Three Low-Carbon Lessons from China for U.S. Cities and Companies

The briefing analyzes China's 'Standard for Energy Consumption of Civil Buildings' (GB/T51161-2016), which establishes energy quotas based on metered performance relative to peer groups. It argues that U.S. entities can benefit from China's approach to whole-building metered assessment, the localization of performance targets to account for market dynamics, and the challenges of aligning operational energy targets with design codes.

• China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) introduced a nationwide 'energy quota' for buildings (GB/T51161-2016) to limit energy use as measured at the meter. This system defines energy efficiency as performance better than 50 percent of all existing buildings in China, with stretch targets set at 75 percent of peers.
• To establish accurate energy targets, China utilizes a peer-to-peer comparison methodology that normalizes for four primary variables: weather (e.g., Beijing's cold vs. Hainan's heat), property type (e.g., luxury vs. economy hotels), local energy supply (including coal-dominated electricity or district heating/cooling), and building operating conditions (such as occupant density or energy-intensive processes).
• There is a potential conflict between design standards (which predict energy use) and operational energy targets (which measure actual use). While Sweden and Seattle bypass design codes to regulate measured performance, China is expected to maintain design codes to avoid disrupting the system in its 50 largest cities, though a study by LBNL China Energy Group suggests that government office buildings meeting design standards might still fail to meet the energy quota.
• China's system allows for the localization of performance assessments, requiring cities to create targets based on local data to account for market dynamics such as the rarity of efficient technologies, low energy prices, or a lack of skilled operators.
• Investments in the energy performance of both new and existing buildings in China have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 1.2 billion tons by 2030, which represents 3.8 percent of total global carbon emissions from 2015.

APA

RMI (2017). Three Low-Carbon Lessons from China for U.S. Cities and Companies. https://rmi.org/resources/three-low-carbon-lessons-china-u-s-cities-companies/

Chicago

RMI. Three Low-Carbon Lessons from China for U.S. Cities and Companies. 2017. https://rmi.org/resources/three-low-carbon-lessons-china-u-s-cities-companies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Three Low-Carbon Lessons from China for U.S. Cities and Companies |date=24 April 2017 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/three-low-carbon-lessons-china-u-s-cities-companies/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2017three, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Three Low-Carbon Lessons from China for U.S. Cities and Companies}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/three-low-carbon-lessons-china-u-s-cities-companies/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }