Potentials for and barriers to building energy conservation in China

Conference · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.1990.tb00651.x· OSTI ID:6953005

Huang, Yu Joe

China is distinct among developing countries in having significant heating loads over much of the country. With nearly half of the urban residential buildings located in climates colder than Washington, there is a large demand for space heating that will skyrocket if the current building boom continues. With the exception of hotels and offices catering to foreigners, space heating energy use is constrained by mandated coal allocations that result in partially heated buildings with indoor temperatures significantly below design conditions. The underheating masks to a significant extent the energy savings from more energy efficient boilers and building designs. Even so, computer simulations show that such conservation strategies can reduce current energy use by 40%, while dramatically raising indoor temperatures. Economic calculations comparing energy savings to increased construction costs are skewed by the unmet heating loads as well as government-subsidized coal prices that are below actual costs. From the perspective of building owners and managers, building energy conservation is still economically attractive in the cold Northeast, with a Cost of Conserved Coal half that of the subsidized coal price, but difficult to justify in terms if economic payback in Beijing or Shanghai.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6953005
• Report Number(s): LBL-27644; CONF-8906327--1; ON: DE90011338
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320100* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Buildings
ASIA
BUILDINGS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHINA
COAL
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HEATING
LOAD MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SPACE HEATING