1

Green retrofit of existing residential buildings in China: An inves-

tigation on residents’ perceptions
Energy & Environment

Lai et al.

Yupei Lai1 Yutong Li1 Xinyi Feng2 Tao Ma2

1. Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China
2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

Yutong Li, Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518049, China. Email: liyutong_ibrcn@126.com

ABSTRACT
Green retrofit of existing residential buildings is a sustainable way to improve the energy efficiency. However, such implementa-
tion faces some challenges due to the different willingness of residents involved. There is a lack of comparative study on resi-
dents’ preceptions of green retrofit in China, which is of great concern to the government. Therefore, this study investigates resi-
dents’ housing conditions and their perceptions of a green retrofit, based on the feedbacks from 9936 questionnaires which are
collected from urban and rural residents throughout China. The Chi-squared test is employed to identify the key influencing fac-
tors, including demographic and housing characteristics. The results show that more than 90% of the respondents are willing to
adopt retrofit, and installing a zoned temperature control system of individual rooms is a generally acceptable measure. The
retrofit subsidy is a topic of high concern, and the respondents are more likely to undertake unified free retrofit, compared with
separate retrofit supported by a partial subsidy. Besides, household income, city of residence, housing type and housing prob-
lems will cause significant differences in residents’ perceptions. After evaluating the retrofit potential of different resident groups,
some suggestions are proposed for policymakers. The findings from this study can help develop differentiated strategies for resi-
dents, to promote green retrofit of existing residential buildings in China.

Keywords: Green retrofit , residential building , residents , perceptions , China

Introduction
Over the past decades, sustainable development has been severely challenged by the global issues of climate change
and energy shortage.1,2 The building and construction sector, which is one of the major contributors to the issues, is
responsible for about 30% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and over 30% of primary energy con‐
sumption worldwide.3–5 Since 2010, CO2 emissions related to buildings have been found to increase by nearly 1%
every year.6,7 Therefore, improving building energy efficiency has become a worldwide concern in recent years.8,9
Compared with new constructions, the existing buildings with high energy consumption account for the majority
of the building and construction sector.10–12 In China, rapid urbanization has placed enormous pressure on energy,
resources and the environment.13 The existing construction area has grown to 60.1 billion square meters by 2018, of
which residential buildings accounted for 78.7% with huge energy-saving potential.14 Many residential buildings
built decades ago in China failed to consider the energy-saving issues, and had defects in heat insulation and other
aspects. Thus, green retrofit of existing residential buildings is a sustainable way to improve the energy efficiency, in
addition to the construction of new green buildings.15–17
As more and more attention has been paid to green retrofit, China has put forward energy-saving standards for
new buildings, and simultaneously promotes green retrofit of existing buildings. The retrofit tasks have been decom‐
posed step by step into the assessment requirements of the governments at all levels. During the 11th Five-Year Plan
period, the green retrofit of residential buildings was first carried out in Northern China. It can refer to the upgrading

© Copyrights 2020
of heating-ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, water heating and other systems to improve the energy perform‐
ance of residences. 18,19 The Chinese government has also instituted a series of related policies in terms of regulation,
evaluation and especially financial support. The documents such as the Assessment Standard for Green Retrofitting
of Existing Building, and the Building Energy Conservation and Green Building Development 13th Five-Year Plan
have been put into action successively.20–22 In 2020, China plans to retrofit 39,000 old residential communities
across the country.
However, compared with the smooth progress of the green retrofit of public buildings, the retrofit of existing resi‐
dential buildings in China is facing certain difficulties due to the involvement of different stakeholders. Residents, as
one of the important participants, their perceptions of green retrofit vary with personal characteristics, and will great‐
ly affect the effectiveness of retrofit strategies.23–25
In many other countries, researchers have taken note of this issue, and conducted investigations to advise on the
development of appropriate and acceptable policies. Hwang et al.26 conducted a survey on residents from a mature
public residential estate in Singapore, which had just completed a green retrofit pilot program. It investigated resi‐
dents’ perceptions of the program and their willingness to extend green retrofit to individual houses which can help
improve upon the current retrofit program. In England, to design targeted interventions of green retrofit to specific
households groups, Trotta27 empirically investigated the drivers for retrofit decisions. The study focused on the
dwelling-related characteristics, which seem to have higher influence on retrofit investment than socio-demographic
characteristics. Another research28 from Slovenia examined the determinants for homeowners to undertake green ret‐
rofit of single-family houses. It emphasized the role of various sources of energy information and advice received
from professional consultants, friends and relatives, the Internet, etc., calling for information popularization to pro‐
mote retrofit. Similarly, Abreu et al.29 explored the influence of homeowners’ age on the motivation for green retrofit
in Portugal. It indicated that the younger ones were generally more environmentally conscious and preferred little-by-
little retrofit, while the older appreciated integral retrofit. For a more comprehensive analysis, a research30 in north‐
ern Sweden identified homeowners’ intention to undertake green retrofit, derived from their views on the benefits and
barriers of retrofit. Improving the indoor environment that promotes health and comfort was found to be an important
driver, while the difficulty of finding low-interest loan and reliable information sources widely hindered the imple‐
mentment of retrofit. Additionally, Broers et al.31 introduced a comprehensive model for homeowners’ decision-mak‐
ing process concerning green retrofit, which distinguishes the various stages of the process, multiple influencing fac‐
tors, and homeowners’ considerations.
In China, some similar studies have also proved the effects of residents’ attributes on the promotion of energy
strategies. Xu and Ge23 evaluated the sustainability of the coal-to-gas policy in Northern China based on residents’
satisfaction. Residents had the highest satisfaction with the heating level and the lowest with the subsidy amount. Jia
et al.32 surveyed residents’ attitude towards six energy-saving measures in Beijing. It showed that financial incentives
and a sense of energy conservation are the key factors driving the public to adopt the measures. Sepcifically, in terms
of green retrofit, Liu et al.33 analyzed three cases of retrofitting old residential buildings in China. It was found that
retrofit programs should not only involve the residents, but also consider their preferences, motives, knowledge and
living habits. Otherwise, it might cause residents’ dissatisfaction, technology abuse, equipment destruction, and
weakening support for future programs. This conclusion was further confirmed in the research,4 which providing a
critical review of existing retrofit policies and barriers in China. However, these studies fail to explain which charac‐
teristics affect residents’ intentions to undertake green retrofit in China, and how they do so.
Unlike the situation in other countries, there are great differences in topographical conditions, climatic conditions,
current housing conditions, and residents’ living habits among various regions of China. The government also em‐
phasizes that during the promotion of green retrofit, it is necessary to investigate residents’ willingness and require‐
ments, and obtain their understanding and cooperation. It can be seen that how to fully consider the local differences,
to combine the needs and wishes of residents, and to make targeted strategies for green retrofit of existing residential
buildings is the focus of China’s building energy-saving work at this stage. Nevertheless, the residents’ perceptions of
green retrofit have not been fully examined and discussed in China. It is necessary to carry out a comparative study

© Copyrights 2020
on the retrofit willingness of Chinese residents from a national level, to distinguish the requirements of different resi‐
dent groups and provide reference for the formulation of targeted policies.
Targeting the urban and rural residents throughout China, this study conducts a questionnaire survey on their hous‐
ing conditions and perceptions of a green retrofit based on China’s unique national conditions. The Chi-squared test
of independence is employed to identify the key influencing variables, including residents’ demographic and housing
characteristics. After evaluating the retrofit potential of different resident groups, some suggestions are proposed for
policymakers, to help them formulate differentiated strategies and promote green retrofit of existing residential build‐
ings in China.
The remaining part of this paper is organized as follows: “Methods” section introduces the research framework, as
well as the methods of data collection and statistical analysis. “Results and section” section investigates the main in‐
fluencing factors, and discusses their effects on residents’ perceptions of a green retrofit. Based on the evaluation,
“Policy recommendations and perspectives” section raises some recommendations for the development of relevant
policies. Finally, the conclusions of the whole study are given in the final section.

Methods
Figure 1 illustrates the analytical framework employed in this study, which is conducted according to the data
from an online questionnaire survey. Based on the questionnaire, the residents’ demographic characteristics (house‐
hold income) and housing factors (city of residence, housing type and housing problems) are taken as independent
variables, and their perceptions of a green retrofit (willingness, acceptable measures and expected supporting poli‐
cies) as dependent variables. Considering that most research parameters are qualitative discrete variables, the statisti‐
cal methods of t-test and F-test are not applicable, therefore the Chi-squared test is employed to identify the key influ‐
encing factors. After analyzing their impacts and assessing the retrofit potential of different resident groups, some
suggestions are then proposed to help develop appropriate strategies for green retrofit of existing residential buildings
in China.
Figure 1. Analytical framework.

Design of questionnaire
The questionnaire for this study is divided into three sections, as shown in Figure 2. The first section covers the
demographic and housing characteristics of respondents, including their age, education, occupation, annual household
income, city of residence, and housing type.
Figure 2. Questionnaire outline.

© Copyrights 2020
 In the second section, the current housing conditions of respondents are investigated, including household energy
sources and housing problems. The energy sources consist of electricity, pipeline natural gas, coal, straw (firewood),
solar energy, etc. The housing problems are mainly concerned with issues that affect energy consumption, such as
poor heat insulation and poor lighting.
The third section asks the respondents’ perceptions of a green retrofit, including their acceptable retrofit measures
and expected supporting policies. Installing a zoned temperature control system of individual rooms, replacing door
and window materials, and retrofitting roof and walls are common measures taken during the retrofit. The policies
involve different retrofit methods, financial subsidies, additional retrofit of free housing area, technical guidance and
after-sales services, etc.

Data collection
Regarding the urban and rural residents across China as the research target, a total of 12,803 samples have been
collected from the questionnaires distributed online in 2019. To ensure the validity of the feedback results, question‐
naires with too short filling time and inconsistent personal information are excluded. Finally, 9936 samples are selec‐
ted with an effective response rate of 77.6%.
The respondents are distributed in a wide geographical area of China with diverse climate, which are generally
divided into five thermal climate zones according to the Code for Thermal Design of Civil Building (GB 50176–
2016).34,35 They are namely the severe cold zone (SCZ), cold zone (CZ), hot summer and cold winter zone
(HSCWZ), hot summer and warm winter zone (HSWWZ) and mild zone (MZ), as depicted in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Geographical map of thermal climate zones in China35.

© Copyrights 2020
 The random distribution of samples among thermal climate zones is listed in Table 1, and Table 2 further presents
the demographic and housing information of respondents from different zones. As samples from the MZ accounts for
only 1% of the total, they are ignored during the comparative analysis of thermal climate zones in this study. It can be
found that the majority of respondents are young people with an intermediate level of education, who may act as
decision-makers in their family during the retrofit. About 70% of the respondents have their annual household in‐
come ranging from 30,000 to 3,00,000 Chinese Yuan (CNY). Most of the respondents live in multi-family residential
buildings.

Table 1. Distribution of samples among thermal climate zones.

Thermal climate zone Representative cities Frequency Percentage

SCZ Shenyang, Harbin, Hohhot, etc. 876 9
CZ Beijing, Tianjin, Taiyuan, etc. 3603 36
HSCWZ Shanghai, Chongqing, Wuhan, etc. 1918 19
HSWWZ Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, etc. 3485 35
MZ Kunming, Guiyang, etc. 54 1

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of samples from different thermal climate zones.

Independent variables Thermal climate zones Total (%)

SCZ (%) CZ (%) HSCWZ (%) HSWWZ (%) MZ (%)
Age
 <18 4.0 5.2 10.4 17.4 22.2 10.5
 18–40 75.0 80.8 76.6 79.0 66.7 78.8
 41–65 20.2 13.5 12.8 3.3 9.3 10.3
 >65 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.2 1.9 0.4
Education
 Junior high school and below 13.6 7.5 7.6 8.5 14.8 8.4

© Copyrights 2020
Independent variables Thermal climate zones Total (%)
SCZ (%) CZ (%) HSCWZ (%) HSWWZ (%) MZ (%)
 Senior high school or  vocational school 51.0 58.3 61.2 54.5 29.6 56.8
 University or college 30.0 25.8 24.9 29.4 46.3 27.3
 Graduate and above 5.4 8.4 6.4 7.6 9.3 7.5
Annual household income
 <30,000 CNY 17.8 11.7 9.9 15.3 22.2 13.2
 30,000–100,000 CNY 43.7 37.1 32.0 31.0 33.3 34.5
 100,000–300,000 CNY 26.3 35.5 39.8 31.9 31.5 34.2
 300,000–1,000,000 CNY 5.1 10.4 10.5 11.7 3.7 10.4
 >10,00,000 CNY 0.2 1.3 1.0 1.4 0 1.2
 Unclear 6.8 3.9 6.8 8.7 9.3 6.4
Housing type
 Farmhouse 10.3 8.9 6.7 5.5 14.8 7.4
 Low-rise residence (1–3 floors) 19.7 19.3 21.8 26.7 31.5 22.5
 Multi-storey residence  (4–6 floors) 45.4 40.4 37.5 34.0 24.1 37.9
 Medium/high-rise residence  (>6 floors) 21.5 26.1 28.7 25.2 18.5 25.8
 Apartment 1.8 2.9 2.6 5.1 7.4 3.5
 Detached villa 0.1 2.0 2.0 2.8 3.7 2.1

Statistical analysis
Cross analysis
Cross analysis is usually used to analyze the relationship between two or more grouped variables. In this paper, it
is employed to calculate the sample frequency when evaluating the housing conditions of different resident groups
and their perceptions of green retrofit. It is assumed that the variable X is classified into X1, X2, …, Xm, and Y is
classified into Y1, Y2, …, Yn. Therefore, the probability of samples choosing Yj (j = 1,2,…,n) in the Xi (i = 1,2,…,m)
group can be calculated by equation (1)

aij (1)
P Xi, Yj =
ai

where aij is the frequency of samples choosing Yj in the Xi group and ai is the frequency of samples choosing Xi.
Both variables can be multiple choices in the questionnaire survey.
Chi-squared test
The Chi-squared test of independence is a hypothesis test which assesses the independence between qualitative
variables.36–38 Specifically, it measures the difference between the actual counts and the expected counts, based on
counts that represent the number of items in the sample for each category. In this research, the Chi-squared test is
employed to evaluate the influence of residents’ demographic and housing characteristics on their perceptions of
green retrofit.
Based on the analysis in “Cross analysis” section, the test of null hypothesis H0 is developed that the variables X
and Y of random samples are independent. The test compares the observed frequencies of data with expected frequen‐
cies, determining whether the deviation is large enough to reject the null hypothesis. The chi-squared statistic χ2 is
defined as the sum of the squared difference between observed and expected frequencies divided by the expected
frequencies, as expressed in equation (2). Thus, the larger the value of χ2, the greater the difference between the ob‐
served frequencies and expected frequencies. Besides, the degrees of freedom υ can be calculated by equation (3)

© Copyrights 2020
 2
aij − aiP Yj aj (2)
χ2 = ∑∑ aiP Yj
, P Yj =
a
i j

υ = m − 1 n − 1 (3)

where P(Yj) is the probability of samples choosing Yj, aj is the frequency of samples choosing Xi, a is the frequen‐
cy of total samples. The test of the hypothesis can be performed by determining the p value, which is given by equa‐
tion (4)39

p = P χυ2 ≥ χ2 (4)

where χυ2 is a chi-squared random variable with υ degrees of freedom. The p values can be queried based on the
calculated χ2 and υ. When p ≥ 0.05, the null hypothesis is accepted, indicating that the variable X has no significant
difference in the probability of Y. While when 0.01 < p < 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected, suggesting that the vari‐
able X has a significant difference in the probability of Y. When p ≤ 0.01, the null hypothesis is rejected, meaning that
the variable X has a very significant difference in the probability of Y.

Results and discussions

Statistical analysis results
The p values of the statistical test results are listed in Table 3. According to the theory in “Chi-squared test” sec‐
tion, when p ≤ 0.01, the independent variable has a very significant effect on the dependent one. The effect is slightly
weaker, but still significant when 0.01 < p < 0.05. While when p ≥ 0.05, it means that there is no significant effect
between independent and dependent variables. It can be seen that both thermal climate zone and housing type have
great impacts on residents’ household energy sources. Housing type is the primary influencing factor affecting resi‐
dents’ housing problems.

Table 3. p values of the statistical test for different variables (**p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05).

Dependent variables Independent variables

Thermal climate zones Housing types Household income
Household energy sources
 Straw (firewood) 0.009** 0.000** 0.000**
 Coal 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Electricity 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Pipeline natural gas 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Liquefied petroleum gas 0.000** 0.000** 0.077
 Solar energy 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 District heating 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 District cooling 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
Housing problems
 Poor heat insulation in summer 0.066 0.000** 0.000**
 Poor heat insulation in winter 0.000** 0.000** 0.433
 Air leakage 0.000** 0.000** 0.568
 Poor lighting 0.035* 0.039* 0.004**
 Loud noise 0.051 0.000** 0.115

© Copyrights 2020
Dependent variables Independent variables
Thermal climate zones Housing types Household income
 Safety risks 0.268 0.000** 0.000**
 Other problems 0.581 0.000** 0.000**
 No problem 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Willingness to adopt retrofit 0.000** 0.010* 0.000**
Acceptable retrofit measures
 Retrofitting roof 0.011* 0.000** 0.085
 Retrofitting walls 0.096 0.144 0.019*
 Replacing door and window materials 0.000** 0.239 0.147
 Installing a individual room temperature control system 0.258 0.002** 0.000**
 Installing insulation curtains 0.194 0.578 0.009**
 Installing a photovoltaic system 0.010** 0.051 0.000**
 Installing a solar water heating system 0.000** 0.009** 0.984
 Other measures 0.017* 0.101 0.006**
Expected supporting polices
 Providing free unified retrofit 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Subsidizing separate retrofit 0.033* 0.000** 0.000**
 Installing a photovoltaic system for household use 0.327 0.000** 0.000**
 Installing a photovoltaic system for electricity sales 0.000** 0.000** 0.000**
 Offering additional retrofit of free housing area 0.425 0.000** 0.000**
 Supplying technical guidance and after-sales services 0.085 0.000** 0.000**

In terms of residents’ willingness to adopt green retrofit, the difference brought from thermal climate zone and
household income is larger than that caused by housing type. As for the acceptable retrofit measures, all the charac‐
teristics will not lead to significant differences, while they only affect some of the measures. Furthermore, the expec‐
ted supporting policies are greatly influenced by residents’ housing type and household income. This study will main‐
ly discuss the effects of factors at the 0.01 level of significance.

Residents’ housing conditions

Household energy sources
The results show that electricity, pipeline natural gas and solar energy are the most commonly used energy sources
in China’s residential buildings at present, with the usage exceeding 80%, 60% and 40% respectively. It can be seen
that China has made certain progress in promoting electrification and utilization of solar energy.
The household energy sources are mainly affected by the thermal climate zones where residents live and their
housing types, as shown in Figure 4. Considering the influence of thermal climate zones, 69.3% of the respondents in
the CZ always use natural gas, which is higher than the average. It reflects the achievements of pollution control and
coal-to-gas conversion in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding cities. In the SCZ and HSWWZ, the us‐
age of natural gas is obviously lower than that in other zones, while the usage of liquefied petroleum gas is higher. It
may result from the mountainous terrain, which hinders the laying of natural gas pipelines. Furthermore, due to the
lack of available resources, the usage of solar energy in the SCZ (32.9%) is the lowest among all climate zones.
Figure 4. Usage of household energy sources among residents (p < 0.01): (a) in different thermal climate zones; (b) in different
types of houses.

© Copyrights 2020
 As for the influence of housing types, only 20% of the respondents living in farmhouses usually use natural gas,
which is far below the average, while straw (firewood) and coal are more common. This is because using the straw
(firewood) and coal is more convenient and less costly for rural residents. Another problem is that the scattered loca‐
tions of farmhouses make it difficult to install natural gas pipelines. Besides, 65.7% of the respondents living in de‐
tached villas use solar energy for water heating or power generation, which is significantly higher than the average. It
reveals the advantages of developing solar energy and other renewable energy sources in detached villas.
Housing problems
Poor heat insulation is the primary issue of current residential buildings in China. According to the survey, 43.2%
and 42.2% of the respondents are troubled by this problem in summer and winter, respectively.
There are differences in housing problems among residents living in different types of houses, as presented in
Figure 5(a). The problems of poor heat insulation and air leakage are more serious in farmhouses, which indicates
that there is great potential for green retrofit in such types of houses. Additionally, respondents living in apartments
and low-rise residences often suffer from poor lighting. More attention should be drawn to improve natural light.
From all aspects, those living in detached villas have the least housing problems, among which 39.8% chose “no
problem” in the questionnaire.
Figure 5. Proportion of housing problems among residents (**p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05): (a) in different types of houses; (b) in differ‐
ent thermal climate zones; (c) with different annual household income.

© Copyrights 2020
 Figure 5(b) exhibits the main impacts of thermal climate zones on residents’ housing problems. The troubles of air
leakage are apparently more common in the SCZ and CZ, and respondents in the CZ are worried about the problems
of poor heat insulation in winter as well. It can be found that the proportions of residences without problems in the
HSWWZ and HSCWZ are much higher than those in other zones. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5(c), the propor‐
tion of respondents without housing problems increases when the household income rises. Among the existing prob‐
lems, they have less trouble with heat insulation, while concern more about lighting issues with the growth of in‐
come.

Residents’ perceptions of green retrofit

Willingness to adopt green retrofit
The majority of residents are willing to undertake green retrofit of their residences, as listed in Table 4. Since there
are more housing problems in the SCZ and CZ mentioned in “Housing problems” section, respondents in these zones
are more likely to adopt green retrofit. It can be seen that housing problems have an important influence on residents’
intentions. Figure 6 indicates that respondents with potential safety risks in their houses have the highest willingness
to adopt green retrofit, reaching 96.9%, followed by those with housing problems of poor heat insulation in winter
and air leakage. Although only 18.1% of the residences have safety risks, this issue is one of the decisive factors in
retrofit implementation. Moreover, respondents whose annual household income is less than 30,000 CNY have the
lowest willingness (89.6%) to retrofit their houses.

Table 4. Willingness of residents with different characteristics to retrofit (**p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05).

© Copyrights 2020
Independent variables Willing‐ Reasons why residents are unwilling to retrofit
ness (%) No retrofit Inconven‐ Long dura‐ Unknown ef‐ High cost No mature
plan (%) ience to dai‐ tion (%) fects (%) (%) solution (%)
ly life (%)
Average 92.8 35.3 36.8 29.1 28.5 45.1 28.4
Thermal climate zones**
 SCZ 93.7 40.0 34.5 20.0 29.1 41.8 36.4
 CZ 94.9 34.2 40.8 27.7 23.4 42.4 25.5
 HSCWZ 90.6 35.0 33.3 28.3 28.3 52.8 30.6
 HSWWZ 91.7 35.6 37.0 31.8 31.8 42.6 27.0
Housing type*
 Farmhouse 91.4 31.7 33.3 17.5 25.4 52.4 33.3
 Low-rise residence 91.7 31.7 34.4 28.5 28.5 48.4 24.2
 Multi-storey residence 93.9 32.8 39.3 32.8 25.8 46.7 30.6
 Medium/high-rise resi‐ 93.1 42.0 36.9 29.0 34.7 40.9 30.1
dence
 Apartment 91.3 43.3 43.3 20.0 26.7 40.0 30.0
 Detached villa 92.9 25.0 37.5 31.3 25.0 25.0 18.8
Annual household in‐
come**
 <30,000 CNY 89.6 30.1 36.8 22.1 27.2 44.9 31.6
 30,000–100,000 CNY 93.3 33.8 35.9 27.7 29.9 50.2 20.8
 100,000–300,000 CNY 95.4 42.6 38.1 32.9 25.2 46.5 39.4
 300,000–1,000,000 93.8 39.1 48.4 28.1 28.1 34.4 18.8
CNY
 >10,00,000 CNY 95.0 50.0 33.3 33.3 33.3 0 33.3

Figure 6. Willingness of residents with different housing problems to adopt green retrofit.

Worrying about the high cost is the primary reason why residents are unwilling to undertake green retrofit, includ‐
ing those living in farmhouses, low-rise and multi-storey residences, and those with an annual household income of
less than 3,00,000 CNY. By contrast, residents living in medium/high-rise residences and apartments, and those
whose annual household income is more than 10,00,000 CNY, often refuse to retrofit because there is no retrofit plan.

© Copyrights 2020
These groups of residents have better housing conditions and fewer housing problems. Another important reason is
that residents may worry about the inconvenience that the retrofit will bring to daily life.
Acceptable retrofit measures
Among the retrofit measures, installing a zoned temperature control system of individual rooms, solar water heat‐
ing systems, and replacing the door and window materials rank the top three in terms of their acceptability to re‐
spondents, reaching 48.7%, 47.9% and 46.9%, respectively. By comparison, only 33.4% of the respondents are will‐
ing to retrofit the roof of their houses.
Figure 7 shows the differences in acceptable retrofit measures among residents with various attributes. Consider‐
ing the effects of thermal climate zones, respondents in the SCZ and CZ are more likely to accept the replacement of
door and window materials, which stems from the housing problem of air leakage mentioned in “Housing problems”
section. While installing photovoltaic panels or a solar water heating system is more popular in the HSWWZ due to
the sufficient solar energy, as drawn in Figure 7(a). Speaking of the housing problems (Table 5), the most acceptable
measure for respondents with heat insulation issues is to install a zoned temperature control system of individual
rooms. To solve air leakage and loud noise, replacing door and window materials is the most desirable measure. Be‐
sides, although some respondents do not have housing issues, they are willing to take retrofit measures, for example,
to install a solar water heating system, to improve energy efficiency.
Figure 7. Acceptability of retrofit measures to residents (**p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05): (a) in different thermal climate zones; (b) in
different types of houses; (c) with different annual household income.

Table 5. Acceptability of retrofit measures to residents with different housing problems.

Housing problems Acceptable retrofit measures

Retrofit‐ Retrofitting Replacing Installing a zon‐ Installing in‐ Installing a Installing a
ting roof walls (%) door and ed temperature sulation cur‐ photovoltaic solar water
(%) window ma‐ control system of tains (%) system (%) heating sys‐
terials (%) individual rooms tem (%)
(%)
Poor insulation in 42.0 47.1 52.9 57.5 52.1 47.6 53.8
summer

© Copyrights 2020
Housing problems Acceptable retrofit measures
Retrofit‐ Retrofitting Replacing Installing a zon‐ Installing in‐ Installing a Installing a
ting roof walls (%) door and ed temperature sulation cur‐ photovoltaic solar water
(%) window ma‐ control system of tains (%) system (%) heating sys‐
terials (%) individual rooms tem (%)
(%)
Poor insulation in 41.9 47.5 53.8 55.9 52.3 49.6 54.0
winter
Air leakage 43.5 48.9 60.1 55.0 52.3 49.5 54.6
Poor lighting 42.6 49.9 55.4 57.7 51.7 52.4 55.7
Loud noise 41.1 52.0 57.3 57.2 51.9 50.4 55.7
Safety risks 48.3 54.4 57.8 59.2 53.3 54.4 58.7
No problem 31.5 37.9 48.4 54.2 47.5 50.7 55.1

Regarding the effects of housing types shown in Figure 7(b), respondents living in farmhouses and detached villas
have higher intentions to adopt roof retrofit than others. This is mainly because there are few disputes over the roof
property rights of these two types of residences. At the same time, the installation of a solar water heating system is
most welcomed by those living in farmhouses, which is accepted by 54.5% of them. In terms of the influence of in‐
come, respondents with an annual household income of more than 10,00,000 CNY prefer to install insulation curtains
and photovoltaic systems in their houses. Especially, up to 62.5% of them intend to install a photovoltaic system,
which is the most acceptable measure among this group of residents, as displayed in Figure 7(c).
Expected supporting policies
The expected supporting policies for green retrofit are mainly influenced by residents’ housing types and house‐
hold income, as presented in Figure 8. Generally, the retrofit subsidy is a topic of high concern. Respondents who are
likely to adopt unified free retrofit are 10% more than those who are willing to undertake separate retrofit with a
partial subsidy. However, unified free retrofit is difficult to carry out on a large scale because of the high financial
cost. Respondents’ expectation for unified free retrofit decreases with the increase of household income, and those
with an annual household income of 300,000–1,000,000 CNY prefer to retrofit separately with a partial subsidy. In
addition, unified free retrofit is most popular among those living in farmhouses, but least welcomed by those living in
detached villas. This is because residents with higher income and better housing conditions are able to afford the ret‐
rofit, so they pay more attention to personal needs and experiences.
Figure 8. Acceptability of supporting policies to residents (p < 0.01): (a) with different annual household income; (b) in different
types of houses.

© Copyrights 2020
 For the utilization of photovoltaic power generation, it can be seen that regardless of housing types and household
income, respondents tend to install a photovoltaic system for selling renewable electricity rather than household use.
About 36.6% of the respondents are willing to sell electricity, 4.1% more than those who prefer household use. This
is because residents can get high revenue based on the local feed-in-tariff policy. Considering the polices of offering
additional retrofit of free housing area, and providing technical guidance and after-sales services, their acceptability
to respondents is relatively low, only around 20%. Specifically, respondents’ expectation for additional retrofit of free
housing area rises with the increase in household income. Those living in detached villas have obviously higher de‐
mands for technical guidance and after-sales services compared with those living in other types of houses.

Policy recommendations and perspectives

The study demonstrates that the majority of urban and rural residents in China are willing to carry out a green
retrofit of their residences, which has great development prospects. At the same time, residents with different charac‐
teristics differ greatly in housing conditions, acceptable retrofit measures and expected supporting policies. Thus, it is
necessary to adopt differentiated implementation strategies. Based on the survey results, the following suggestions
are put forward for policymakers to promote green retrofit of existing residential buildings in China.

Making differentiated implementation plans for green retrofit of residences

Since there are significant differences in housing conditions and appropriate retrofit measures among different res‐
ident groups, differentiated implementation plans for green retrofit should be developed based on the full evaluation.
In recent years, the Clean Air Action Plan has promoted clean heating in northern China, especially the rapid progress
of coal-to-gas conversion in the CZ with great heating demands. While in the SCZ and HSWWZ, it is difficult to lay
natural gas pipelines on a large scale because of the mountainous terrain. Furthermore, residents living in the
HSWWZ have a higher acceptance of installing equipment for solar utilization due to the abundant solar energy re‐
sources. Priority should be given to promoting solar water heating or photovoltaic systems in residences there. Nota‐
bly, during the implementation process, the property rights of the space for green retrofit (such as the roof) need to be

© Copyrights 2020
resolved. It is suggested to carry out green retrofit first in farmhouses and detached villas, where residents have few
disputes and high willingness.

Establishing a self-assessment and countermeasures toolkit for housing problems

The results show that there are more or less problems in China’s urban and rural residences, which have great
potential for green retrofit. Although residents have a clear understanding of their housing problems, it is hard to ob‐
tain detailed information about the solutions, costs, implementation cycle, and available subsidies. Residents are al‐
ways worried about the high cost of the green retrofit and the inconvenience brought to daily life, which are the pri‐
mary reasons why they are unwilling to adopt retrofit. Therefore, this paper proposes to establish a self-assessment
and countermeasures toolkit for housing problems. On the one hand, residents can employ the toolkit to identify the
existing housing problems through energy consumption, lighting, noise, indoor environmental quality and other data
indicators. On the other hand, the toolkit can provide reliable solutions to the problems encountered by residents, as
well as clear cost-benefit analysis, explanation of subsidy policies and necessary technical guidance.

Developing targeted incentive strategies for green retrofit of residences

The financial investment from the Chinese government is essential for the promotion of green retrofit. Special sub‐
sidies for green retrofit should be set up to mainly support the installation of heat metering and temperature control
devices in residences. It is also necessary to subsidize the retrofit of the building envelope, replacement of door and
window materials, and installation of solar energy facilities. The unified free retrofit expected by most residents is
unlikely to be implemented on a large scale due to financial pressures. With the increase of household income, the
dependence of residents on subsidies for green retrofit gradually decreases. It is suggested to develop targeted incen‐
tive strategies aimed at different resident groups. For example, when residents apply for the U.S. Department of Ener‐
gy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, the primary factor affecting eligibility is income. In California, the annual
household income (before tax) should be less than 60% of the state average.40 In terms of high-income groups, it is
recommended to explore market-oriented innovative mechanisms such as carbon finance and carbon trading, to en‐
hance the initiative of communities and residents to reduce emissions. In communities of Zhongshan City, Guang‐
dong Province, China, the excess carbon emission rights obtained by the emission reduction of photovoltaic systems
can be sold in the carbon trading market. The economic benefits will be fed back to the residents, thereby forming a
virtuous circle.

Conclusions
According to the questionnaire survey of urban and rural residents in China, residents with different characteristics
have significant differences in housing conditions and perceptions of the green retrofit. In terms of the current hous‐
ing conditions, electricity, pipeline natural gas and solar energy are the commonly used energy sources in residential
buildings, with the usage exceeding 80%, 60% and 40%, respectively. Besides, poor heat insulation is the main hous‐
ing problem for residents. 43.2% and 42.2% of the respondents are troubled by this issue in summer and winter, re‐
spectively.
More than 90% of the residents are willing to undertake green retrofit of their residences, and those with potential
safety risks in their houses have the highest willingness. Worrying about the high cost is the primary reason why resi‐
dents are unwilling to retrofit. Those with better housing conditions may have no retrofit plan and worry about the
inconvenience brought to daily life. Among the retrofit measures, installing a zoned temperature control system of
individual rooms, a solar water heating system, and replacing door and window materials have the highest acceptabil‐
ity to respondents, reaching 48.7%, 47.9% and 46.9%, respectively. Priority should be given to the green retrofit of
farmhouses and detached villas, where residents have few disputes and high willingness. Considering the supporting
polices, the retrofit subsidy is a topic of high concern. Respondents who are likely to adopt unified free retrofit are
10% more than those who are willing to undertake separate retrofit with a partial subsidy. The expectation for unified
free retrofit rises with the decrease of household income. Besides, respondents prefer to install a photovoltaic system
for electricity sales rather than household use, regardless of housing types and household income. This is because
they can get high revenue based on the local feed-in-tariff policy.
Based on the results of the national survey, this study fully has considered the local differences in China, and com‐
bined the needs and wishes of residents to make the following suggestions. First, aimed at different resident groups,

© Copyrights 2020
differentiated implementation plans should be made for green retrofit of residential buildings. Second, a self-assess‐
ment and countermeasures toolkit should be established to identify the housing problems and provide reliable solu‐
tions. Third, targeted incentive strategies for green retrofit should be developed. For high-income resident groups, it
is recommended to explore market-oriented innovative mechanisms such as carbon finance and carbon trading, to
enhance the initiative of residents to reduce emissions. The findings distinguish the requirements of different resident
groups and provide reference for Chinese policymakers to formulate targeted policies on green retrofit of existing
residential buildings.
Although this study has made valuable findings, there are still some limitations. Firstly, comparative studies of the
retrofit measures and supporting policies are only carried out on several groups of common situations. Secondly, the
research is mainly based on residents’ opinions from questionnaires, which are influenced by subjective factors.
Thirdly, the conclusions are universal in China to a certain extent, but further investigations of the study area are
needed when formulating specific policies. Future research will aim at the significant influencing factors identified in
this study and demonstrate the findings with the help of big data analysis of residents’ characteristics. In-depth corre‐
lation model will be developed to support relevant policy formulation.
Declaration of conflicting interests. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the re‐
search, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or pub‐
lication of this article: The authors appreciate the financial support provided by the National Key R&D Program of
China for the Research and Development of City Energy Efficiency and Low Carbon Solution Tool Project (Project
Number: 2017YFE0105600).
ORCID iD. Yutong Li https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-4582

References
1. Seneviratne SI, Donat MG, Pitman AJ, et al. Allowable CO2 emissions based on regional and impact-related cli‐
mate targets. Nature 2016; 529: 477–483.
2. Tan Y, Liu G, Zhang Y, et al. Green retrofit of aged residential buildings in Hong Kong: a preliminary study. Build
Environ 2018; 143: 89–98.
3. Jagarajan R, Mohd Asmoni MNA, Mohammed AH, et al. Green retrofitting – a review of current status, imple‐
mentations and challenges. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2017; 67: 1360–1368.
4. Liu G, Li X, Tan Y, et al. Building green retrofit in China: policies, barriers and recommendations. Energy Policy
2020; 139: 111356.
5. Zhao X, Tan Y, Shen L, et al. Case-based reasoning approach for supporting building green retrofit decisions.
Build Environ 2019; 160: 106210.
6. UN Environment and International Energy Agency. Towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings
and construction sector. Global Status Report 2017. [AQ1]
7. Ali U, Shamsi MH, Bohacek M, et al. A data-driven approach to optimize urban scale energy retrofit decisions for
residential buildings. Appl Energy 2020; 267: 114861.
8. Alam M, Zou PXW, Stewart RA, et al. Government championed strategies to overcome the barriers to public
building energy efficiency retrofit projects. Sustain Cities Soc 2019; 44: 56–69.
9. Li J and Shui B. A comprehensive analysis of building energy efficiency policies in China: status quo and devel‐
opment perspective. J Clean Prod 2015; 90: 326–344.
10. Golubchikov O and Deda P. Governance, technology, and equity: an integrated policy framework for energy effi‐
cient housing. Energy Policy 2012; 41: 733–741.
11. Zhou Z, Zhang S, Wang C, et al. Achieving energy efficient buildings via retrofitting of existing buildings: a case
study. J Clean Prod 2016; 112: 3605–3615.

© Copyrights 2020
12. Jafari A and Valentin V. An optimization framework for building energy retrofits decision-making. Build Environ
2017; 115: 118–129.
13. Baldwin AN, Loveday DL, Li B, et al. A research agenda for the retrofitting of residential buildings in China – a
case study. Energy Policy 2018; 113: 41–51.
14. Building Energy Research Center TU. 2020 annual report on China building energy efficiency, 2020. Beijing:
Tsinghua University.
15. Ma Z, Cooper P, Daly D, et al. Existing building retrofits: methodology and state-of-the-art. Energy Build 2012;
55: 889–902.
16. Pombo O, Allacker K, Rivela B, et al. Sustainability assessment of energy saving measures: a multi-criteria ap‐
proach for residential buildings retrofitting – a case study of the Spanish housing stock. Energy Build 2016; 116:
384–394.
17. Bertone E, Stewart RA, Sahin O, et al. Guidelines, barriers and strategies for energy and water retrofits of public
buildings. J Clean Prod 2018; 174: 1064–1078.
18. Brown P, Swan W and Chahal S. Retrofitting social housing: reflections by tenants on adopting and living with
retrofit technology. Energy Eff 2014; 7: 641–653.
19. Sharma A, Chani PS and Kulkarni SY. Energy-efficient retrofit of an unconditioned institute building. Arch Sci
Rev 2014; 57: 49–62.
20. Li Y, Ren J, Jing Z, et al. The existing building sustainable retrofit in China – a review and case study. Proc Eng
2017; 205: 3638–3645.
21. Liu G, Tan Y and Li X. China’s policies of building green retrofit: a state-of-the-art overview. Build Environ
2020; 169: 106554.
22. Zhou N, Levine MD and Price L. Overview of current energy-efficiency policies in China. Energy Policy 2010;
38: 6439–6452.
23. Xu S and Ge J. Sustainable shifting from coal to gas in North China: an analysis of resident satisfaction. Energy
Policy 2020; 138: 111296.
24. Bjørneboe MG, Svendsen S and Heller A. Initiatives for the energy renovation of single-family houses in Den‐
mark evaluated on the basis of barriers and motivators. Energy Build 2018; 167: 347–358.
25. Tuominen P, Klobut K, Tolman A, et al. Energy savings potential in buildings and overcoming market barriers in
member states of the European union. Energy Build 2012; 51: 48–55.
26. Hwang B-G, Shan M, Xie S, et al. Investigating residents’ perceptions of green retrofit program in mature resi‐
dential estates: the case of Singapore. Habitat Int 2017; 63: 103–112.
27. Trotta G. The determinants of energy efficient retrofit investments in the English residential sector. Energy Poli‐
cy 2018; 120: 175–182.
28. Hrovatin N and Zorić J. Determinants of energy-efficient home retrofits in Slovenia: the role of information sour‐
ces. Energy Build 2018; 180: 42–50.
29. Abreu MI, de Oliveira RAF and Lopes J. Younger vs. older homeowners in building energy-related renovations:
learning from the Portuguese case. Energy Rep 2020; 6: 159–164.
30. Azizi S, Nair G and Olofsson T. Analysing the house-owners’ perceptions on benefits and barriers of energy
renovation in Swedish single-family houses. Energy Build 2019; 198: 187–196.
31. Broers WMH, Vasseur V, Kemp R, et al. Decided or divided? An empirical analysis of the decision-making proc‐
ess of Dutch homeowners for energy renovation measures. Energy Res Social Sci 2019; 58: 101284.
32. Jia J-J, Xu J-H, Fan Y, et al. Willingness to accept energy-saving measures and adoption barriers in the residen‐
tial sector: an empirical analysis in Beijing. China Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2018; 95: 56–73.
33. Liu W, Zhang J, Bluemling B, et al. Public participation in energy saving retrofitting of residential buildings in
China. Appl Energy 2015; 147: 287–296.

© Copyrights 2020
34. Code for thermal design of civil building (GB 50176-2016).
35. Bai L and Wang S. Definition of new thermal climate zones for building energy efficiency response to the cli‐
mate change during the past decades in China. Energy 2019; 170: 709–719.
36. Siegel AF. Chapter 17 – chi-squared analysis: testing for patterns in qualitative data. In: Siegel AF (ed) Practical
business statistics. 7th ed. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 2016, pp.509–524.
37. Curtis K and Youngquist ST. Part 21: categoric analysis: Pearson chi-square test. Air Med J 2013; 32: 179–180.
38. Williams LL and Quave K. Chapter 10 – tests of proportions: chi-square, likelihood ratio, Fisher’s exact test. In:
Williams LL and Quave K (eds) Quantitative anthropology. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 2019, pp.123–141.
39. Ross SM. Chapter 13 – chi-squared goodness-of-fit tests. In: Ross SM (ed) Introductory statistics. 4th ed. Ox‐
ford: Academic Press, 2017, pp.585–620.
40. How to Apply for Weatherization Assistance, www.energy.gov/eere/wap/how-apply-weatherization-assistance
(accessed 14 August 2020).
Yupei Lai ▪ [AQ2]Ms. Lai Yupei is the Ttechnical Mmanager of the R&D Department at the Shenzhen Institute of
Building Research. Her research area includes ecological urban planning, carbon emission assessment and low-car‐
bon policy research.
Yutong Li ▪ Dr. Li Yutong is the Deputy Director of the R&D Department at the Shenzhen Institute of Building
Research. His research area includes building energy efficiency, renewable energy application, LVDC microgrid and
regional energy planning.
Xinyi Feng ▪Xinyi received her B.E. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2020, and now she is pursuing
a Ph.D. degree with Dr. Tao Ma at the same university. Currently her research mainly focuses on solar energy utiliza‐
tion technologies.
Tao Ma ▪Dr Tao Ma is an Associated Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research is mainly related to
solar energy technologies and integrated photovoltaics.

© Copyrights 2020
 General Queries
Query: GQ1: Please confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence, and contact details,
is correct.
Response: Ok
Query: GQ2: Please review the entire document for typographical errors, mathematical errors, and any other neces-
sary corrections; check headings, tables, and figures.
Response: Ok
Query: GQ3: Please confirm that the Funding and Conflict of Interest statements are accurate.
Response: Ok
Query: GQ4: Please ensure that you have obtained and enclosed all necessary permissions for the reproduction of
artistic works, (e.g. illustrations, photographs, charts, maps, other visual material, etc.) not owned by yourself.
Please refer to your publishing agreement for further information.
Response: Ok
Query: GQ5: Please note that this proof represents your final opportunity to review your article prior to publication,
so please do send all of your changes now.
Response: Ok

Author Queries
Query: AQ1: Please insert the editor(s), publisher and place of publisher in Ref. 6.
Author Response: Ok
Query: AQ2: Please insert the biography of all the authors.
Author Response: Ok

Comments
C1 Production Editor: TS: Please set the reference as per the journal style.

© Copyrights 2020