Understanding the Building Energy Efficiency in Different Climates across Various Building Types

Abstract

This study analyses the determinants of building energy efficiency in different climate zones and various use types. The energy consumptions of the buildings that locate in different climate zones can be affected by the well-known determinants in different ways. So do the buildings with different use types. The primary aim of this study is to investigate how the building energy efficiency is determined in five major climate zones and of four main property types. We use the global building data (Points Achieved dataset) from the LEED rating system from 2010 in this study to conduct three cross-sectional tests with logit regression models. The results confirm that the determinants of building energy efficiency are location of the building, adoption of BECs, climate zones, building types as well as the regional economic development level (namely GNI, GDP, PPP) and population density although in different climate zone or for different building types, the determinants' impact varies considerably. This is the first study empirically explored the building energy efficiency and how it is determined in different climate conditions and various use types. The findings are helpful for the stakeholders, such as policy makers, developers, and local authorities when they hope to implement some measures to improve building energy efficiency as well as the policy/regulation to boost the building energy efficiency. Each building requires specific measures that suit its different climate zone or building type to enhance its energy efficiency.