Search

Abstract Accurate estimation of urban residential building-related energy consumption (URBEC) and energy intensity per unit floor area at the national level has significant implications for the analysis of carbon emission peaks. However, reliable data on China's building floor space (BFS) are lacking, resulting in unclear energy intensity levels. This study proposes a China BFS estimation method (CBFSEM) based on improved building stock turnover model. Using CBFSEM, it estimates the BFS of historic urban dwelling stock, the demolished and newly built dwelling from 2000 to 2015. It then estimates the corresponding energy consumption and intensity based on the obtained urban residential BFS data. Results showed that total URBEC in China increased dramatically from 217.1 Mtce in 2000 to 417.2 Mtce in 2015 with an average annual growth rate of 4.45%. China's total dwelling stock almost doubled, from 10.6 billion m2 in 2000 to 27.4 billion m2 in 2015 with an annual growth rate of 6.56%. The operational energy consumption accounted for approximately 70% of total URBEC and the building material production energy intensity was the highest in total URBEC, >60 kgce/m2. A comparison with the China Population Census showed that the deviations were well below 8%, which indicated the reliability of the CBFSEM and the estimated results. In general, this study fills the gap in available data and addresses the shortage of estimation methods for BFS and energy intensity. It also provides the government with technical support and scientific evidence to promote building energy efficiency. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Proposed an urban residential building-related energy consumption (URBEC) and energy intensity estimation framework • Proposed a China building floor space estimation method (CBFSEM) • Estimated China's dwelling stocks, demolished and newly built residential BFS from 2000 to 2015 • Estimated urban residential building-related energy consumption and intensity of the building sector • Validated the results of study by comparison; the deviations are well below 8% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]