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Abstract The tremendous use of building materials poses heavy threats to resources and the environment. In order to better understand the GHG emissions embodied in the abundant building material consumption of Shanghai's buildings and search for approaches to reduce GHG emissions, this study explores the building consumption and the embodied GHG emission in Shanghai's buildings through life cycle assessment. Novel and localized life cycle inventories are applied. Based on our findings, the average annual growth rate of new constructed area in Shanghai was around 10% since 2000 to 2016. Concrete, brick, sand, gravel and cement (non-concrete use) appear as the main materials used. High GHG emission burden materials per kg are revealed to be steel, lime, wood, glass and cement (non-concrete use). Accounting the annual material consumption in 2016, steel, cement (non-concrete use), concrete and brick are found have the highest contribution to embodied GHG emission in Shanghai. The decoupling analysis reveals Shanghai experienced a general trend from non-decoupling to relative decoupling between building material use and GDP in recent 17 years. Findings in this study indicate for the high GHG emission burden materials such as steel and lime, reducing the energy use and using less CO 2 -intensive energy sources during manufacturing are likely to be the most effective approaches. In terms of the highly consumed building materials such as concrete and brick, the focus should be on reducing consumption or looking for substitute materials with lower GHG burden per unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: It is important to have insights into the potential sustainability impacts as early as possible in the development of technology. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies provide significant environmental, economic, and social benefits in comparison to the conventional energy sources. Because most previous studies of multi‐crystalline silicon (Multi‐Si) PV modules discuss the environmental impacts, this study quantitatively assesses the economic and social impacts of China's multi‐crystalline silicon (mc‐Si) PV modules production stages. The economic analysis is uses life cycle cost analysis, and the social impact analysis is carried out by applying the social index evaluation method. The economic analysis results demonstrate that the main cost of mc‐Si PV modules production in China lies in raw materials and labor and the production of Multi‐Si PV cells have the highest cost among the five manufacturing processes involved in Multi‐Si PV. The result of the social impact analysis reveal that the employment contribution index, S11, is 0.72, indicating that Multi‐Si PV modules production in China has a prominent contribution to employment in comparison with other industries; the labor civilization degree, S12 (i.e., the proportion of mental labor involved in a given job), and labor income contribution index, S13, are both approximately 0.6, indicating that Multi‐Si PV modules production has a less‐significant labor level and income contribution in comparison with other industries; the production capacity contribution index, S14, is merely 0.183, indicating that production of Multi‐Si PV modules does not contribute significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP). Based on the results of these evaluations, some recommendations to improve the economic and social impact of Multi‐Si PV modules production in China are presented, including support for research on polycrystalline silicon production for the purpose of reducing the raw material cost, as well as upgrading manufacturing facilities and implementing the corresponding production training in order to promote the labor civilization degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of a circular economy (CE) has become prominent in both European and Chinese policy making. Chinese and European perspectives on a CE share a common conceptual basis and exhibit many similar concerns in seeking to enhance resource efficiency. Yet they also differ, and this article explores differences in the focus of CE policy in China and Europe. We present evidence on the differing understandings of the CE concept in Chinese and European policy discourse, drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis of policy documents, media articles, and academic publications. We show that the Chinese perspective on the CE is broad, incorporating pollution and other issues alongside waste and resource concerns, and it is framed as a response to the environmental challenges created by rapid growth and industrialization. In contrast, Europe's conception of the CE has a narrower environmental scope, focusing more narrowly on waste and resources and opportunities for business. We then examine similarities and differences in the focus of policy activity in the two regions and in the indicators used to measure progress. We show differences in the treatment of issues of scale and place and different priorities across value chains (from design to manufacture, consumption, and waste management). We suggest some reasons for the divergent policy articulation of the CE concept and suggest lessons that each region can learn from the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of promoting the development of a low carbon society, economic incentive policies play an important role. In order to see the effectiveness of implementing the economic incentive policies, we put forward two questions in this study: How effective are economic incentive policies in the building industry in China and Japan? What are the obstacles preventing these policies from being effectively applied and how to overcome them? Considering the energy consumption in the building industry accounts for a significant proportion in both China and Japan, economic incentive policies for promoting building energy saving in the two countries have been chosen as case studies. Policies discussed in this article are divided into national and city levels, in which the city level policy analysis mainly focused on the active Carbon Trading Programs. Methods of stakeholder investigation and literature review are applied in exploring the economic incentive polices' effects and constraints. Based on the outcomes of our research, policy recommendations for overcoming the barriers of economic incentive policies in the building industry are worked out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Boosted by impressive technological innovation and cost reductions, renewable energy in a growing number of countries is now primarily considered for its social and economic benefits. Among the renewable energy promotion actions at the global level, photovoltaic poverty alleviation (PVPA) program in China is very unique since the targeted users are villagers in poverty regions. Under this condition, it would be quite necessary to understand how are the PVPA program carrying out. In this study, three poverty villages are selected in the northwestern part of China to conduct the social impact analysis. An evaluation system including four categories and thirteen indicators was established. Site investigation and questionnaire interview was carried out to collect required information. Our findings reveal that the poor families in the three counties can increase their income by around 3000 RMB per year with the implementation of PVPA program. The final social impact indicator of Yanchi County, Dingbian County and Guazhou County are 2.61, 2.09 and 2.15 respectively. Villagers' living standards in the three counties are prominently improved because of the solar power supply. The factors that hinder the development of PVPA projects are the lack of investment funds, poor quality of solar panels, low public awareness, high abandon rate of photovoltaic, etc. Recommendations for improving the sustainable development of PVPA program based on the findings are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repair of mobile phones fits with the vision of a circular economy in an urban context and with the Sustainable Development Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. Drawing on the literature about firm level competitiveness and closed-loop design through repair, remanufacturing or recycling, we analyze the business ecosystem of independent mobile phone repair shops in the Netherlands, Poland and China as a glocal business activity. The analysis is based on primary data collection through a questionnaire to independent repair shops in the Netherlands (n = 130), Poland (n = 443) and China (n = 175) with response rates of 13%, 12%, 40%, respectively; and 17 interviews in the Netherlands, 40 in Poland, and 70 in China. Findings indicate that to maintain a strong position in the local market and to sustain the trust of customers, independent mobile phone repair shops offer a range of customized services based on direct contact with customers. In China, the increasing prices of spare parts and falling prices of mobile phones constitute the most important challenges, whereas in the Netherlands and Poland, the most important challenges are the competitive pressures from informal repair activities, and new repair shops. Our research also revealed that repairability strongly depends on the global manufacturers' circularity choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rapidly developing countries, such as China, considerable quantities of construction materials have been mobilized with the fast expansion of urban areas. The rural to urban land use transition, especially the upgrade and redevelopment of original rural areas, is a noted driver of material flows. This rural–urban land transition should be incorporated into material flow and stock analyses to provide a more accurate analysis. In this study, a dynamic material flow and stock model that integrates the historical rural–urban land transition was developed to explore the quantity of material stocks and demolition waste from residential buildings in Shanghai—the largest megacity in China from 1950 to 2100. Our results show that the material stocks from residential buildings in Shanghai increased 41-fold from 1950 to 2010, about 957 MMT (million metric tons), and is estimated to be saturated around 2040. Material stocks have experienced asynchronized growth in rural areas, central urban areas, and rural–urban land transition zones (RULT zones) in Shanghai. Until 2040, the RULT zones in Shanghai will be the largest material repository (62%), followed by central urban areas (20%), and rural areas (18%). The amount of demolition waste, which accounted for 10 MMT in 2010, is expected to peak at 29 MMT in 2060s. This suggests the need for a deliberate investment plan to increase waste treatment capacity. In addition, the dominant component of demolition waste will shift from brick to concrete after 2020s. The RULT zones will contribute two-thirds of demolition waste to Shanghai until the 2060s. If we do not consider the reality of the physical status of buildings in RULT zones, the demolition waste will be underestimated by the maximum of 57% in 2003 in urban areas. The key findings on the trend of construction and demolition (C&D) waste generation and the significant contribution of RULT zones can be used as a reference for the strategic planning of treatment facilities. This research framework can be also used to estimate the amount of C&D waste in other fast-developing cities in China and other countries. UR buildings = urban residential buildings; RR buildings = rural residential buildings. RULT zones = rural–urban land transition zones. Image 1 • A dynamic material flows and stocks model by integrating rural–urban land transition was applied in Shanghai, China. • Material stocks & demolition waste in rural areas, RULT zones, and central urban areas were considered, respectively. • Two-thirds of demolition waste will generate from rural–urban land transition zones by 2060s. • Dominant component of demolition waste will shift from brick to concrete. • Prolonging the buildings' lifetime would be a priority option for waste reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]