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China (Mainland)

Current Codes

Commercial
China National Energy Efficient Design Standard for Public Buildings
Country Specific Mandatory
Saturday, January 1, 2005
Thursday, January 1, 2004
Residential
China Regional Energy Efficiency Codes for Residential Buildings
Country Specific Mandatory
Sunday, January 1, 1995

An update to China's residential codes was submitted in November 2008 and is awaiting approval.  The update includes redefined sub-regions, updated shapes and U-factors for windows and roofs, an updated thermal envelope calcuation method, and a 65% efficiency improvement for HVAC design guidelines.

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Additional Code Information

Code Adoption & Change Process
Current Plans and Strategies: 

Enhance codes/labeling implementation and enforcement
Obtain goverment recognition of codes and building labeling as important to country's EE promotion

Expand supervision for codes to existing buildings, and include township and rural construction (40% of total)
Intensify codes supervision from design stage through construction
E management and E audits for government office and public buildings (energy labeling is mandatory but many owners do not know how to improve(?)
Urge developers/owners to follow through on findings of energy audits

  • Establish a comprehensive incentive mechanism
    Research & adapt more effective economic incentive policy instruments and policies
    Encourage/promote market mechanisms
    Improve region ...
     
  • Improve/Upgrade existing code system
    Collect data on building energy consumption to develop an integrated database
    Monitor minimum energy thresholds for government of large commercial buildings
    Consider C/B in code updates
    Put more resources towards code updating and revisions
    Use more advanced tools
    Expand code to additional climate regions and building types
    Revise to accommodate regional and local characteristics and conditions (consider climate and economic development)
     
  • Promote labeling certification management system
     

 

Code Implementation Requirements: 

One out of five stars awarded for meeting code (required); to get 2 stars, achieve 70% improved EE over baseline; more EE achieved by reaching 3 to 4 stars
Owner required to get the label (AFTER building is constructed) usually (some local exception)

Challenges & Barriers: 

Need for levers to boost the role of provincial governments in codes
Need a regular schedual for updating the building energy code to push innovation in building efficiency
Scale up labeling for key building materials and components (e.g. windows)
Compliance in small and medium-sized cities needs to be improved

 

History: 

China's first residential building energy codes were established in 1986 which encompassed standards on heating for the northern clod regions, and were revised in 1995.  In 2001, these were extended to include the hot-summer cold-winter central region, and the hot-summer warm-winter southern region in 2003.  In 2005, China established a national design standard for all Public (Commercial) Buildings, which focused on HVAC and building envelope.  Recognizing the amount of energy residential buildings had recently been consuming, China began updating its residential building energy codes with assistance from Energy Foundation, NRDC, and LBL.  The codes are not yet enforced.

Source: 2009 PNNL Building Energy Codes Report

1 national model code for commercial; 3 for residentail based on climate zones; separate code for acceptance of energy efficient building construction (2007)

Energy conservation regulation for res and com buildings (2008)... policy

Compliance Verification: 

Only approximately 5% of buildings constructed since 2005 comply with current code.

**

Developed web of government oversight for construction quality - mostly 3rd party construction supervision for formal construction projects

11 national testing centers for product testing; 36 provincial building performance centers as capacity for building labeling

 

Economic Indicators
Government Type: 

communist state

Climate Zone: 

extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Population: 

1,338,612,968 (July 2009 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 

4% (2008 est.) note:  official data for urban areas only; including migrants may boost total unemployment to 9%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas

GDP Per Capita: 

$6,000 (2008 est.)

Projected GDP Growth: 

9% (2008 est.)

Industrial Production Growth: 

9.3% (2008 est.)

Primary Exports: 

electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment

Primary Imports: 

electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals

Local Resources: 

coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)

Energy Data
Primary Energy Source: 

Coal: 70% (2006)

Energy Consumption: 

1.25 Quadrillion BTU (2006)

Energy Expenditures: 

73.81 Quadrillion BTU (2006)

Energy Snapshot: 

Despite the economic slowdown in exports and domestic demand in the past year, China’s demand for energy remains high. China has emerged from being a net oil exporter in the early 1990s to become the world’s third-largest net importer of oil in 2006. Natural gas usage in China has also increased rapidly in recent years, and China has looked to raise natural gas imports via pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG). China is also the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal, an important factor in world energy markets.

Coal supplied the vast majority (70 percent) of China’s total energy consumption requirements in 2006. Oil is the second-largest source, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s total energy consumption. While China has made an effort to diversify its energy supplies, hydroelectric sources (6 percent), natural gas (3 percent), and nuclear power (1 percent) account for relatively small amounts of China’s energy consumption mix.

Soruce: EIA

Renewable Trends: 

In 2007, China was the world’s largest producer of hydroelectric power. In the same year, China generated 430 Bkwh of electricity from hydroelectric sources, representing 14.1 percent of its total generation. Also, installed generating capacity was around 170 GW in 2008, accounting for about a fifth of total installed capacity. These figures are likely to increase given the number of large-scale hydroelectric projects planned or under construction in China. The largest power project under construction is the Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River, which will include 32 separate 700-MW generators, for a total of 22.5 GW. When fully completed, it will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The Three Gorges project already has several units in operation as of 2009, but the project is not expected to be fully completed until 2011.

Wind is the second leading renewable source for power generation, and China is the world’s fifth largest wind producer, generating 5.6 Bkwh in 2007 and 95 percent growth from 2006. China’s installed capacity in 2007 was 6.06 GW, more than double the amount in 2006. The NDRC aims to increase wind capacity to 10 GW by 2010.

Source: EIA

Climate Concerns
CO2 Emissions: 

6017.69 MMT CO2 (2006)

Green Building Initiatives

Local Revision and Green Codes:
Evaluation Standard for Green Buildings

National Environmental Milestones and Strategies:
National Climate Change Program 2007
Energy Conservation Law, 2007

Strengthening National Policies:
2007 Update to the Energy Conservation Law
The update of this policy was a great step forward in ensuring energy efficiency and security in China.  The Energy Conservation Law provides new updates that call for greater standardization of building energy codes, and promotes more research and development in efficiecny and renewable energy.

Green Building Rating System:
Evaluation Standard for Green Buildings
The Evaluation Standard for Green Buildings is a voluntary classificication standard for rating green buildings.  Similar to LEED, buildings can achieve a "green building" status based on how sustainable the building is.

Based on the current status of building energy codes and policies, as well as potential for energy efficiency, BCAP recommends the following actions.  Also noted are states or countries that successfully employ the suggested action, and may be used as a model.  These suggestions are meant only to show opportunities for energy efficiency.  Please contact BCAP for more information or assistance.

Establish a Complete Residential and Commercial Code
China's residential codes are currently under revision, and its commercial code is somewhat incomplete, focusing mainly on building envelope and HVAC.  Establishing both a complete residential and commercial codes will help China significantly cut energy use and reinforce their Energy Conservation Law.

Model Country:
Canada
Although somewhat old, Canada's MNECB and MNECH can serve as good models for the update to Chinese building energy codes.  They cover a comprehensive list of building elements, and outline realistic strategies for energy efficiency and compliance with the codes.

Improve Compliance
China may also want to consider looking into different compliance methods of their code.  Conducting compliance surveys and adopting different compliance and enforcement models will help ensure that builders follow the code in place.  This will lead to greater energy savings and lower carbon dioxide emissions, and help China achieve the goals set out in its energy plan.

For More Information:
Enforcement Models Research Topic Area
The Enforcement Models Research Topic Area provides resources for code enforcement, as well as discussions and connections to other concerned users.

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