Decarbonizing or illusion? How carbon emissions of commercial building operations change worldwide

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21232575
AutoresLiming Chen (0000-0003-0200-7989, Chongqing University), Minda Ma (0000-0002-5533-656X, Tsinghua University, autor de correspondencia), Xiwang Xiang (Chongqing University)
Año2023
Volumen96
Páginas104654
Fecha de publicación2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSustainable Cities and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2210-6707 • E-ISSN: 2210-6715
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.scs.2023.104654
OpenAlexW4376620093
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13
Referencias citadas67

To lead the low-carbon transition in global buildings, this study is the first to use the generalized Divisia index method (GDIM) to identify the factors driving carbon emissions and assess the decarbonization performance in commercial building operations (CBOs) of sixteen countries during 2000-2019. Results show that (1) while the global carbon emissions from CBOs have increased at a modest rate of 0.9%/yr, this trend runs counter to the declining emissions in the U.S. (-1.1%/yr) and the significant growth in China (14.4%/yr), which can be attributed to the impact of economy-related factors. (2) The U.S. and China, as the largest emitters, contributed 66.8% of the samples’ decarbonization of CBOs (919.1 million tons of carbon dioxide). (3) Most countries’ CBOs had a decarbonization efficiency level of less than 10%, except for Spain (27.8%). Spain excelled in both areas of per capita and per floor area with an average efficiency of nearly 30%. Moreover, ridge regression successfully confirms the stability of GDIM results and it should be noted GDIM has limitations in characterizing the end-use activity. Overall, this study tracks the historical decarbonization of global CBOs and offers benchmarks for different emitters to forecast the dynamic of building emissions along with economic booms

Architectural engineering · Business · Climate change · Economics · Greenhouse gas · Illusion · Natural resource economics · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Psychology · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment · Geology