilance • Percentage of fuel cost by
• Domestic hot water family income
• Cooking

Occupant and building Satisfaction, attitude to

information energy-saving policies
• Family member, age Questionnaire Survey • Satisfaction on residential
• Family income, education building and end-users
• Daily rountine • Awareness of energy-
• Builidng form, size saving policies
• Building construction year Climate condition • Reaction to energy-saving
• Severe cold zone policies
• Cold zone
• Hot summer and cold winter
zone
• Hot summer and warm
winter zone
• Temperate zone

Figure 1 Survey content and coverage area

The amount and type of energy used in residential buildings are mainly related to

weather, architectural design and envelope performance, energy device and energy

usage behavior of occupants[19]. Apart from the current status quo of energy

consumption, the satisfaction of urban households on residential indoor environment,

their awareness and reaction on previous energy-saving policies is also an important

reference to promote energy saving measures for police makers and technical

engineers. In order to comprehensively understand the energy consumption and

energy usage behavior of households in urban residential building, the survey is

designed with content and coverage area shown in Figure 1, the survey content include

occupant and building information, energy consuming device and occupant usage

behavior, energy consumption level and satisfaction on indoor environment, attitude

toward energy-saving policies. A summary of question types is presented in Table 1.

Fifty questions, with additional sub-questions, were included in the survey. In contrast

to previous urban household surveys, detailed questions on energy consumption

behavior were designed. The indoor comfort and satisfaction levels of energy end

users were also investigated. The main energy savings policies for the urban

residential sector include the energy efficiency rating and labeling of electrical

appliances, the promotion of energy saving bulbs, peak-valley pricing schemes, and

tiered energy pricing schemes. In order to evaluate the effect of the existing policies

and possible future perspectives, households’ attitudes towards these policies were

also included in the survey.

Table 1 Items of the questionnaire sheet

Item Content

family members, age, family form, daily routine,

Family
education, career, family income

Building unit size, building type, age of construction

Fuel and energy fuel type, energy consumption, energy cost

space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water,

End user and behavior
lighting, cooking, other home appliance

Satisfaction satisfaction on unit size, indoor comfortable level

energy efficiency label of electrical appliance,

Attitude towards energy attitude towards time-dependent electricity pricing

conservation policy scheme, attitude towards multi-step electricity

pricing scheme

2.2 Sampling and data processing

Since survey research is based on a sample of the population, the success of the

research is dependent on the representativeness of the sample with respect to the

target population. Using the previous research results and calculating the reliability of

responses, the following formula was used to determine the sample size at a 99%

confidence level[20]:
 𝑧 2 × 𝑝(1 − 𝑝)
Sample size = 𝑒2
2
𝑧 × 𝑝(1 − 𝑝)
1+( )
𝑒2𝑁

where N is the population size, 749 million; e is the margin of error, 0.02; and z is

the z-score, 2.58 at a 99% confidence level. The calculated minimum sample size was

4,160, which was rounded up to 5,000.

With widespread Internet access through various smart devices, online

questionnaires reduce the costs and the time requirements of traditional surveys and

give the researchers the opportunity to create large-scale databases with limited cost.

The survey consisted of an online questionnaire that could be accessed through

personal smart devices such as cell phones, tablets, or laptop computers. A

professional company was chosen to implement this online survey. Advantages of an

online survey include lower costs and a shorter interview cycle. The main disadvantage

is the limited demographic focus because people who participate in online surveys are

most likely younger, richer, and live in the central areas of China. In order to offset

these drawbacks, two rules were given to the survey company for sample quality

control. 1) People older than 40 must constitute 40% of valid samples collected, since

the percentage of population older than 40 in 2013 was 45% [21]. 2) Annual household

income distribution in the samples should be similar to the average income distribution

of Chinese urban residences [21]. Approximately 10% of the urban residences in China

have an income less than 20 thousand RMB, 10% earn 20-50 thousand RMB, 60%

earn 50-100 thousand RMB, 10% earn 100-200 thousand RMB, and 10% earn more

than 200 thousand RMB.

Survey quality was guaranteed by a series of quality control mechanisms and

process tracking options. The survey company controlled the attributes of the

interviewees such as age, income, and location. They also implemented a duplicate

prevention mechanism, which barred multiple responses from the same IP address.

They further implemented time limits, a random order for some questions to avoid

influencing the answers, and a service allowing for the adjustment of rules at any time

during the survey.

 In two months, 5,000 samples were collected. Samples with answer times longer

than 3 hours or shorter than 300 seconds were eliminated. Ultimately, the company

was able to collect 4,964 valid samples. Regional sample sizes are listed in Table 2.

The distribution of family income met the requirement of being similar to that of China

as a whole (see Figure 2), indicating a representative sample.

 Table 2 List of valid sample sizes by region

Sample Sample Sample

Region Region Region
size size size

Anhui 201 Henan 153 Shanghai 150

Beijing 127 Hubei 219 Shanxi 132

Chongqing 120 Hunan 222 Shaanxi 134

Fujian 159 Jiangsu 353 Sichuan 252

Gansu 72 Jiangxi 153 Tianjin 84

Guangdong 500 Jilin 103 Xinjiang 69

Guangxi 147 Liaoning 202 Tibet 5

Guizhou 65 Innermonglia 70 Yunnan 132

Hainan 33 Ningxia 19 Zhejiang 244

Hebei 245 Qinghai 24

Heilongjiang 213 Shandong 363

100%
Statistical Sample
80%
Percentage

60%

40%

20%

0%
<20 k 20~50 k 50~100 k 100~200 k >200 k

Figure 2 Comparison of family income distribution in the population and in the

sample

3. Results

3.1 Energy use

Electricity is universally accessible in urban China. Apart from electricity other fuel

types including natural gas, coal gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and coal are used
in urban residences. Natural gas is used in 56% of urban households, coal gas in 19%,

and LPG in 17% of urban residential buildings. Coal is still used in some urban

households, with 4% using the cleaner honeycomb briquette, and another 4% using

low efficiency bulk coal. For cooking, piped natural gas is the main fuel type for 55%

of urban households, followed by LPG for 20% of households. In approximately 20%

of urban households, electricity has become the predominant fuel due to the

electrification process in Chinese residential areas.

Among 4,964 samples, 42% of respondents answered “I don’t know” when asked

about their cost of electricity, while 32% gave unreasonable or null answers to this

question. The lack of knowledge about electricity costs reflects the lack of public

attention to aspects of energy use. The average electricity consumption of 26% of the

respondents, who gave valid information about the cost, was 1,690 kWh·HH-1·y-1, while

the median was much lower at 1,200 kWh·HH-1·y-1 , Figure 3.

Frequency

Household electricity consumption (kWhHH-1y-1)

Figure 3 Distribution of electricity consumption (n = 1,290)

Among 2,764 respondents who use natural gas, 1,250 of them gave valid answers

on their gas consumption, with an average of 340 m3·HH-1·y-1, and a median of 200

m3·HH-1·y-1 ,Figure 4.
 Frequency

Household gas consumption (m3HH-1y-1)

Figure 4 Distribution of natural gas consumption (n = 1,250)

As for the energy cost, 83% of the respondents spent less than 10% of the annual

family income on energy. Among these households, 45% spent less than 5% of their

income and 38% spent between 6 and 10% of the income. Only 2% of all households

spent more than 40% of the annual family income on energy.

3.2 Family and building characteristics

Family size, the number of family member is a key indicators of household energy

consumption since more people normally implies more equipment usage, more

cooking and domestic hot water usage. House size and building form are significant to

building energy consumption especially in cold and warm zone, since it’s high related

with space heating and space cooling energy consumption, which is the most important

component of residential building energy consumption. Three key features of China’s

urban households were examined, family size, house size, and building form.

1) Family size

Nuclear families, which consist of two adults and their children, are the dominant

family structure in the sample, accounting for 35% of survey respondents. Extended

families, which consist of two adults living with their children and parents, account for

24% of households. Another 12% of households consist of co-tenants, a number of

adults living together in one apartment or house. In big cities like Beijing, the

percentage of co-tenants is higher than in other regions (19% in Beijing). The national

average household size in the survey sample was 3.3 persons, which is a little higher

than the statistical house size of general China urban population 2.85. This disparity is

likely due to excluding non-family households such as army barracks and college

dorms.
Other Co-tenant
9% 12%

Couple+children+parents Single
17% 9%

Couple
11%
Couple+parents
7%

Couple+children
35%

Figure 5 Family structure of Chinese urban households (n = 4,964)

2) House Size

The majority of the survey respondents resided in apartments instead of single

houses. The average floor area of urban residential housing in China is about 109 m2

and the distribution is shown in Figure 6. Around 62% urban residential households

live in apartments with floor areas between 70 to 120 m2.

700 300

600 250

500
Floor area(m2)

200
Frequencey

400
150
300
100
200

100 50

0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1

Floor area(m2) China urban household

Figure 6 Distribution of urban household floor area (n = 4,932)

Meanwhile, as economic development improved people’s living standards, the
demand for bigger apartments has increased, resulting in larger floor areas in newly

constructed residential buildings. Figure 7 shows the size distribution of the

construction of urban residential buildings by year. New residential buildings,

especially those built after 2001, are larger than the buildings built earlier. The average

size of the urban residential buildings built before 1985 is approximately 89 m2HH-1

(where HH stands for household), while the average size after 2001 is larger than 115

m2HH-1.

Floor Area (m2)

140

120 5th Percentile

100 Average

50th Percentile
80
95th Percentile
60 25th Percentile
75th Percentile
40

20

0
Before 1985 1986~1995 1996~2001 2001~2003 2004~2010 2010~2012 After 2012

Figure 7 Floor area distribution for urban residential buildings by the year of the
construction (n = 4,932)

For people who own houses smaller than 80 m2, the desired floor area was larger

than 80 m2 and for people who own houses larger than 80 m2, the preferred floor area

was typically between 80 and 150 m2HH-1 (see Figure 8). The desire for a larger house

is therefore unlikely to shift the living modes from apartments to single houses, and it

appears that most urban households prefer bigger apartments to houses.

 Expected floor area (m2 HH-1)

Real floor area (m2 HH-1)

Figure 8 Current house unit size versus desired house size (n =2,376)

3) Building Forms

In 2015, 56% of households lived in low-rise buildings with less than eight floors

(Figure 9). Over time, the proportion of newly constructed high-rise towers and plate

buildings has increased rapidly, especially in big cities after 2000.

3%

14% 14% Bungalow

Low-rise Building( ≤ 7 Floors)

13%
High-rise Tower Building ( > 7 Floors)

High-rise Plate Building ( > 7 Floors)

56%
Single/Attached House

Before 1985

1986~1995

1996~2001

2001~2003

2004~2010

2010~2012

After 2012

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

 Figure 9 Types of residential buildings by the year of construction (n = 4,964)

3.3 End users and energy behaviors

3.3.1 Space heating

According to the joint research by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and

BERC, space heating accounts for 32% of all energy use in the building sector [22].

Space heating is also the largest portion of the total energy consumption in China’s

urban residential buildings [8][23]. Climate conditions vary significantly among the

different regions of China, leading to large differences in energy use. The district

heating network in the cold and severe cold zones (DHZ) includes Beijing, Gansu,

Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shandong, Shanxi, and Tianjin.

The hot summer and cold winter zone (HSCW) includes Anhui, Chongqing, Gansu,

Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Zhejiang. Even

though winter is milder for HSCW than DHZ, space heating is still required.

Space heating device distribution varies significantly in the two zones (Figure 10).

In DHZ, more than 60% of urban residential households utilize municipal centralized

heating systems, and another 14% use a gas boiler (which is very popular in newly

constructed urban residential buildings in northern China), while only 4% of

households use other heating devices or do not have a heating device. In HSCW, only

29% of respondents indicate that they use other heating devices or do not have a

heating device, due to milder winters. Heat pumps and electric heaters were the most

common heating devices for urban households in HSCW, used by 29% and 27% of

households, respectively. The HSCW households that use centralized heating, gas

boilers, or household air-conditioners are only 10% of all respondents (Figure 9).
 DHZ

HSCW

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Centralized heating system Gas boiler
Household air-conditioner Heat pump
Eletrical heater Coal stove
No heating equipment or Other

Figure 10 Space heating device distribution (HSCW n = 2,225; DHZ n = 1,410)

Large differences in heating behavior are not caused solely by climatic differences,

but are also significantly influenced by the heating equipment and its controllability. In

DHZ, the centralized heating network keeps the heating system on for the entire

season, and there is no way of adjusting the temperature for individual residences. In

HSCW, very few households use a centralized heating network because individual

heating equipment gives them more flexibility to adjust indoor temperature; therefore,

the space heating behavior is much more diverse in this zone. Of 813 valid responses

to the heating behavior question in HSCW, 66 respondents said that they turn their

heating equipment on for the entire winter and account for only 3% of the HSCW

households, most of whom are gas boiler users. The other 747 respondents turn the

heaters off when they leave a room or home (Figure 11). Window opening behavior of

urban households in HSCW influences the energy consumption by space heating

greatly [23]. The survey results showed that 82% of urban households close windows

while the space heating system is on, indicating high-level energy saving awareness

of urban households. In this case, insulating the window panels would further reduce

energy consumption.

The respondents were asked why they changed their heating devices the last time.

“Moving to a new house” and “income increase” were the top two reasons, answered

by 38% and 25% of respondents, respectively. Moving also affects their heating system

use. Meanwhile, with income growth, there is a great potential that the heating energy
consumption increases [18].

DH zone HSCW zone

B1-Never turn on.

B2-Turn on when extremely cold, tu

B7 B1 before sleep.
B1 5%
15% B6 8%
B3-Turn on when extremely cold, tu
6% B2
B2 when leaving room.
B5 23%
6% 10%
B3 B4-Turn on when cold, turn off whe
5% leaving room.
B7
55% B4 B5-Turn on heating of single room
6% B4 occupied, turn off when leaving roo
B5 17%
B6 7% B3
B6-Turn on heating of whole apartm
6% when at home, turn off when leaving
31%
B7-Keep on all winter.

Figure 11 Space heating behaviors in the HSCW (n = 813)

Although the issue of heating in the HSCW zone is under debate due to the

possibility of extreme cold weather, many experts and media reports agree that the

residents in HSCW urgently need centralized heating systems like those in DHZ [24].

Interestingly, the current survey results disagree with the consensus, as there is only

a small difference in the satisfaction level with space heating in urban households

between HSCW and DHZ (Figure 12). Only 10–13% of urban households are

dissatisfied with their space heating, the primary reason being ineffective heating and

high costs.

8% 3% 14% 3% 7%
10%
Very unsatisfactory Very unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory
23%
HSCW zone Average
DH zone Average
31% Satisfactory Satisfactory
48%
Very satisfactory Very satisfactory
53%

Figure 12 Satisfaction with space heating (HSCW n = 2,225; DHZ n = 1,584)

3.3.2 Space cooling

Due to large variations of climatic conditions in China, the distribution of space

cooling systems also varies significantly (Figure 13). Space cooling systems are mostly

concentrated in the southeast coastal areas and in the Northwest China, there are

normally no air-conditioners.

0-20%
20%-40%
40%-60%
60%-80%
80%+

Figure 13 Saturation of space cooling devices (n=4,964)

Cooling behavior of the respondents who use split air conditioners or cooling

systems as their primary cooling device was also studied (Figure 14). About 52% of

the households turn on the cooling devices when the weather becomes extremely

warm, another 39% turn them on when a room is occupied, and 91% of the urban

households turn off the cooling systems when not necessary. Only 1% of the

households keep the cooling systems of whole household on all summer. Additionally,

91% of respondents close their windows when using the air conditioners. The

respondents were also asked about the reason for changing their cooling devices the

last time. The two main reasons were “moving to a new house” and “income increase”

by 37% and 25% of households, respectively. This implies that proper guidance to

house buyers, along with public education campaigns on energy efficiency could be

quite effective in promoting energy saving behaviors in regards to space cooling.

 B1-Never turn on.
B2-Turn on when extremely warm,
turn off before sleep.
B1 B2
B7 1% 20% B3-Turn on when extremely warm,
2% turn off when leaving room.

B6 B3 B4-Turn on when warm, turn off

6% 32% when leaving room.
B5-Turn on cooling of single room
when occupied, turn off when
B5 leaving room.
15%
B6-Turn on cooling of whole
apartment when at home, turn off
B4 when leaving home.
24%
B7-Keep on all summer.

Figure 14 Space cooling behavior of air conditioner users (n=2,900)

3.3.3 Lighting

In 2004, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)

implemented the Green Lighting Project nationwide, which promotes the use of

energy-saving light bulbs [25]. In 2011, the NDRC published China’s roadmap to ban

incandescent bulbs, with annual milestones set until 2016, when all incandescent

bulbs would become illegal to sell [26]. Owing to the successful promotion of energy-

saving bulbs, the ownership of incandescent bulbs is only 4% of urban households in

2015 based on survey result. More than 80% of urban households have already

adopted energy efficient bulbs, with the ownership of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL)

being slightly higher than that of LEDs (light emitting diodes). The survey results show

that 62% of urban residents turn off the lights when not in use and 38% turn off the

lights when they leave home (Table 3). The results suggest that substantial

improvements in energy savings could be made by changing the behavior of electricity

usage for lighting.

 Figure 15 Lighting appliance types (n = 4,964)

Table 3 Lighting behavior responses (n=4,964)

Turn on when dark Turn on when entering the room

Turn off when not in use 24% 38%

Turn off when leaving home 24% 14%

3.3.4 Domestic hot water

Electric water heaters account for 40% of domestic hot water devices, followed by

gas boilers, which include natural gas and LPG gas heaters. Due to their low cost and

excellent energy-saving performance, solar water heaters are widely used in urban

households (almost 24% of households).

 Solar Centralized system
24% 2%

Individual heater /
Gas boiler Other
27% 7%

Electrical
heater
40%

Figure 16 Types of hot water devices (n=4,964)

3.3.5 Cooking

Respondents were also asked to choose the fuel type they use most frequently

for cooking. Natural gas was the most prevalent fuel used for cooking in urban

households, with 55% of households using it as the primary fuel. Another 20% of

households used LPG (Figure 17). Around 20% of urban households use electricity as

the major cooking fuel, a much higher proportion than in 2008. Besides the use of

general cooking appliances such as electrical rice cookers and exhaust hoods, the

ownership of induction cookers, soymilk makers, and microwave ovens has exceeded

50% of households. Meanwhile, the ownership of high power kitchen appliances such

as disinfectant tanks, ovens, and dishwashers has also increased (Figure 18). This is

a new trend among urban households, who make improvements in their living

standards and quality of life.

 LPG
20%

Electricity
21%
Natural gas
55%

Coal
3%
Other
1%
Figure 17 Primary fuel types used in urban household cooking (n=4,964)

Rice Cooker
Stove Hood
Induction Cooker
Soymilk Maker/Juicer
Microwave Oven
Pressure Cooker
Cake Clang
Oven
Disinfectant Tank
Bread Machine
Dishwasher
Fryer

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 18 Ownership of electrical kitchen devices (n=4,964)

3.3.6 Appliances

The ownership of refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions has reached

almost 100%, while the ownership of computers is greater than 50% (Figure 19).

Double-door refrigerators are the most common type in Chinese urban households,

with an ownership level of 57%. Because of their higher quality and larger size, three-

door refrigerator ownership is also increasing in urban households, with the ownership

level of 24%. There are three types of washing machines, the most popular one being
vertical automatic washing machines owned by 44% of households, followed by the

front-load washing machines owned by 28%, and the semi-automatic twin-tub washing

machines owned by 23%. Some high-power front-load washing machines have a hot

water cycle and a drying function. The ownership of high-power washing machines is

around 7% and more than 50% of these households do not use the hot water or drying

functions. Less than 3% of all households own a high-powered machine and use the

hot water or drying function every washing cycle.

Refrigerator

Clothes washer

Television

Laptop

Desktop computer

Tablet computer

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 19 Ownership of home appliances (n=4,964)

3.4 Satisfaction with indoor environmental comfort

The survey results show that most urban residents are satisfied with the indoor

comfort of their houses in regards to space heating and cooling, lighting, hot water

service, and other appliances. Only 14% of respondents indicate that they are

unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the indoor comfort levels (Figure 19).
 Very satisfactory
9%
Satisfactory
40% Very unsatisfactory
4%

Unsatisfactory
10%
Average
37%

Figure 20 Overall satisfaction of urban households with their indoor environment

(n=4,964)

3.5. Energy saving policies and identification of key barriers

In 2007, the NDRC, with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

(MITC) and the Ministry of Finance, announced the People Benefit Project on Energy

Efficiency Products, which vigorously promoted energy efficient products, including air-

conditioners and refrigerators. Since 2011, the energy saving policy orientation with

regard to urban residences has shifted from energy-efficiency labeling to concern

about household energy consumption. Time-dependent electricity pricing schemes for

residential buildings were raised by the NDRC and the State Electricity Regulatory

Commission (SERC) in 2010. Power Demand-Side Management (DSM) was

implemented as a way to reduce the power load during peak hours and to encourage

power storage during low-demand hours. In 2011, the NDRC announced the multi-step

residential tariff-pricing scheme for electricity use, and this scheme was implemented

nationwide in July 2012. Several questions on public awareness and reaction to these

policies were asked in the current survey.

3.5.1 Energy conservation awareness

The levels of agreement for ways in which social norms influence energy
conservation awareness are shown in Figure 21. Most respondents agree or strongly

agree that their energy-savings awareness and energy use behavior were influenced

by all five factors: traditional energy-saving habits, educational background and work

environment, energy saving information from social networks, economic concerns, and

comparison with neighbors (in descending order).

Average 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.4

5=Strongly
Agree

4=Agree

3=Not Sure

2=Disagree

1=Strongly
Disagree

0% 20% 40% 0% 20% 40% 0% 20% 40% 0% 20% 40%0% 20% 40%
Traditional Education and Energy saving info Economic concerns Comparison of results
energy-saving habits work environment from social networks energy prices with neighbors

Figure 21 Opinions on energy conservation awareness

3.5.2 Energy efficiency labeling

About 44% of the respondents claimed that they would pay attention to energy

efficiency labeling when buying home appliances, and 20% of the respondents claim

that they would also take notice of government subsidies, showing that the promotion

of China’s energy efficiency rating and labeling policies have been successful.
 1-I know nothing about
energy efficiency labeling and
20%
government subsidies.
36%
2-I will pay attenton on
energy efficiency labeling but
I don't know about
government subsidies.

3-I will pay attention on

44%
energy efficiency labeling and
government subsidies.

Figure 22 Awareness of energy efficiency labeling (n=4,964)

High prices were found to be the key barrier to purchase of high efficiency

appliances, with 44% of respondents choosing this reason for not buying an energy

efficient product. For a high efficiency air conditioner with a marginal cost of 1,000 RMB,

the average expected electricity savings for one year is 730 RMB. Therefore, urban

households would invest in a high efficiency air conditioner only if the payback period

is less than 2 years. However, as consumer behaviors change and operation bills

increase, the payback period will be shorter and the willingness for high efficiency

equipment will be higher. Another 24% of urban residents think that energy efficient

products do not always save energy, which can happen with products whose energy

consumption is greatly influenced by the energy consuming behavior, as in the case

with air-conditioners. Electricity pricing and life cycle of the products would also

influence customers’ choice on high efficiency products (Figure 23).

 1-High price of high efficiency products
11%
6% 2-Energy efficiency products do not always
save energy.
9% 3-Not cost effective because low ele price.
44%
4-I don't use it too often.
6%
5-Lifecycle of products is too short, I don't
need high efficient product.
24% 6-Other

Figure 23 Key barriers to purchasing energy efficient appliances (n = 4,964)

3.5.3 Electricity pricing scheme

A multi-step electricity pricing scheme was put forward by the NRDC in 2011, and

implemented nationwide from July 1st, 2012 [27]. This pricing scheme was further

improved in 2013 [28]. Multi-step electricity pricing consists of two thresholds.

Households that consume below the lowest threshold are charged a given price per

unit. Households that consume electricity above the low threshold, but below the high

threshold, are charged a higher price per unit. Households that consume electricity

above the high threshold are charged the highest price per unit.

When asked about multi-step electricity pricing, 61% of respondents indicated that

they did not know about the multi-step electricity-pricing scheme, or they did not know

whether the scheme has been implemented, even though the scheme has been in use

nationwide since 2013. About 29% of respondents indicated that their bill did not

change after the implementation, and only 10% indicated that their bill increased

(Figure 23).

Most respondents (78%) indicated that their energy consumption and lifestyle

were not influenced by economic incentives. This result shows that about 20% of

household electricity bills increased, as the NDRC expected. The multi-step electricity-

pricing scheme should be further promoted to raise public awareness so that this
economic incentive can play a significant role in energy savings by urban households

(Figure 23).

About 1,070 respondents, who were influenced by the pricing scheme, indicated

that they would change their lifestyle and behavior to save electricity. The top three

priorities for this group were to ‘Use energy saving bulbs’ with 55%, ‘Switch to

appliances with smaller capacity’ with 54%, and ‘Turn off lights when leaving’ with 47%.

This again shows that the promotion of energy-saving bulbs has raised public

awareness of energy efficient options and there is a great potential for further energy

savings if promotion and education efforts were continued by the government.

Electricity saving behaviors that people are most likely to implement include ‘Avoid

appliances with higher capacity and no necessity’ (45% of respondents), ‘Adopt energy

efficient products’ (38% of respondents), and ‘Change behavior in regards to space

cooling (increase temperature or use fewer hours)’ (34% of respondents). However,

the electricity-pricing scheme is unlikely to change the urban residential lifestyles and

behaviors in regards to showering, cooking, and clothes washing, since less than 15%

of respondents selected these options.

1-Implemented, my elec bill growed.

10%

36%
2-Implemented, my elec bill did not
29% grow.

3-Not implemented.

25%
4-I know nothing about it.

Figure 24 Residents’ attitude to multi-step electricity pricing scheme (n=4,964)

After the full implementation of multi-step electricity pricing scheme, the NRDC

made further efforts to propose time-dependent electricity price, in order to encourage

the demand-side management. This policy requires local governments to make the
schemes available for time-dependent electricity pricing, which households can

choose to implement. In the current survey, 42% of respondents claim that the time-

dependent electricity-pricing scheme has been implemented in their house, and 16%

were encouraged to use electricity more during low-demand hours, while 58% of

respondents did not know about this scheme or had not implemented it yet (Figure 24).

1-Implemented but my life schedule is

not influenced.
30% 26%
2-Implemented and I am encoraged to
use electricity in valley hours.

3-Not implemented.
16%

28%
4-I know nothing about it.

Figure 25 Respondent attitudes to time-dependent electricity pricing scheme (n =

4,964)

4. Discussion

4.1 Comparison with previous survey results

The Building Energy Research Center of Tsinghua University conducted another

national survey on urban residential energy consumption in 2008 in seven cities,

Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Yinchuan, Wuhan, Wenzhou, and Suzhou [29]. The

survey methodology was similar to that adopted in the current survey so that the results

can be compared to study the changes in urban households in recent years.

The most obvious change is that people live in larger houses in 2015, with the

average floor area was around 100 m2 while most households lived in units of 60-80

m2 in size in 2008. Larger homes led to higher energy consumption per household,

even though the energy usage per floor area remained almost the same. The primary

energy consumption in most cities in 2008 was around 10 kgce·m-2, and 600–800

kgce·HH-1, while the average primary consumption in 2015 was 9.2 kgce·m-2 and 1,004
kgce·HH-1. The household electricity consumption increased slightly, from an average

of 1,270 kWh·HH-1 in 2008 [30] to an average of 1,690 kWh·HH-1 in 2015. The average

electricity consumption per household in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and

in southern cities such as Wuhan, was 1,500-1,800 kWh·HH-1 in 2008, while in

northern cities like Shenyang and Yinchuan was less than 1,000 kWh·HH-1 [30].

The reasons for the increase in the observed electricity consumption include: 1)

Larger houses consume more electricity for space heating, cooling, and lighting. Even

though most of the households maintain similar space heating and cooling behaviors,

the larger floor area requires increased capacity and energy. 2) Recent extreme

weather in southern China has accelerated the adoption of electrical heating

equipment such as heat pumps and electric heaters. 3) The number and capacity of

electronics has increased, especially of common appliances. The ownership of larger

refrigerators and washing machines with hot water and drying functions was much

higher in 2015 than in 2008. 4) The popularization of various cooking electronics such

as induction cookers, soymilk makers, cake clangs, and ovens has led to increased

electricity consumption. 5) Domestic hot water demand has grown, with the ownership

reaching more than 95%. Additionally, more households use hot water for daily

washing, and some began to use hot water for cooking and for washing clothes.

4.2 Comparison with other countries

Although the size and energy consumption of urban households in China have

increased in recent years, the electricity use is still lower than the average value of

developed countries. Figure 26 lists the average household floor area for China and

other developed and developing countries (data from the IEA) [31]. The average size

of the surveyed Chinese residences was around 109 m2, although it should be noted

that this number does not include non-family households, and is therefore greater than

the national average household floor area, which is around 82 m2·HH-1. China’s urban

residential floor area is lower than in Canada and the U.S., but exceeds the world

average of 84 m2·HH-1. China also has the largest household floor area among Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). Even though some single houses and

large-size apartments exist in big cities, apartments with a floor area of 100-120 m2

and two to three bedrooms are still very common in urban China. China’s urban

residential building size will continue to increase as urbanization continues, but the

building typology is less likely to change, and the average household size is likely to

stay at the current level.

250
204
200
m2

150 134
109
93 93
100 84 84 82
66
51 51
50

0
China World Canada US France Korea Japan Russia South India Brazil
urban Africa

Figure 26 International comparison of household floor area

The energy consumption per household and per floor area was widely used as

the main indicator of evaluating a residential building’s consumption level. The

electricity generation coefficient differs greatly between countries; however, for an

international comparison a final energy consumption method was adopted. Figure 27

shows the final energy consumption per household and Figure 28 shows the final

energy consumption per square meter. China is around the same level as the other

BRICS countries, and at a much lower level than the OECD countries as well as the

world average, both in per household and per square meter indicators.

The large gap of residential building energy consumption gap between China and

developed OECD countries was observed in other survey and international

comparison[15][32].The major causes of these dramatic differences include: a) The

smaller house size in BRICS leads to lower energy use, as discussed previously. b)

The differences in energy consuming behavior between BRICS and OECD also affect

total usage. Take space heating and cooling usage as an example: The most common

usage mode in China is part time for partial space, while in the US, the most common

usage mode is to keep the systems always on. c) BRICS have fewer appliances with
smaller capacities compared to households in developed countries. d) Lower domestic

hot water usage and higher numbers of solar water heaters in China prevent standby

energy wasting. Energy consumption from domestic hot water use in urban China is

much lower than in the U.S., Japan, and other OECD countries [8][15][33].

30000
26,630 26,054
25000
kWh/household

19,501
20000 18,201
15,385 14,803
15000 12,291 11,327
10000 7,487
5,365 4,787
5000

0
China World Canada US France Korea Japan Russia South India Brazil
urban Africa

Figure 27 International comparison of final energy consumption per household

Note: China urban excludes northern urban heating energy use.

500

384
400
kWh/m2

300
198 196 183
200 181
146 147
128 121
100 72
49

0
China World Canada US France Korea Japan Russia South India Brazil
urban Africa

Figure 28 International comparison of final energy consumption per floor area

Note: China urban excludes northern urban heating energy use.
This result also shows that the path for residential building energy conservation in

developing countries is different from that in developed countries. The overriding focus

of building energy conservation in developed countries is the envelope performance

and efficiency improvement, with the recent trends in passive energy houses and zero-

energy buildings. Nevertheless, the conclusions from above point out that reasonable
unit size and the traditional energy-saving lifestyle of urban households result in low

energy consumption compared with developed countries. Therefore, maintaining the

current living styles and energy consuming habits should be the policy and technology

priority in China. For example, the predominant space heating and cooling behavior in

urban households of ‘turning it on when needed and turning it off when leaving or

sleeping’, as opposed to ‘leaving on permanently’ should be adopted by all households.

Natural ventilation is also regarded as a more comfortable method to adjust indoor

temperatures in China. Therefore, all-sealed residential buildings with central HVAC

systems should not be encouraged and treated as a symbol of ‘green life style’ or ‘high-

quality life.’ Rather, the ability to open windows and switch indoor environment control

systems should be emphasized. Residents who live in a high-grade residential building

in Nanjing complained about not being allowed to open windows or to control the indoor

temperature freely, all because the building had adopted an HVAC system that is

centrally managed. Despite many complaints about the comfort level, the electricity

consumption for cooling is as high as 20 kWh·m-2, while the average cooling

consumption in same city is only 4-5 kWh·m-2 [34][35].

4.3 Key characteristics of urban residential building energy use

In comparison with the results of the previous survey and the results from the

developed countries, the key characteristics of the urban residential building energy

use in China include: (1) Steady growth in size and energy consumption of the

buildings is associated with rapid urbanization. There is no dramatic change on the

building envelope system and energy efficiency in urban households has been

improving by effective government policies. (2) Despite apartments are the

predominant living modes in Chinese urban centers, individual heating, cooling and

ventilation (HVAC) system is very common in urban residential buildings, with much

lower energy consumption rates per household compared with centralized space

heating or cooling systems [35]. Except for the centralized heating network in northern

Chinese cities, the split air conditioner is the most popular appliance providing heating
and cooling in urban households. The share of the whole-household system such as

the gas boiler systems or household ACs is still very low (less than 6%). (3) Larger

diversity in occupant behavior is the main cause of the differences in energy

consumption among households. The diversity in the behaviors is partly caused by

different technologies and systems, and partly by life style and traditional culture. For

example, due to different heating systems, there is a significant difference between

space heating behaviors in northern urban China and in HSCW. On the other hand, in

same residential buildings, households with split air conditioners operate the AC

differently, leading to a space cooling consumption of 0-14 kWh/m2 [15].

4.4 Residential building energy conservation for China

With China’s rapid urbanization rate and economic development, the urban

houses are becoming larger and medium and high occupancy apartment buildings are

the current major housing model. The demand for more electronics and improved

indoor comfort drives the energy consumption higher, while the traditional ways of

using natural options is still dominant. In other words, manually-controlled appliance

use is still common as opposed to auto-regulated appliances. Therefore, sustaining

this tradition and culture, insulating the households from western consumption patterns,

developing adaptive technologies, and implementing appropriate policies should be

the priorities for urban residential building energy conservation.

Electrification of cooking increased energy efficiency in the kitchen due to the

higher efficiency of electronics compared to the gas equipment. Due to the success of

the high efficiency light bulb promotion and energy labeling programs, the efficiency of

home products has already reached a satisfactory level in urban China. Advancements

in solar water heaters have also been highly successful, with China being the leader

in the world. However, the energy consumption demand for space heating and cooling

has increased rapidly in recent years, especially in HSCW. Consequently, building

performance improvements will play a key role in the energy conservation efforts of
space heating and cooling. As new technology and equipment arrive, their suitability

should be carefully evaluated by the ability of the users to adjust. Hermetically sealed

houses would not be a good fit in the HSCW zone, and centralized HVAC systems may

lead to household complaints and diminution of psychological comfort. Policy

instruments need to focus on the outcomes of the energy-saving measures. Multi-step

and time-dependent electricity pricing schemes take advantage of the economic levers

to encourage the purchase of high efficiency appliances, and to save energy during

use. Nevertheless, these policies are still in the start-up stages and supporting

instruments and campaigns are needed to raise the public awareness to energy

savings.

4.5 Limitation of this study

Although there is much remains to be done, our work generates important findings in

the field of energy consumption and energy usage behavior of households and

residential building in urban China. In other words, through this national survey, we

could better understand the full picture of China urban households’ energy

consumption characteristics, and energy consuming behavior pattern was in detailed

surveyed by end-users and analyzed. Although the present study has yielded some

preliminary findings, its design is not flawless. A number of caveats need to be noted

regarding the present study.

The main limitations are expressed as follows: the first limitation concerns the total

amount of China urban residential building energy consumption and intensity

distribution. This requires a bottom-up statistical model, to adopt the surveyed result

of this study and calibrate with national energy balance sheet. Secondly, the

quantitative relationship between energy usage behavior pattern and energy

consumption in urban residential buildings was not discussed in detail. Two

methodology could be considered to solve the second limitation, the first is statistically

analysis such as correlation analysis or regression analysis could be employed in this

data; and the second is using monitored family case and simulation tools to dig the
correspondence between behaviors and energy consumption. However, due to

reasons of space, these two limitation could be not solved in one paper, further study

on the survey result would target on these directions to study in a deep going way.

5. Conclusion and policy suggestion

The current study conducted an online survey with 4,964 valid samples in order

to provide nationwide data on family composition, residential building types, household

energy use and behaviors, indoor comfort, energy saving awareness, and policy

reactions. The analysis results reveal developing trends in urban residential housing

and energy use.

1) With rapid urbanization, the urban families became smaller, with an average

family size of 2.85 in 2015. The unit size of urban residential buildings increased

from 60-80 m2·HH-1 in 2008 to 100-110 m2·HH-1 in 2015. More than half of newly

constructed buildings are taller than 7 floors, compared to only 5% before 1985.

Total energy consumption by urban households in 2015 was 1,690 kWh·HH-1 of

electricity on average, and the mean gas consumption was 340 m3·HH-1.

Compared with the survey results from 2008, the primary energy intensity per

square meter remained relatively unchanged at 9.2 kgce·m-2, and per household

energy consumption increased to 1,004 kgce·HH-1 due to increased unit sizes.

2) Although higher living standards lead to higher energy demand,

improvements in energy efficiency especially of lighting and appliances reduced

energy consumption significantly. Space heating and cooling is the largest energy

consuming activities in China’s urban households and the demand for these

activities has been growing in recent years. Since the widespread use of the HVAC

systems is still not very common, large diversity of operating behaviors causes

differences in the energy consumption of urban households.

3) Compared with the developed countries such as the United States and Japan,

energy consumption in China’s urban residential buildings is much lower, mainly

because of the smaller family size, traditional life style, and energy consumption
 behavior.

4) Existing energy-saving policy tools for urban residential buildings had positive

effects on raising awareness of energy saving behaviors. Outcome-based policies

should be encouraged and technology systems that are suitable for current

predominant behaviors should be chosen. Indoor environment comfort using

natural means should also be carefully studied and promoted.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51222814

and No. 51521005).

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