Estimating energy savings in Chinese residential buildings from 2001 to 2015: A decomposition analysis

Abstract

Evaluating energy savings in Chinese residential buildings (ESCRB) plays an important role in Chinese building energy- efficiency work. However, the said work is currently challenged by the lack of effective method for estimating ESCRB data by summarizing all the quantifiable and unquantifiable impact factors. To overcome this problem, this study employed the equation of Human Impact, Population, Affluence, and Technology (IPAT), and the index decomposition of Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to establish an effective ESCRB estimation method, and then calculated ESCRB data during the period of 2001-2015. Results of this study reflect that ESCRB has significantly accumulated with the rapid development of Chinese building energy-efficiency work in the past 15 years. In particular, ESCRB data in 2001-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2015 are 118, 79, and 96 million tons of standard coal equivalent, respectively. This study proves the feasibility of calculating ESCRB data and fills the lack of research on effective ESCRB estimation methods. Moreover, this method is also applicable for estimating energy savings in residential buildings at a provincial or regional level.