Energy and Buildings 36 (2004) 11911196

Progress in energy-efciency standards for residential buildings in China

Siwei Lang
China Academy of Building Research, 30 Bei San Huan Dong Lu, Beijing 100013, China Received 25 March 2003; accepted 16 September 2003

Abstract The paper briey describes energy-efciency standards that have been issued for residential buildings in Northern and Central China as well as energy-efciency inspection standards and specications for renovation of existing residential heating systems in Northern China, and development of energy-efciency standards for Southern China. The paper also describes barriers to improving the energy efciency of residential buildings in China and strategies for overcoming these barriers, including reform of the method of payment for heating in Northern China. Finally, future prospects for further developing energy-efciency standards for residential buildings in China are addressed. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Energy-efciency design standards; Residential buildings; Heating payment reform

1. Introduction In China, the building sector is divided into civil and industrial subsectors; the civil subsector is further divided into residential and public buildings. Public buildings include commercial structures such as department stores, supermarkets, rental ofce buildings, apartments, hotels, restaurants, banks, post ofces, airports, rail stations, and buildings used for education, science, research, medicine, sports, and communications services. Economic development and a desire for improved living standards have spurred rapid construction and development in China during the past 20 years. During the early 1980s, new construction oor area totaled 700800 million m2 per year. By the early 1990s, the yearly total was 1000 million m2 , and the annual total in recent years has been 16001700 million m2 , of which 400500 million m2 are urban residential buildings, 400500 million m2 are public and industrial buildings (mainly in cities), and 700800 million m2 are residential buildings outside cities. This rapid rate of construction has implications for energy consumption; in particular, the energy consumption per meter square for heating in traditional residential buildings (i.e. those

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that do not meet the new energy-efciency standard described in this paper) in China is twice that of residential buildings in developed countries under the same weather conditions. China covers a vast geographical area, and the temperature difference from the north to south is very large, especially in winter. In general, the average monthly temperature in China in January is 1018 C lower than that of other areas of the world at the same latitude; in July, the average monthly temperature is 1.32.5 degrees higher than those other areas. According to the national Standard of Climatic Regionalization for Architecture GB 5017893 [1], China is divided into the following zones based on climate characteristics: very cold, cold, hot summer and cold winter, hot summer and warm winter, and moderate (Fig. 1). Air conditioning and heating requirements for different zones are as follows: in the very cold zone, the major requirement is heating, and few residential buildings are equipped with air conditioning. In the cold zone, the primary requirement is heating, followed by air conditioning. In the hot summer and cold winter zone, both air conditioning and heating are needed. In the hot summer and warm winter zone, the major requirement is air conditioning, and few residential buildings require heating. In some parts of the moderate zone, heating is needed; in other parts, both heating and air conditioning are needed. The availability of heating and air conditioning depends on several factors, including the degree of

0378-7788/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2003.09.014

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Fig. 1. China Climate map.

economic development in an area, the availability of energy supplies, and requirements for environmental protection. Building energy consumption data cover numerous end uses, including air conditioning, heating, lighting, appliances, cooking, domestic hot water, and others. However, heating and air conditioning account for the largest share of residential energy consumption. Along with Chinas economic development, energy consumption has increased rapidly. In 1999 energy consumption in buildings represented 27.6% of total energy consumption in China [2]. The energy-efciency goal for residential buildings in China is to reduce the energy consumed for air conditioning and heating while maintaining comfortable indoor thermal environments. Energy-efciency efforts began in the early 1980s in China. With supports of the State Economic and State Planning Commissions, the Ministry of Construction (MOC) approved projects to investigate the amount of energy consumed by space heating and to develop an energy-efciency design standard for residential buildings in the very cold and cold zones of the country (i.e. in Northern China) where very large amounts of energy were being consumed for heating. More than half the countrys total oor area (all types of buildings) is located in Northern China where the heating season is between 3 and 6 months long. Statistics show that, by the end of the 1980s, heating energy consumption was 130 million tons standard coal equivalent or about 11.5% of total energy use in China and more than 20% of total use in Northern China (and about 50% of total energy use in some cities in the very cold zone of the country). Since 2000, MOC has moved to develop energy-efciency design standards for residential buildings in Central and Southern China as well. The MOC expects that standards for residential buildings in all climate zones in the country should be issued by the end of 2003.

2. Energy-efciency design standard for heating in residential buildings in very cold and cold zones 2.1. Energy conservation design standard for new heating in residential buildings JGJ 2695 MOC issued the Energy Conservation Design Standard for New Heating in Residential Buildings, JGJ 2686, in 1986. The goal of the standard was a 30% decrease in heating energy consumption relative to the consumption of typical Chinese residential buildings (base buildings) designed in 19801981. In December 1995, MOC issued a revised standard (JGJ 2695) with an increased energy-saving goal of 50%. The chief author of the standard was the China Academy of Building Research. JGJ 2695 includes indices of building heat loss and coal consumption for heating along with sections on thermally efcient building and heating design. A table (in Section 4 of the standard) allows building designers to easily determine the heat-transfer coefcients for each part of the building envelope as long as the buildings shape coefcient (ratio of exterior surface to oor area) is less than or equal to 0.3, and the ratio of window to wall area is less than 0.25 for north windows, 0.30 for east and west windows, and 0.35 for south windows. If the shape coefcient and/or the ratio of window to wall area are not within the values specied above, the designer can calculate the building heat-loss index and coal consumption for heating using equations presented in Section 3 of the standard. This process entails changing heat-transfer coefcients for each part of the building envelope to arrive at values that correspond to those listed in Appendix A of the standard. The standard provides (in Section 5), information that permits designers to match total installation capacity of a heat source with the building heating load and also includes information on hydraulic

S. Lang / Energy and Buildings 36 (2004) 11911196 Table 1 Heat-transfer coefcients (w/m2 K) and heat loss % of envelope in base building (Beijing) Component Exterior wall Exterior window Roof Stairwell wall Interior door Floor Balcony door Inltration Material Solid brick (370 mm) Single glazed Flat hollow concrete Brick or concrete Wood Reinforced concrete Plate steel K-value 1.57 6.40 1.26 1.83 2.91 0.30 6.40 23.2 Heat loss 25.6 23.7 8.6 10.8 2.8 2.3 3.0

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K-value (heat-transfer coefcient) in Chinese buildings is much higher than that of buildings in developed countries. For an exterior wall, for example, the K-value for a Chinese building is 2.63.6 times higher than a comparable value in developed countries; the value for the roof is 3.24.2 times higher, for an exterior window 1.42.0 times higher, and for air inltration 36 times higher. These differences mean that, even though a building design meets the requirements of JGJ 2695, the buildings heating energy consumption is still higher than that of comparable buildings in developed countries. 2.2. Standard for energy-efciency inspection of heating in residential buildings JGJ 1322001 Standard JGJ 1322001, which species inspection and testing methods for heating-system energy efciency, was approved by MOC in February 2001 and took effect on 1 June 2001. The chief author of the standard was the China Academy of Building Research. The standard stipulates nine items to be inspected to assess the energy savings in residential buildings with central heating systems, located in very cold and cold zones in China. These nine items are: the heat-loss index of the building, the index of coal consumption for heating in the district, the average indoor temperature of the building, the heat-transfer coefcient of the building envelope, the inner surface temperature of the building envelope thermal bridge, the consistency of the building envelope thermal performance (i.e. identication of any areas of the envelope that do not meet the standard), the hydraulic balance ratio of the buildings outdoor heating network, the make-up water rate for the network and the heat transportation efciency of the buildings outdoor network. The buildings and heating sources to be inspected are divided into four categories: experimental district heating, experimental buildings, non-experimental district heating, and non-experimental buildings. Experimental buildings and heating systems include new building materials, new technologies, new insulation systems, and new design ideas and methods that are being tested or demonstrated to determine whether they meet the requirements of the energy-efciency standard. District heating includes the heat source (e.g. boiler or substation), the network by which heat is transported, and the piping system within the building. 2.3. Technical specication for energy conservation renovation of existing heating in residential buildings JGJ 1292000 MOC approved JGJ 1292000 in October 2000; the specication took effect on 1 January 2001. The chief author of the specication was the Beijing Zhongjian Institute of Building Design. JGJ 1292000 covers retrotting of existing buildings that central heating systems and are located in very cold and cold zones in China. The specication

balancing devices and insulation of piping and heating systems. Because winter heat transfer takes place only between indoors and outdoors in Northern China and because hourly weather data for the mid-1980s are lacking, the calculation mentioned above uses a steady-state method. In the early 1990s, the DOE-2 dynamic simulation program, developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the US, was used to calculate heat loss in residential buildings in Beijing and then compared the results to those from the steady-state calculation method. The range of error was within 7% [2]. Heat-transfer coefcients and heat-loss percentages for each part of the envelope of a base (19801981) building in Beijing are listed in Table 1. The limited values of heat-transfer coefcients for each part of the building envelope (from Section 4 of JGJ 2695) are also listed in Table 2. Although the building-insulation and air-tightness indices specied in JGJ 2695 are improved relative to those of the base building, they are still not comparable to similar indices used in developed countries. In general, the

Table 2 Limited values of building envelope heat-transfer coefcients in JGJ 2695 (w/m2 K) Roof Exterior wall Staircase without heating Window (including upper part of balcony door) Lower part of balcony door Floor board Shape coefcient 0.3 Shape coefcient >0.3 Shape coefcient 0.3 Shape coefcient >0.3 Partition House door 4.70a /4.00b 1.70 Exposed to air Over basement without heating Perimeter Non-perimeter 0.8 0.6 0.90a /1.16b 0.55a /0.82b 1.83 2.00

0.50 0.55 0.52 0.30

Ground oor
a

Corresponding to K-value of 4.70 for single plastic window. Corresponding to K-value of 4.00 for double glazed metal window (with single frame).
b

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also addresses retrots of the building envelope and heating systems of existing structures without central heating that are located in these zones. 2.4. Reform of heating payment system to promote development of energy efciency in buildings in China In order to promote energy efciency in buildings in very cold and cold zones of China, the Chinese government plans to alter the method of payment for heating. The reform will transform the current social welfare system into a market system and will also continue to promote central heating as the preferred strategy; to develop clean, economical, high-efciency heating systems; and to support the introduction of competition in the market heating supply. The heating payments currently made by government and other institutions will, as part of this reform, be transformed into subsidies to building residents, to be used to purchase heat. Apartment residents will pay for heating based on metered consumption rather than on the basis of oor area, which is the current practice. These policy changes should greatly enhance consumer awareness of the cost of heating energy and the value of energy savings and promote energy efciency in buildings as well as strengthening the Chinese economy. A number of industries will benet from this reform, including makers and suppliers of indoor-temperature control devices and control equipment for heating networks, radiators, and other heat-production units. The reform will also encourage development of insulation materials and technologies as well as other building materials for very cold and cold zones. This change in the method by which heating is paid for will focus attention on building-envelope performance and create a substantial market for retrots to improve building energy performance. As awareness of energy savings increases in Northern China as a result of the heating payment reform, a ripple effect is expected to be felt in other areas of the country. Thus, this reform should promote building energy-efciency efforts and development of related industries throughout the country.

3. Design standard for energy efciency of residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter zones JGJ 1342001 The hot summer and cold winter zone comprises 1.8 million km2 , including 17 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, in the Yangtse River basin in Central China. This area is well known for its dense population, 550 million people, and its highly developed economy; it contributes 48% of Chinas gross domestic product (GDP). MOC approved standard JGJ 1342001 on 5 July 2001; the standard took effect on 1 October 2001. The chief au-

thors of the standard were the China Academy of Building Research and Chongqing Architectural University. Development of the standard received nancial support from the China Sustainable Energy Program of the U.S.-based Energy Foundation and technical support from LBNL and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the US. The Science and Technology Department, Norms and Standards Institute and the MOC Ofce for Energy Efciency in Buildings organized the key authors of the standard to launch a series of training courses on the standard. Some city governments also issued detailed local rules and regulations related to the standard. The standard includes sections on indoor thermal environments, energy-efcient building design, and heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) systems. The standard covers energy-efcient design for new construction as well as retrots and renovations in the hot summer/cold winter zone. Designers can use the standard to determine building envelope thermal performance and the energy-efciency ratio of heating and air conditioning equipment required to produce a 50% reduction in heating and air-conditioning energy consumption compared with that of a base building under the same indoor thermal conditions. The standard offers two approaches to energy-efcient design. One is prescriptive, based on the maximum allowable heat-transfer coefcient for the building envelope and the minimum required energy-efciency ratio of the heating and air conditioning equipment. The other (the Comprehensive Index of Energy Efciency in Buildings) is performance based and gives the maximum allowable heating and cooling energy consumption per square meter of oor area according to the numbers of heating and cooling degree-days. The prescriptive approach is simple to apply; the performance-based approach gives designers exibility. The heat-transfer process in conditioned residential buildings in this climate zone is non-steady state, so dynamic simulation software (DOE-2) is used to calculate energy consumption for the performance-based design approach. The team compiling the standard developed a software package based on DOE-2 that allows designers, real-estate developers, and local government ofcials to determine whether designs will to meet the standard.

4. Design standard for energy efciency of residential buildings in hot summer and warm winter zone JGJ 752003 The hot summer and warm winter zone is located in Southern China and includes most of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, the southern part of Fujian province, Hainan province, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The key feature of this climate zone is a long summer and almost no winter. The climate in this zone is hot and very humid

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with intense solar radiation. This zone has a population of 150 million and contributes about 15% of Chinas GDP; the area is known for its high standard of living and highly developed economy, particularly in the Pearl River delta area. In 1998, 72 million m2 of building oor area, of which 50 million m2 were residential, were constructed in cities in the hot summer and warm winter climate zone; 70% of these buildings were constructed in Guangdong province. Existing buildings in cities in this climate zone represent 810 million m2 , of which 580 million m2 are residential. Because of the rapid economic development in this area, construction is expected to continue at a fast pace, particularly in shoreline cities. MOC approved standard JGJ 752003 in July 2003, to take effect on 1 October 2003. The chief authors of the standard were the China Academy of Building Research and the Building Research Institute of Guangdong province. The standard was developed with nancial support from the China Sustainable Energy Program of the US-based Energy Foundation and technical support from LBNL and NRDC in the US. The standard targets a reduction in energy consumed for air conditioning and heating (mainly air conditioning in this zone). Like the standard described previously, this standard also offers two approaches to energy-efcient design. In this case, the prescriptive approach stipulates the same maximum allowable heat-transfer coefcients for the building envelope as in the cold winter zone, but glazing requirements (e.g. use of double glazing or thermally reective or low-emissivity coatings) and shading coefcients are stipulated based on orientations and window-to-wall area ratios. The reason for these detailed glazing requirements is that the majority of summer cooling load is a result of solar radiation that passes through window glass. In addition, maximum allowable heat-transfer coefcients are prescribed for lightweight walls and roofs (but not for traditional mass walls e.g. masonry and roofs). If a design does not meet the standards prescribed coefcients, the designer should use the performance approach, which stipulates relative allowable energy consumption per square meter of oor area for heating and cooling (rather than xed consumption for a particular region). The performance approach requires that the designer rst calculate a reference budget of energy consumption based on the form and orientation of the proposed design and the parameters stipulated in the standards prescriptive approach. Then, the designer calculates the energy consumption according to the actual design, using changing K-values for envelope and window glass performance until the buildings energy consumption is less than or equal to that of the reference budget. The incorporation of the two design approaches means that the standard can be applied to all types of residential structures, including single-family residences, low-rise buildings, and multi-story and high-rise buildings.

5. Key barriers to promoting energy efciency in buildings in China and strategies to overcome these barriers [3] MOC and local governments have focused on energy efciency in buildings since the 1980s, and numerous standards and regulations as well as related incentive policies and administrative rules have been issued. In addition, many research projects in this area have produced valuable information, and important products have been developed, applied, and commercialized. Many energy-efcient buildings have also been built under the auspices of demonstration projects. By the end of 2000, the total existing oor area of urban buildings in China was 7660 million m2 , of which 4410 million m2 were residential buildings. Unfortunately, the total oor area of residential buildings designed according to energy-efciency standards was only 180 million m2 , which represents only 8% of the total area of residential buildings in cities in Chinas very cold and cold zones. Except in Beijing and Tianjin, most new residential buildings that meet energy-efciency standards are demonstration projects. 1. The main barriers to energy efciency in Chinas residential buildings are as follows: 2. Not all local government ofcials understand the urgency and importance of energy-efcient design; 3. Energy efciency laws and codes need to be rened; 4. There are insufcient economic incentives for energyefcient design and construction; 5. The administrative organization of energy-efciency efforts needs to be improved; in particular, efforts to improve the energy efciency of buildings are not integrated with efforts to improve the quality of wall construction materials; 6. The existing method of heating payments provides no incentive for building residents and developers of new construction to focus on energy efciency; and The strategies for promoting energy efciency in buildings are: 1. Rene the descriptions of building energy efciency in the national code; 2. Establish an integrated administrative organization for energy-efciency efforts; 3. Establish government funding for energy-efcient buildings efforts based on national and local budgets from the Ministry and Bureau of Finance and formulate energy-efciency incentive policies; 4. Promote reform of the heating payment system and determine a reasonable new heating payment policy that will encourage energy efciency and energy savings; and 5. Establish an evaluation and certication system for energy-efcient technologies and products.

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6. Future prospects According to the Chinese government timetable, energyefciency design standards for residential buildings in all climate zones should take effect by the end of 2003 (for moderate zones, designers can use standards for neighboring climate zones). A revision of JGJ 2695 is the highest priority because its design indices still lag behind those of developed countries, and it addresses only central heating systems and does not address air conditioning. In addition, the Beijing municipal government is preparing to revise its local energy-efcient buildings standard. This revised local standard should result in a signicant increase in energy savings. In the current standards, the key performance parameters stipulated for windows are heat-transfer coefcients and air tightness. These parameters are key in Northern China where heating-season energy consumption dominates. However, in Central and Southern China where cooling loads are the major contributors to residential energy consumption, the window performance requirements are somewhat differ-

ent. Similar to related American standards, in which window performance requirements are prescribed according to climate zone, The Design Standard for Energy Efciency of Residential Buildings in the Hot Summer and Warm Winter Zone has included a shading coefcient requirement. Building energy efciency is and will continue to be an important aspect of a national strategy for managing energy resources, encouraging sustainable development and environmental protection, and strengthening the Chinese economy and standard of living.

References
[1] Standard of Climatic Regionalization for Architecture GB 5017893. [2] S. Lang, J.H. Yu, Energy conservation standard for space heating in chinese urban residential buildings, Energy, The International Journal 18 (8) (1992) 871892. [3] Center for Energy Efciency in Buildings (MOC), Suggestions for promoting energy efciency in buildings in China. Seminar on energy efciency in buildings, MOC and US Department of Energy, Shanghai, 2000.