An analysis of the demonstration projects for renewable energy application buildings in China

Energy Policy 63 (2013) 382–397

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Energy Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

An analysis of the demonstration projects for renewable energy application buildings in China Xingmin Liu a,n, Hong Ren a, Yong Wu b, Deping Kong c a

Chongqing University, Faculty of Construction, Management and Real Estate, Chongqing 400045, China Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development of the PR China, Beijing 100835, China c China Building Design Consultants Company, Beijing 100120, China b

H I G H L I G H T S








The policy measures to promote the development of renewable energy application buildings in China. Evaluation of the demonstration policy effects in the market development and other aspects. Analyses of the regional applicability for renewable energy application buildings in China. Analyses of problems met in the implementation of the demonstration projects. Put forward some policy suggestions on standard, technology, management, etc.

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 21 March 2013 Accepted 28 August 2013 Available online 24 September 2013

During the 2006–2008 period, there were 386 demonstration projects for renewable energy application buildings (REAB) organised by Chinese government, with a total area of approximately 40,420,000 m2. By the end of 2011, the vast majority of these projects had been completed and had passed the final acceptance. This paper analyses the measures taken by the Chinese government, including economic incentive mechanisms, organising agencies, application and evaluation systems, online monitoring platforms, acceptance inspections, assessment systems, standard criteria and so forth. This paper then evaluates the policy effects. The paper shows that there has been a satisfactory effect in the development of the REAB market, mobilising the enthusiasm of the government, equipment manufacturers and scientific research institutions, and promoting energy conservation. In addition, this paper analyses the suitability of different technological types in different climatic zones, which provides further guidance for the development of the REAB. Finally, based on the analyses of the problems met in the implementation of the demonstration projects, this paper proposes some policy suggestions concerning standard criteria, technological development, project management, incentive mechanisms and so on, to promote the development of the REAB more effectively in the future in China. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Renewable energy application buildings Demonstration projects Policy analyses

1. Introduction In recent years, with the improvement in the urbanisation rate, economic development, and the increase of people′s incomes and living standards, building energy consumption in China has been consistently increasing. There are approximately 2 billion square metres of new building constructed every year in China. By 2006, the total construction area in China was more than 40 billion square metres (Zhou et al., 2010). During the period from 1996 to 2006, China′s overall building energy consumption increased by 1.3 times, from 243 million tons of standard coal to 563 million

n

Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 86 15010003601; fax: þ86 023 65120842. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (X. Liu).

0301-4215/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.091

tons, accounting for 23.1% of China′s total energy consumption for the year (Building Energy Efficiency Centre of Tsinghua University, 2009). According to the experience of developed countries, this proportion will gradually increase to 35% (Kong et al., 2012). These facts demonstrate that China is facing a serious situation in its energy use and that necessary measures must be taken to satisfy the growing need to manage the energy consumed in buildings. China is rich in renewable energy resources such as solar energy and shallow geothermal energy; these resources have broad potential if they are applied in construction and can meet the ever-increasing need for energy in buildings. In China, abundant solar energy endows two-thirds of the land with over 2200 sunshine hours per year and annual solar radiation of over 5000 MJ per square metre, making China an advantageous region with great potential for developing solar energy utilisation (Li and He, 2010; National Development and

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Reform Committee (NDRC), 2007; Zhao et al., 2009). In addition, there is great potential to develop and utilise geothermal energy in China. It is estimated that the potential renewable energy in 287 or more prefecture-level cities equals that of 350 million tons of standard coal under the existing technological and economic conditions. If this energy is effectively developed and utilised, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 500 million tons (Guan, 2011). There are particular conditions in China that benefit the promotion of REAB. However, there are still obstacles such as high investment requirements, a lack of application awareness and a low technological level of application at the early stage of development (Wu, 2009). By the end of 2005, the heat collecting area for solar water heaters in China was 80 million square metres. But the heaters were primarily installed and used in a scattered way, and the application of solar energy was not integrated with the building. In addition, the level of solar energy utilisation was quite low, with a thermal utilisation rate of approximately 15% (Wang and Ren, 2010). Furthermore, the market for REAB was in a stalemate due to the weak demand and the limited supply. For instance, the utilisation of shallow geothermal energy is an emerging technology, and developers and customers have little understanding of this resource and therefore lack the enthusiasm to develop and utilise it. Shallow geothermal techniques were applied to only approximately 20 million square metres of building area by the end of 2005. Because of this slow development, the Chinese government took active measures to promote the development of REAB. In 2005, the Chinese government passed the “Renewable Energy Law of the PRC”, which clearly listed the development and utilisation of renewable energy as a priority area and took corresponding measures to promote the establishment and development of a renewable energy market. In 2006, the Ministry of Construction (MOC/MOHURD) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) established policies for the REAB and organised and implemented demonstration projects. These organisations aimed to drive the development of the renewable energy industry and to collect experience (MOF, MOC/MOHURD, 2006). A special fund was provided by the national government, focused on solar domestic water heating, heating and cooling integrated with the building, and heating and cooling through varied ground source heat pump technologies (MOF, MOC/MOHURD, 2006a; Kong et al., 2012). The priority areas supported by the special fund for REAB included the following:

383

Through the implementation of these demonstration projects, demand and supply in the REAB market has been effectively activated. However, REAB are still at an early stage in China and account for a low proportion of building area every year. In addition, an effective promotion and application mode for these types of projects is still lacking. However, the demonstration projects have experienced a complete cycle of construction and operation from project application, construction, examination and evaluation to acceptance and inspection, which is helpful for analysing problems and summarising experiences. Based on the experiences from these projects, we can provide suggestions for future policies to promote the rapid development of REAB in China.

2. The implementation of demonstration projects The demonstration projects were implemented through MOHURD and MOF. The government established a comprehensive policy system to ensure the effective implementation of the demonstration projects. The adopted measures included economic incentive mechanisms, organising agencies, an application and evaluation system, an online monitoring platform, an acceptance inspection and assessment system, a technical standard system and so on. 2.1. The establishment of an economic incentive mechanism

shallow underground water source heat pump technologies;

A special fund for the development of REAB was financed by the national government to subsidise the demonstration projects. The standard subsidy for different types of technology can be found in Table 1. According to the checked and ratified subsidy amount for each demonstration project, the MOF first issued 50% of the total subsidy budget to the local finance departments, and the rest of subsidy was granted after the project was completed and had passed the acceptance inspection and evaluation (MOF, MOC/MOHURD, 2006a). In addition, a double supervision mechanism was established to ensure that the subsidies were used in a standard and effective way. On the one hand, local finance departments were responsible for reexamining the qualifications of a demonstration project to receive appropriations. On the other hand, the Fiscal Supervision Commissioners in the Resident Offices of the MOF (FSCROMOF) were responsible for inspecting the use of the subsidies and providing a report to the MOF; this report would later be used as a basis to appropriate the remaining subsidy (MOF, MOC/MOHURD, 2007). Fig. 1 is the flow chart for subsidy appropriation for the demonstration projects.

technologies in areas with abundant surface water resources;

2.2. Establishment of the organising agencies

technologies in coastal areas.

Specialised organising agencies in charge of technical guidance, management and coordination during the implementation of demonstration projects were established at both the national and the local levels. MOHURD and MOF are the national level supervision and management sectors. Under their supervision, some organising agencies were established to take charge of specific management tasks. A project management office (PMO) at the national level was established to be responsible for the daily management of demonstration projects. A project specialist panel was organised to appraise the application. Institutions providing building energy efficiency examination and evaluation (IBEEEE) were commissioned to examine and evaluate the demonstration projects. Local departments of construction and finance, as the


Building-integrated solar domestic water heating, heating and cooling, photovoltaic conversion and lighting;


Heating and cooling through ground source heat pump and
Heating and cooling through freshwater source heat pump
Heating and cooling through seawater source heat pump
Heating and cooling through sewage source heat pump technologies. From 2006 to 2008, 386 demonstration projects were organised by the Chinese government. The technology types for these projects covered solar energy photo-thermal utilisation, photovoltaic power generation, ground source heat pumps, and composite technology integrating shallow geothermal energy with solar energy. The demonstration area totalled 40.42 million m2, with a photo-electric installed capacity of 6.2 MW.1 By the end of 2011, most of these demonstration projects had completed construction and passed the final inspection. 1 From 2006 to 2008, there were a few building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) projects among the demonstration projects organised and implemented by the Chinese government. In 2009, for the large-scale promotion of photovoltaic power generation, the Chinese government organised and implemented the “Solar Roof Project” and the

(footnote continued) “Golden Sun Pilot Project” (MOF, MOHURD, 2009; MOF et al., 2009), which are not the concern of the REAADP policies. Therefore, this paper does not discuss BIPV.

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Table 1 The standard subsidy for different technological types for demonstration projects. Technological type

Standard subsidy

1 Building-integrated solar domestic water heating 2 Solar heating 3 Soil source heat pump 4 Groundwater source heat pump 5 Freshwater source heat pump 6 Seawater source heat pump 7 Sewage source heat pump 8 Composite technology of solar energy and shallow geothermal energy a

$6.5 per square metrea $13 per square metre $13 per square metre $13 per square metre $13 per square metre $13 per square metre $13 per square metre $16.3 per square metre

The “square meter” means the building area using the renewable energy.

Fig. 1. Flow chart of the subsidy appropriation process for the demonstration projects.

local competent authorities, were in charge of managing the specific project. Fig. 2 illustrates the structure of the organising agencies for the demonstration projects.

evaluated from four perspectives: advances in technology, applicability, reasonable cost, and feasibility of demonstration and popularisation (MOF, MOC/MOHURD, 2006b).

2.3. Establishment of the application and assessment system

2.4. Establishment of an online monitoring platform

Demonstration projects should be representative of more advanced technologies and should provide a greater value if popularised, if society is to benefit from the demonstration. MOHURD and MOF established a series of normative application and evaluation procedures to select the demonstration projects (see Fig. 3). Firstly, a stepby-step application and evaluation system was established. The demonstration projects were examined and ratified by the municipal and provincial departments of finance and construction before they were sent to MOHURD and MOF. Secondly, experts in the fields of renewable energy, building energy efficiency, finance, project management and so on were selected by MOHURD and MOF to evaluate the declaration projects. Thirdly, an evaluation index system was established. A project was graded and

Through the establishment of a monitoring platform, online monitoring and data analyses for the renewable energy system could be conducted, and the actual operation of the project could be observed and checked at any time. This platform guided the operation and management of the project and provided the basic data support for the long-term development of the REAB (Liu, 2009). The online monitoring platform′s monitoring system consisted of the data acquisition layer, the data transfer layer and the data centre layer, with functions such as data collection, data transfer and data processing (see Fig. 4). At present, due to the limited data, there is only one national monitoring centre in the monitoring system. In the future, with the popularisation of the REAB, provincial monitoring centres will gradually be established.

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385

Fig. 2. The structure of the organising agencies for the demonstration projects.

MOHURD has created a “Technological Guide Rules for the Data Monitoring System of REAB” to guide the construction of the data monitoring system. 2.5. The establishment of the acceptance inspection and evaluation system According to the laws and regulations in China for a project, the building energy efficiency subproject must pass through a special acceptance inspection (MOC/MOHURD, 2007a). For the REAB demonstration projects, after the special acceptance inspection for building energy efficiency, another special inspection concerning the renewable energy system of the project must be conducted. So the demonstration projects should pass through a special acceptance inspection for building energy efficiency, a pre-inspection of the renewable energy system, and finally the testing and evaluation of the renewable energy system, which examines the use of the subsidies and provides the acceptance inspection and evaluation. At the end of the project, MOHURD and MOF reexamine the acceptance inspection and evaluation of the demonstration projects, and another 50% of the subsidy is appropriated depending on the reexamination results (MOF, MOC/ MOHURD, 2007). Fig. 5 illustrates the detailed process. 2.6. Issuing the standard criteria At present, over 10 national standards concerning the REAB have been issued or are under compilation, among which are the “Technical code for the solar water heating system of civil buildings”, the “Technical code for the solar water heating system – design, installation and engineering acceptance”, the “Technical code for the solar heating system”, the “Technical code for ground-source heat pump system engineering” and the “Evaluation criterion for the application engineering of REAB”. Over 100 standards, codes and atlases have been issued or are being compiled by the local governments. In some provinces and cities, the technical code system for the REAB is being improved; this system covers all links including

design, construction, acceptance inspection and operation management (Guo et al., 2011). In addition, in 2007, the MOC issued an inventory of technologies for the REAB in the Eleventh Five-year Plan to guide its technological development (MOC/MOHURD, 2007b). The technical codes can guide the construction and implementation of the REAB in a scientific and reasonable way.

3. The effects of the demonstration project policies From 2006 to 2008, the Chinese government approved altogether 386 demonstration projects, with a total demonstration area of 40.42 million m2 (see Fig. 6). The demonstration projects were widely distributed in the 5 climate zones.2 And the demonstration projects were implemented in the typical building types, including residential buildings and public buildings, such as commercial residential building, office building, shopping mall, hotel, hospital, school, etc. All of those highlight their representativeness. By the end of 2011, altogether 367 projects had passed the onsite testing of the national energy efficiency testing institutions, and 312 of these projects had also passed the acceptance inspection. The national government finance had appropriated approximately $0.5 billion. Below, we will analyse the policy effects of the REAB demonstration projects.

3.1. Development of the REAB market The initiation and implementation of the REAB policies broke the deadlock in the market and powerfully activated market demand. By the end of 2010, there were approximately 1.48 billion square metres of solar energy photo-thermal application building 2 To match the thermal design of a building with local climate conditions, China is divided into 5 climatic zones that are extremely cold, cold, hot in summer and cold in winter, hot in summer and warm in winter, and mild (MOC/MOHURD, 1993).

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Fig. 3. Flow chart for the application and evaluation process of demonstration projects.

Fig. 4. Online monitoring platform of REAB.

area and 227 million square metres of ground source heat pump application building area in China (MOHURD, 2012).

3.1.1. Leading the solar heat utilisation market to a high level Driven by the demonstration policy, the solar energy utilisation market has entered into a stage of high-level development. Firstly,

the market for solar water heaters has experienced rapid development. The market for solar water heaters in China has maintained an average annual growth rate as high as 27% from 2006 to 2009 (Huo and Luo, 2010). The market share for solar water heating projects also steadily increased from 20% in 2003 to 40% in 2009 (Xu and Zheng, 2009). Secondly, the accumulated area of buildings with solar energy has experienced an increase year after

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387

Fig. 5. Flow chart for the acceptance inspection and evaluation of demonstration projects.

solar water heating

2,460,000

solar heating

20

Unit:

6,020,000

14.8

3,760,000

groundwater source heat pump

10,240,000

freshwater source heat pump

1,940,000

seawater source heat pump

1,500,000

sewage source heat pump

4,590,000

Composite technology of solar

x 100000000

soil source heat pump

15 10.3 10 5

7,700,000

heat pump combination technique

2,210,000 0

4,000,000

0 8,000,000

12,000,000

Fig. 6. Demonstration area for each technical type of demonstration project.

year (see Fig. 7). In 2006, the accumulated area of buildings with applied solar energy was 0.23 billion square metres. By the end of 2010, the accumulated area of buildings that have applied solar energy had reached 1.48 billion square metres, which is 6.4 times the accumulated area in 2006 (MOHURD, 2012).

11.79

7.0 2.3 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Fig. 7. The accumulated solar thermal application area from 2006 to 2010.

Thirdly, the thermal application method for solar energy has shifted from scattered installations to centralised and integrated installation. Driven by the demonstration policy, the utilisation method for solar energy has developed from installing individual solar water heaters on buildings to installing centralised heating

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systems and door-to-door centralised heating systems with a relatively high integration level. With more emphasis on synchronous design, synchronous construction and synchronous installation between the solar heating systems and the buildings, the appearance of the buildings and the heat utilisation rate of solar energy have been substantially improved. Fourthly, the developments in solar heating and refrigeration technologies have been promoted. Through the exploration and summary of these implementation experiences, China has significantly improved the application and popularity of solar heating and cooling technologies. 3.1.2. The ground source heat pump market takes off Driven by the demonstration policies, the ground source heat pump market has experienced a period of rapid development. Firstly, the application building area for ground source heat pumps increased rapidly. From 2006 to 2010, the application building area for ground source heat pumps in China increased from 26 million square metres to 227 million square metres (MOHURD, 2012) (see Fig. 8), and from 2005 to 2010, the market scale for heat pump units increased from 600 million to 3.5 billion (China Association of Building Energy Efficiency (CABEE), 2012). Secondly, the demonstration policies promoted the development of the heat pump industry. The number and the scale of the enterprises addressing ground source heat pumps are growing rapidly. By the end of 2010, there were over 500 enterprises engaged in the manufacture of ground source heat pumps and other related equipment, project design and construction, system integration and commissioning management; these enterprises have a registered capital of 25%, representing over $16 million (CABEE, 2012). Thirdly, the demonstration policies have driven a large-scale effect. For instance, shallow geothermal energy is abundant in Shenyang, where 14 ground source heat pump application projects were successively determined to be national demonstration projects. These projects promoted the large-scale application of ground source heat pump technology in the city. By the end of 2011, the application building area for the ground source heat pumps in Shenyang increased to 59.41 million square metres, accounting for 1/3 of the total heating area of the city (Refrigeration Express, 2012; Shenyang Daily, 2010). Furthermore, a ground source heat pump technology application mode with Shenyang characteristics has been formed in actual practice: equipping new buildings with the application conditions for ground source heat pump systems for heating (cooling), improving the existing heating and cooling methods in older public buildings using ground source heat pump technology, and adopting a combination of ground source heat pumps and central heating to supply heat in older residential buildings (Cui, 2010). 3.2. Increasing the enthusiasm of those involved in REAB 3.2.1. Economic incentive policies actively issued by the local governments Driven by the economic incentive policies issued by the central government, local governments also issued economic incentive

2

x 100000000

3.2.2. Intensified technological research by equipment manufacturers and scientific research institutions More than 3 years of demonstration and practice have increased the enthusiasm of equipment manufacturers and scientific research institutions for research. The project equipment manufacturers and technology support units intensified their research and increased their investment in areas such as the properties of products, feasibility of integration with buildings, system design and so on, thereby enhancing the construction of both hardware and software. For example, the scientific research institutions in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei and Sichuan conducted research for the REAB including ground source heat pump application in the Yangtze River basin and issued “A research report on the planning of renewable energy application buildings”. In Chongqing, related enterprises and scientific research institutions organised and implemented a research program, “Study and demonstration of key technologies for the efficient application of a surface water source heat pump system”, which made a series of technological achievements such as an efficient and energy-saving surface water source heat pump unit (Liu et al., 2012). Guangxi University led the organisation and implementation of “Modelling and software research & development for the techno-economic appraisal system of renewable energy resources and building integration”, “Research on key technologies for the planning and design of the optimised allocation of resources during the urban utilisation of shallow geothermal energy”, and so on (Gu et al., 2010).

2.27

2.5

1.39

1.5 0.8

1 0.5

policies regarding the REAB, including special funds, tax preferences, and counterpart funds for subsidies financed by the national government. Special funds were established for the REAB in the provinces of Shandong, Ningxia, Hainan, and so on. For example, Shandong Province established a fund of 400 million yuan for the special purpose of new energy development and application; Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region conducted an application and a demonstration of REAB, with 13 projects listed as demonstration projects and over 50 million yuan of subsidies obtained; Hainan Province established a provincial-level special fund to subsidise REAB, particularly the construction of Hainan demonstration projects for the application of solar water heating systems. Jiangsu, Hainan, Jilin and other provinces offered tax preferences to the REAB projects. For example, Jiangsu Province reduced or exempted the water rate for qualified ground source heat pump systems; Hainan Province supported the application projects for solar water heating systems by compensating the building area or providing financial aid; Jilin Province reduced half of the urban infrastructure costs for the construction projects that adopted renewable energy. Cities such as Chongqing and Nanjing gave proportionate monetary awards to the projects receiving subsidies from central revenue. For example, Chongqing municipal finance provided a counterpart fund equal to the subsidy from the central government; Nanjing municipal finance provided a counterpart fund that was three times the subsidy from the central government (Guo et al., 2011).

1

0.265

0 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Fig. 8. The accumulated ground source heat pump application building area from 2006 to 2010.

3.2.3. Increased zeal of real estate developers and other projectundertaking units to apply renewable resource technologies Demonstration projects policies stimulated the demand side by providing monetary awards to the project-undertaking units, which greatly stimulated the interest of real estate developers and other project-undertaking units to develop and apply renewable resources. In addition, the demonstration projects offered pronounced energy conservation and delivered strong economic profits, which was a satisfactory demonstration effect. Therefore, from 2006 to 2008, when the demonstration projects were

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heating requirements after the Olympics Games, the project used four heat pump units to generate a total heating capacity of 21.2 MW. Based on an inspection and evaluation conducted by the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, the project could generate an annual energy capacity comparable to the energy generated by 36845 GJ, reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by 3105.2 t per year, reduce the emission of sulphur dioxide by 12.6 t per year and save a total of $204,679 in expenses per year (Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban–rural Development, 2010). Therefore, the project plays a typical role demonstrating thermal energy development and utilisation using urban sewage. 3.4. Exploration of the regional suitability of REAB Fig. 9. Approvals and applications for the demonstration projects from 2006 to 2008.

implemented, there was a year-on-year increase in the number of projects applying to be demonstration projects (see Fig. 9). 3.3. Relatively satisfactory energy savings and emissions reduction effect achieved The application of renewable energy in buildings in China has achieved excellent results in energy savings and emission reduction. According to the report announced by MOHURD, driven by the demonstration policy, the accumulated solar thermal application building area and the superficial layer geothermal energy application building area have increased by 25.5% and 63.3% to 1.48 billion square metres and 0.227 billion square metres, respectively, by the end of 2010 compared with 2009. The energy capacity generated from the utilisation of this resource is comparable to the energy generated by 586 million GJ (MOHURD, 2012). In addition, the China Academy of Building Research analysed 64 demonstration projects for heat pump systems, which contain 30 projects for soil source heat pumps, 24 projects for groundwater heat pumps, and 10 projects for sewage source heat pumps, with a building area of 5.4 million square metres. The results show that ground source heat pump projects promote energy savings and emissions reduction. Relative to the conventional cooling and heating systems, a ground source heat pump system could save 160 MJ per square metre every year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 13.63 kg, sulphur dioxide emissions by 0.11 kg, and dust emissions by 0.07 kg per square metre every year (Wang et al., 2012). We use the Project in Heating and Refrigeration Engineering with a Reclaimed Water Source Heat Pump System in the Olympic Village (hereinafter referred to as the Project) as an example to explain the development in the utilisation of renewable energy. In 2006, the Project was approved by MOHURD and MOF as one of the REAB demonstration projects. Based on the official approval, the total demonstration area of the project was 150,000 m2 and the government would provide a financial subsidy to the project of $1.5 million. The energy source for the project was reclaimed water with a temperature between 15 1C and 25 1C from the Qinghe and Beixiaohe Sewage Treatment Plants. With the application of a heat pump system, the project extracted energy from the reclaimed water with the relatively low consumption of electric energy; this energy was then used to supply the necessary heating and air conditioning services to the Olympic village during the heat of summer and the cold of winter. To meet the air conditioning requirements during the Olympic Games period, four heat pump units (cooling capacity of 5.331 MW per unit) and four centrifugal chillers (cooling capacity of 1.856 MW per set) were used to generate a total cooling capacity of 28.748 MW. After the Olympic games, four heat pump units and one centrifugal chiller were used to generate a total cooling capacity of 23.18 MW to meet the winter requirements. To meet the winter

China′s territory is so vast that resource conditions, the climate and the demand for heating vary from region to region. Therefore, suitable technologies must be adopted to improve the system efficiency according to the local conditions. Addressing different climatic zones, the demonstration projects involved a variety of technological types of solar energy and heat pump application. Through the monitoring, testing, evaluation, and techno-economic appraisal of the demonstration projects, the suitability of the demonstration and the popularisation of different technology types in different climatic zones can be summarised. 3.4.1. Solar water heating technology The solar fraction is an important evaluation index for solar water heating systems. Through the monitoring and evaluation of the demonstration projects for solar water heating systems, the solar fraction (fa) of the system throughout the entire year and the cost-effectiveness ratio (r) can be calculated. For a region, throughout a year, the number of days with solar irradiation of less than 8 MJ/m2 is x1, the number of days with solar irradiation of less than 13 MJ/m2 and greater than or equal to 8 MJ/m2 is x2, the number of days with solar irradiation of less than 18 MJ/m2 and greater than or equal to 13 MJ/m2 is x3, and the number of days with solar irradiation of greater than or equal to 18 MJ/m2 is x4. According to the results of the monitoring, the solar fraction is f1 when the solar irradiation is less than 8 MJ/m2, and the quantity of heat collected by the solar thermal system is Q1; the solar fraction is f2 when the solar irradiation is less than 13 MJ/m2 and greater than or equal to 8 MJ/m2, and the quantity of heat collected by the solar thermal system is Q2; the solar fraction is f3 when the solar irradiation is less than 18 MJ/m2 and greater than or equal to 13 MJ/m2, and the quantity of heat collected by the solar thermal system is Q3; the solar fraction is f4 when the solar irradiation is greater than or equal to 18 MJ/m2, and the quantity of heat collected by the solar thermal system is Q4. The solar fraction for the entire year fa is fa ¼

x1 f 1 þ x2 f 2 þ x3 f 3 þ x4 f 4 x1 þ x2 þ x3 þ x4

ð1Þ

and the solar fraction of the system f is f¼

Qc Qc þQfz

ð2Þ

Qc is the quantity of heat collected by the solar heat collecting system (MJ); Qfz is the quantity of heat collected from supplementary heat sources (MJ). The replacement quantity of a conventional energy source for the entire year Qbm is Q bm ¼ x1 Q 1 þ x2 Q 2 þ x3 Q 3 þ x4 Q 4

ð3Þ

Qbm is the quantity of heat collected by the solar thermal system for the entire year (MJ).

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The cost-effectiveness ratio of the project r (dollar/kWh) is C C r ¼ ic ¼ ic Q Q bm A

ð4Þ

Cic is the total incremental investment for using a solar water heating system in the project (dollar); Q is the total replacement quantity for a conventional source of energy during the life cycle of the solar water heating system (kWh); and A is the product life cycle of the solar water heating system (no dimension). To determine the regional suitability of the solar water heating technology, it is necessary to take into account factors such as the operational efficiency of the solar water heating system, regional economic development, the population, and energy demand. It can be seen from the implementation status of the demonstration projects that the solar fraction can be guaranteed at a level above 30% for the entire year in category I, II and III regions,3 which all have relatively rich solar energy resources. However, a solar water heating system is easily influenced by the change of seasons and the weather. Therefore, a solar water heating system still must be supported by a supplementary heat source (such as electricity, natural gas, etc.). The category I regions belong to a belt with abundant solar energy where the annual radiation amount can reach above 6300 MJ (m2 a). However, most of these regions are located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, with relatively low economic development status; it is difficult to introduce technology and bring the appropriate talent to an area with a low population and low solar heating energy demand. Moreover, the large variations between seasons and the bitter cold winters in this area largely restrain the working efficiency of the solar heating system. The category II and III regions have relatively rich solar energy with an annual radiation amount of above 4600 MJ/(m2 a). The solar fraction of the demonstration projects in these regions can be guaranteed at a level between 30% and 70% (Centre of Science and Technology Construction of MOHURD (CSTCMOHURD), 2012). Moreover, the category and regions are mostly located in the central and eastern areas of China with relatively good economic conditions, a high population (approximately 78% of the total population of the country is distributed in these regions) and significant hot water demand. Therefore, these areas are suitable for the promotion of solar energy utilisation. However, in the regions with an extremely cold climate (including north Xinjiang, Songliao Plain, Liaoning, and East Inner Mongolia), the working efficiency of solar energy water heating is largely influenced by long periods of low temperatures in the winter. Meanwhile, it is necessary to take measures to avoid the solar heating system freezing in winter. The category regions have relatively poor solar energy resources. Although these areas have a large population and a high demand for hot water, the working efficiency of the solar heating system is quite low due to the limited availability of solar energy. Therefore, the category IV regions are not suitable for the large scale construction of solar energy heaters. Table 2 shows the regional suitability for solar water heating technology in China. 3.4.2. Solar heating technology Depending on the utilisation method for solar energy, a solar heating system can be divided into two types: a passive or an 3 The Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences has divided the territory in China into four solar resource belts according to the amount of annual solar radiation quantity, including the following: the rich solar resource belt (category I regions) with a total annual solar radiation quantity above 6300 MJ (m2 a); the relatively rich solar resource belt (category II regions) with a total annual solar radiation quantity between 5400 and 6300 MJ (m2 a); the common solar resource belt (category III regions) with a total annual solar radiation quantity between 4600 and 5400 MJ (m2 a); and the poor solar resource belt (category IV regions) with a total annual solar radiation quantity below 4600 MJ (M2 a).

active heating system. The passive solar heating system achieves the heating objective by absorbing and storing the incoming heat of solar energy through the thermal performance of the location, the configuration and the building materials. The characteristics of a passive solar heating system mean that its heating efficiency is largely dependent on the building style and the construction materials. Generally, large open areas are needed to access the sunshine. In addition, to ensure an excellent heating effect, a passive solar heating system generally requires buildings to have strong energy saving performance. Currently, passive solar heating technologies are widely used in buildings; among these uses, passive solar houses achieve the best performance. The Chinese government has implemented demonstration projects for passive solar energy houses in Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, etc. Based on the performance status of these demonstration projects, the application of passive solar energy in a house obtains a room temperature of approximately 8–10 1C higher than that obtained by normal residential houses under the same heating status. Moreover, the increased investment in a passive solar energy house can basically be controlled to within 10% of the construction cost of the building. Therefore, passive solar energy housing technology is quite suitable for category I, II and III regions, which have relatively rich solar energy and bitterly cold winters that lead to high heating demand. In addition, considering the requirements of the building space, passive solar house technology is appropriate for the construction of rural areas, small towns and villages with relative low building density. An active solar heating system includes a solar energy heating collection system, a regenerative system, a terminal heating supply system, an automatic control system and other energy supported heating and heat exchange equipment. Compared to a passive solar heating system, the heating supply of an active system is much more stable. However, the active system is much more complicated and requires a much higher investment. The Chinese government has implemented demonstration projects for active solar energy systems in Qinghai (category I regions) and Inner Mongolia (category II and category III regions), where solar energy resources are abundant. The implementation experiences of these demonstration projects demonstrate that that the conditions below should be met to ensure the sound operation of an active solar heating system: (i) to guarantee the maximum utilisation efficiency of the solar heating system, the area in which the building is located should have abundant solar resources; (ii) the buildings used for heating collection should have excellent energy conservation performance; (iii) solar collectors with a relatively large area should be applied to ensure the working efficiency of the solar heating system; (iv) heat storage equipment should be available to meet the continuous heating supply requirement; and (v) a supplementary heating source should be available. In the implementation of these demonstration projects, we found that the active solar heating systems have a thermal balance problem between the winter and the summer. To meet the heating requirements in winter, a project would most likely need to install a relatively large solar collector. As a result, there is much more hot water generated than is demanded in summer, leading to a low utilisation rate for the heating system. Based on these problems, many experts recommend using a seasonal heating storage approach to address the problem of insufficient heating capacity in winter and excess heating capacity in summer. The category I and category II regions, especially Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, are quite suitable for the construction of seasonal heating storage and regional thermal station level large solar heating systems because of the rich solar energy resources and vast areas in these regions. In addition, the urban area and the towns in the category III regions are also suitable for the installation of a solar energy collector with a relatively large area and a

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Table 2 The regional suitability for solar water heating technology in China. I

II

III

IV

Annual solar radiation Above 6300 MJ(m2 a) amount

5400–6300 MJ/(m2 a)

4600–5400MJ/(m2 a)

Below 4600 MJ/(m2 a)

Main region

Jianghuai Plain, Eastern coastal, Songliao Plain, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan There is extreme cold weather in Songliao Plain, but the climate condition is better in other areas. Approximately 670 million

Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan

Populationa

Approximately 40 million

North Xinjiang, East Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, North Shandong, east Liaoning There is extreme cold weather in north Xinjiang and East Inner Mongolia, but the climate condition is better in other area. Approximately 380 million

Solar fraction of the demonstration projectsb Regional suitability

30–50%

40–70%

30–60%

Approximately 250 million 25–40%

Generally suitable region

Suitable region (except for north Xinjiang and east Inner Mongolia)

Suitable region

Less suitable region

Climatic environment

a b

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, south Xinjiang, west-central Inner Mongolia The winter is long. The annual average temperature is low.

The area is cloudier and has less sunshine.

Data are from the China Statistical Yearbook 2012. Data are from the “Building Energy Efficiency Development Report of China (2012)” (CSTCMOHURD, 2012).

solar heating system because of the low building density and the relatively limited number of stories on buildings. 3.4.3. Ground source heat pump technology The coefficient of performance (COP) is an important evaluation index for a ground source heat pump system. Through the monitoring and evaluation of the demonstration projects for ground source heat pump systems, the COP of the system during the typical seasons could be calculated. The COP of the system for the typical seasons refers to a comparison of the cooling/heating capacity of the ground source heat pump system with the input power of the system. The equations are as follows: COP SL ¼

Q SL N i þ ∑N j

ð5Þ

COP SH ¼

Q SH N i þ ∑N j

ð6Þ

COPSL is the cooling COP of the ground source heat pump system; COPSH is the heating COP of the ground source heat pump system; QSL is the overall cooling energy demand of the system during the testing period (kWh); QSH is the overall heating energy demand of the system during the testing period (kWh); Ni is the power consumption of the heat pump system during the testing period (kWh); and Nj is the power consumption of the water pump during the testing period (kWh). The overall heating/cooling capacity during the testing period is calculated according to the following equations: i

Q ¼ ∑ qi

ð7Þ

n

ð8Þ

q ¼ vρc Δt w 3

v is the average flow rate of the system user sides (m /h); Δtw is the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet water at the system user sides (1C); ρ is the average density of hot/cool water (kg/m3); and c is the average constant-pressure specific heat of hot/ cool water (kJ/(kg 1C)). ρ and c can be found in the parameters table according to the average temperature of the medium at the inlet and the outlet. Compared with conventional energy systems, a ground source heat pump system transfers energy from a low grade to a high grade with some power consumption. The conversion rate from primary to electric energy and the COP of the ground source heat pump system affect the building efficiency. At present, the efficiency of coal-fired

Fig. 10. The non-regeneration energy utilisation efficiency of the heat pump.

power generation is 30–35% in China (CSTCMOHURD, 2012), so the COP of the ground source heat pump system must be at a high level to ensure building efficiency. Fig. 10 shows the non-regenerable energy utilisation efficiency of the heat pump, which explains the link between building efficiency and the heat pump COP. Our estimate for the average efficiency for coal-fired power generation is 33%. As long as the COP of the heat pump system is greater than 3, the heat pump is obtaining additional energy from the environment and the building is efficient. Based on the inspection reports for the demonstration groundsource heat pump projects, the CSTCMOHURD has summarised the average COP for the typical seasons (winter and summer) for different heat pump technologies in different climatic regions (see Table 3) (CSTCMOHURD, 2012). In the report, the averaged value of the COP for the ground source heat pumps in winter is derived from 121 demonstration projects and the averaged value of the COP for the group source heat pumps in winter is derived from 116 demonstration projects. The system samples for the group source heat pump for each climate are no less than 10, indicating a typical result.4 The COP of the soil source heat pump will be influenced by factors such as soil temperature, the water content in the soil and the pipe laying style. Table 3 shows that the value of the COPSL in the four climate regions, including extreme cold regions, cold regions, hot summer and cold winter regions and hot summer and warm winter regions, is relatively higher, at 2.90, 2.87, 3.09 and 2.85, respectively. The results demonstrate that seasonal changes

4 The sample quantity for the freshwater source heat pump systems in extreme cold regions, the sewage source heat pump systems in regions with hot summers and warm winters and the sea water source heat pump systems is relatively limited, so it is not appropriate to conduct a suitability evaluation for these regions. In addition, we have not discussed ground source heat pump systems in warm regions because these regions have limited cooling and heating demand and the demonstration projects are quite limited.

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Table 3 Averaged COP of the typical season for different heat pump technologies in different climate regions. Soil source heat pump

Severe cold Cold Hot summer and cold winter Hot summer and warm winter

Groundwater source heat pump

Freshwater source heat pump

Sewage source heat pump COPSH

COPSL

3.2 3.01 3.40

4.04 3.06 3.50

COPSH

COPSL

COPSH

COPSL

COPSH

COPSL

2.90 2.87 3.09 2.85

3.50 3.23 3.34 3.00

3.14 3.09 3.18 2.42

3.62 3.19 3.41 3.40

2.88 2.89 3.05

2.92 3.21 3.83

have an obvious influence on the COP of the soil heat pump. In addition, the cooling and heating load imbalance between summer and winter also has an important influence on the economic efficiency and energy-saving performance for the soil source heat pump system over the long term. In an environment with an imbalanced cooling and heating load between winter and summer, the long-term operation of the soil source heat pump will result in changes in the soil temperature field. For example, in cold regions, the quantity of heat absorbed by the heat pump system in winter is generally higher than the heat discharge quantity in summer because the heating load in winter is far higher than the cooling load in summer. Therefore, the long-term running of the system will certainly result in a decrease in the average temperature of the soil from year to year. Over time, the heating supply performance of the heat pump system will be reduced. Similarly, in regions with hot summers and warm winters, the cooling load in summer is generally higher than the heating load in winter and so the longterm running of the system will result in a gradual increase in the average soil temperature, which will in turn cause a reduction in the cooling supply performance of the system. In contrast, in regions with hot summers and cold winters, the heating load in winter is almost the same as the cooling load in summer, so the heat pump system has a limited influence on the soil temperature. Therefore, the soil source heat pump is suitable for regions with hot summers and cold winters. The COP of the groundwater source heat pump system will be influenced by factors such as the temperature of the groundwater, the volume of the groundwater, and the hydrogeological conditions. Table 3 shows that the value of COPSH and COPSL for the four climate regions including extreme cold regions, cold regions, hot summer and cold winter regions and hot summer and warm winter regions are relatively higher, being generally maintained at a level above 3.0. These results demonstrate that the performance of the groundwater source heat pump systems is excellent in all climate regions and the influence of the seasonal weather change is limited. However, the groundwater resources of China are poor and unevenly distributed. Considering the resource conditions, the group water source heat pump system is primarily used in the eastern coast of China. The system can also be promoted for watery regions such as basin and plain areas. The freshwater source heat pump system uses the cooling and heating capacity of reservoir water, lake water and river water to supply cooling and heating energy. The COP of the freshwater source heat pump system is influenced by factors such as water temperature, water quality and water depth. The temperature of water differs depending on whether it is a river or a lake and by latitude and altitude, so the performance of a freshwater source heat pump system is easily restricted by the region. In addition, climate conditions have a significant influence on the temperature of lake and river water. Table 3 show that system performance for regions with a hot summer and a cold winter and regions with a hot summer and a warm winter is better than the system performance in regions with a cold climate. Most lake and river water freezes during the winter in the regions with a cold climate (especially the extreme cold regions), and the water temperature

is quite low. In contrast with the low water temperature, the thermal load from the building is relatively high and the heating supply time is usually very long. Therefore, the operating efficiency of the heat pump system is quite low. Based on the implementation results, the demonstration projects for freshwater source heat pump systems in the Yangtze River Basin (with a hot summer and cold winter climate) and the Pearl River Basin (with a hot summer and warm winter climate) have achieved relatively high operational performance. Therefore, these regions are suitable for the application of freshwater source heat pump systems. With the application of the low temperature heat source of sewage, water quality is the most critical factor restraining the system performance of the heat pump system. The sewage in urban areas is warm in winter and cool in summer, so it is less influenced by the climate. In Table 3, it can be seen that the COP of the sewage source heat pump system in different climatic regions in winter and summer all maintain a level above 3.0, demonstrating a strong energy saving effect. Moreover, we can also see that the COP of the sewage source heat pump system is obviously higher than the COP of the freshwater source heat pump system. The temperature of sewage is high in winter and relatively low in summer compared with that of the lake and river water. Moreover, the water temperature of sewage is relatively constant, so the operation of a sewage source heat pump unit is much more stable and reliable. Therefore, a sewage source heat pump system is an ideal low temperature heat source that could be generally promoted in various climates. The regional applicability analysis for ground source heat pump systems could provide effective guidance for formulating the regional development planning for ground source heat pump systems. However, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the unique features of the projects to ensure the suitability of each project. We have summarised the suitability of the regions for ground source heat pump systems in Table 4.

4. Problems and suggestions China is still experiencing the early period of the REAB. During the period of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan”, many problems emerged during project implementation while a large amount of experience was accumulated. In the future, these problems should be focused on and gradually solved, so as to achieve the goal of over 15% of energy consumed being renewable in the construction sector by 2020 (MOF, MOHURD, 2011). 4.1. Standard criteria 4.1.1. Problems With the development of REAB in recent years, related criteria for REAB have been gradually established and implemented. However, the related standard criteria regarding building integrated photothermal (BIPT) technology and ground source heat pump application still need to be improved. Firstly, there are few solar energy system products and system technical codes designed for integration with

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Table 4 The suitability of regions for ground source heat pump systems. Severe cold Soil source heat pump

Groundwater source heat pump Fresh water source heat pump Sewage source heat pump

Cold

Hot summer and warm winter

Soil temperature is higher, so the cooling COP is low. Less heating demand in winter. Cooling and heating load is imbalanced between summer and winter. Less suitable region. The influence of the seasonal weather changes is limited. The hydrogeological condition is the primary factor influencing the COP. The eastern coast of China, the Sichuan basin, Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake regions, and the Sanjiang plain are suitable regions.

Cooling COP is high in summer. Soil temperature is low in winter, so the heating COP is low. The winter is long, so the work efficiency of the system is low. Less suitable region.

Cooling COP is high in summer. Soil temperature is low in winter, so heating COP is low. Generally suitable region.

Cooling COP is high in summer, and heating COP is high in winter. Cooling and heating load is balanced between summer and winter. Suitable region.

In winter, the lakes and rivers freeze, In winter, the lakes and rivers freeze Cooling COP is high. The system can meet the heating demand in so the system cannot work effectively. and the water temperature is low; therefore, the heating COP is low. It is winter. Suitable region. Less suitable region. difficult to meet the heating demand in winter. Less suitable region. The influence from the seasonal weather changes is limited. Big cities are the most suitable regions.

architecture. In particular, system technical standards, integration technical standards, design standards, construction and acceptance inspection standards, the general standard atlas, and software for design use that could standardise and guide large-scale architecture applications are still needed (Yang and Li, 2009). Secondly, in the ground source heat pump industry, standard criteria are being issued relatively slowly. At present, among the few national standards in implementation are the “Technical code for ground-source heat pump system engineering” (GB50366-2009), which was compiled in 2005 and revised in 2009 and addresses project construction, and “Water source heat pump unit” (GB19409-2003), which addresses equipment manufacturing. The issuance of standard criteria seriously lags behind industrial development (Wang, 2011).

4.1.2. Suggestions Technological development will be impossible without standardised criteria. To improve product quality and regulate the REAB market, a construction standard system from design to acceptance inspection and a product certification standard system must be established. The establishment of standard systems requires different departments and governments at all levels to shoulder explicit responsibilities, summarise the experience from the demonstration project implementation, and organise experts across all fields to establish or revise the design criteria, guidelines, a standard atlas, construction and acceptance inspection norms, testing and evaluation rules, and standards for products and accessories in a timely manner according to the technological development and engineering construction needs.


National departments of quality supervision should revise and




Hot summer and cold winter

perfect the product standard system of the REAB in a timely manner in accordance with the technological development of particular products and should strengthen the production, marketing and market management of products for REAB application. Qualified t construction departments should gradually perfect the REAB engineering construction standard system to ensure that REAB is applied as a component of the architecture. The project implementation experience should be fully considered when the standard criteria are made, and it should be compiled by experts in various fields of organisational architecture, structure, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC),







Cooling COP is high in summer, and heating COP is high in winter. The area is rich in surface water. Suitable region.

renewable energy, automatic controls, equipment, environment, management and so on. Local governments should take the local situation into consideration and establish criteria and technological enforcement regulations that fit with local conditions. The central government should include the application criteria from REAB in the national building energy efficiency task performance review to supervise and encourage the establishment of local standard specifications. The formulation of renewable energy system product quality criteria and certification rules should be highlighted. National quality testing centres and certification institutions with authorities should be established to supervise, test and certify the quality of renewable energy systems and their components and thus drive enterprises to improve their product quality.

4.2. Technology 4.2.1. Problems The technological level of the REAB has been significantly elevated with the support of policies in recent years. Yet there are still some imperfections to eliminate in the future. Firstly, technical routes to develop REAB are limited. For example, the utilisation of solar energy is limited to the domestic hot water supply, and the sophisticated utilisation of passive solar-powered houses and solar energy heating and cooling is still limited (Sun, 2011). The solar photothermal and photoelectric composite technologies and the composite technologies of solar energy and heat pumps are developing slowly. Secondly, the core technology has not been mastered. Part of the core technology for heat pump units must still be imported from foreign countries because it has not yet been grasped in China; the general photo-thermal conversion efficiency of solar energy is not high enough because the heat collection efficiency of most solar thermal collectors is only approximately 40%; technologies such as coating materials and coating film processes are all waiting to be improved (Liang, 2009). Thirdly, the product performance and quality remain to be improved. With the emergence of the REAB application market, defective products are appearing in the market and mixing with qualified products. These defective products have affected the development of the REAB application market. For instance, many water heat pumps were not properly designed or calculated, nor

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integration between the units and the building should be increased. For the ground source heat pump, reasonable cold and heat sources and systems should be carefully selected after taking the hydrographical features, the functions of specific buildings and the load into consideration. In addition, as for the recharge of underground water, we should actively seek a ground source heat pump system that is suitable for recharge and the recharging technologies. Also, we should enhance supervision and management so that underground water remains safe and is not wasted.

were they tested by the appropriate authorities. Therefore, the performance of these products is very different from that of the sample product, which leads directly to the failure of many building systems (Xu Wei, 2005). Fourthly, there are some problems in project implementation that urgently need to be solved. For example, the photo-thermal utilisation of solar energy has not really achieved the goal of integrating solar energy with the building. Other problems to be tackled include the underground water recharge in the underground water source heat pumps, the preservative treatment and water conditioning for the sewage and the seawater resources, and so forth (Xu Wei, 2006).

4.3. Project management 4.2.2. Suggestions To promote technological development in REAB, new technologies should be actively popularised and the technological types utilised by the REAB should be enriched. The research and development of key technologies should be highlighted to break through the technological bottlenecks. The market should be further regulated, a market entry system should be adopted, and the product quality should be improved to lead industrial development. In application, the technological level of the application and the construction of the REAB should be elevated to avoid the pollution of the environment or other negative effects.


The types of technology used for the REAB should be enriched.










Some relatively mature technologies could be brought into the nationwide demonstration of REAB. The first technology to address could be the air source heat pump. Nearly 30% of China′ s territory (primarily the hot-in-summer and cold-in-winter areas in the Yangtze River basin) are Category 2 areas where the air source heat pump would be appropriate. That is to say, in these areas, the air source heat pump could be used for the dual-operation of heating in winter and cooling in summer (Takao, 2002). The second technology to address is the industrial waste heat and urban sewage heat pump technologies. The recyclable amount of heat accounts for 60% of the entire industrial waste heat, which represents a great deal of recyclable energy. There is also a large amount of heat in urban sewage. Every year, the usable heat in the urban sewage of the country is 9.3 billion MJ (Hao et al., 2012). The third technology that should be addressed is rural new-type biomass energy technology. Rural new-type biomass energy technologies such as household biogas, solid biomass moulding fuel, and SGL gasification furnaces should be promoted in the countryside. Technological research and development should be strengthened. Production–study–research integration should be encouraged, for which the scientific research institutions and enterprises could jointly establish research projects and technology centres engaging in REAB to enhance their technological research and development. In addition, part of the special fund for the REAB established by the national government finance should be used to support the research, development and industrialisation of key generic technologies, products and equipment in the REAB. A market entry system should be implemented. The competent departments should compile inventories of recommended technologies, products and equipment within the REAB application, propose related technological criteria and requirements, and raise the threshold for industry access. These departments should also require the projects to select their main technologies, products and equipment from the inventories. In accordance with the conditions of technological advancement and industrial development, the inventory should be adjusted in a timely manner to promote industrial restructuring and upgrading. The technological level of construction should be elevated. For photo-thermal and photovoltaic technologies, the degree of

4.3.1. Problems According to a survey from actual project implementation, problems from nonstandard management existed in the actual implementation of the REAB projects. At present, the management of renewable energy systems is relatively independent from the national architecture engineering management program, so the links in the system such as construction, acceptance inspection and operation are still not standardised and do not meet the requirements of simultaneous design, construction, and acceptance inspection with the building. What′s more, the key products and units in the system are also not effectively supervised, which stores up problems for the successful implementation of the REAB application system.

4.3.2. Suggestions The overall process management of the REAB, including resource evaluation, planning, design, construction, acceptance inspection, operation and maintenance, should be fostered. Governments should urge the project-undertaking units, equipment manufacturers, design units, construction units and supervision departments to arrive at consensus according to the need of the project implementation. Consensus would allow for the unified planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of renewable energy technology and the building, thereby increasing the REAB application level. Meanwhile, the renewable energy system, as an integral part of the building, could be integrated into the construction engineering management system. In turn, the mature construction engineering management methods for water, heating, electric and structural systems could be used as a reference for the renewable energy system. In addition, the government should pay attention to gradually simplify the administrative controls with the development of the REAB market. Because, too much administrative participation would increase the transaction and administration cost.


A special examination of the work plan should be well







conducted. The design paper should be provided by qualified design units. The construction work must not begin before the work plan examination unit finishes the special examination, so as to avoid the building contractor simple dependence on experience rather than the work plan during construction. A close collaboration of different fields is needed to ensure that renewable energy systems are integrated with the building. A certification system concerning the qualifications of related construction units and personnel should be established. The construction personnel must possess corresponding qualifications, which would be certified after the appropriate training. Process monitoring during construction should be enhanced. Construction and supervision units should be chosen to shoulder the construction and supervision responsibilities. The construction unit should conduct the construction according to the examined and qualified work plan and should ensure quality. The supervision

X. Liu et al. / Energy Policy 63 (2013) 382–397







unit should include the construction technologies of the REAB into its scope of supervision. The product quality should be strictly examined. The key products and materials must be examined before they enter the construction site. Local competent departments should strengthen the process monitoring in the project implementation and should discover and resolve problems quickly during implementation. Project examination and evaluation should be stricter. When a project is under construction, the test port should be reserved for the testing institutions qualified to perform the on-site testing. The examination report is a very important basis for the acceptance inspection. The system should be well-operated and well-maintained. The project-undertaking unit should establish a management system designed for the examination, repair, operation and maintenance of the REAB. In addition, specially trained personnel should operate and maintain the REAB application system to ensure the realisation of the system effect.




4.4. Incentive policies 4.4.1. Problems At present, the economic incentives to encourage REAB are demand side incentives that award the project-undertaking units according to building area and technological type, by means of the implementation of demonstration projects. The market and the industry developed through the pull of stimulated demand. This incentive was easy to manage and it effectively increased the enthusiasm of project developers to apply renewable energy in the early stage. But this type of incentive cannot avoid the influence of differences between technical schemes and cannot encourage research and innovation in technologies, which are the limitations of this stage (Li et al., 2008). In addition, the current incentive policies of the REAB still need to be improved. For example, effective tax preference policies have not yet been issued; there are a lack of measures to encourage the primary market players such as energy management companies; and an effective market mechanism for the REAB has not yet been established.

4.4.2. Suggestions According to the actual implementation of the financial incentive policies on the REAADP, the incentive policies for the REAB in China should improve incentive methods, tax preferences, the development of market mechanisms, and other aspects.


An award mechanism for energy conservation should be




established. The implementation of this mechanism needs to make the benchmark energy consumption and the actual energy consumption clear. The benchmark energy consumption refers to the conventional energy consumption used by an air conditioning system for cooling and heating. The actual energy consumption refers to the energy consumption from using solar energy and shallow geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The difference between the two is the amount of energy saved by the renewable energy system (Li et al., 2008). During the implementation, efforts have been made to promote the establishment of an online monitoring platform for the REAADP (see Fig. 3), which has laid a solid foundation for the calculation of the amount of energy saved and thus makes it feasible to make awards to projects based on the amount of energy saved. Tax preferences should be offered to both the supply side and the demand side of REAB. A feasible policy on tax preferences should be studied with both the supply side and the demand side taken into account. For the supply side, the coverage of the




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preferential rate for the value-added tax should be widened and should include the enterprises engaging in renewable energy technologies and equipment manufacturing that are listed in the national technical inventory. In addition, policies on REAB applications should be made more specific. That is to say, the income tax on construction projects developing renewable energy applications should be exempted. For the demand side, project owners who purchase renewable energy equipment should be able to obtain a tax offset according to their investment volume or adopt an accelerated depreciation method for their fixed assets. For residents who purchase REAB application products, particular deed tax preferences should be offered. Awards should be given to the primary new market players such as energy management companies. With advantages in technology and capital, energy management companies are able to realise the integration of construction and management in REAB projects. The government should actively lead and promote the development of new market players such as energy management companies and encourage them to participate in the construction of and investment in REAB application projects. In return, the governments could provide these companies with direct financial aid or could adopt a method of contractual energy management to construct and operate the projects and enjoy the financial rewards provided by the central government for the amount of energy saved (MOF, NDRC, 2010). By doing so, the financial aid financed by the national government would be fully leveraged. Social capital would lead to investment and the pertinence and effectiveness of policies would be strengthened, thereby laying the foundation for the establishment of a longacting mechanism for REAB development. A mandatory promotion policy for solar water heating systems should be implemented. According the actual implementation of the demonstration projects, in application projects that integrate solar energy with the building, the general incremental cost is between 20 yuan and 70 yuan per square metre, and residents are pleased to accept the system because of its positive effects. What′s more, China has met the requirements to implement the mandatory installation of solar water heaters in terms of product quality, market foundation, industrial support and so on (Hu, 2008). But this policy should not be implemented nationwide in a one-sizefits-all manner. Driven by incentive policies, local governments should create policies for the mandatory installation of solar water heating systems that suit the local solar energy resources and the economic and social conditions. For the moment, some provinces and cities have issued policies on the mandatory installation of solar water heating systems. For example, Hainan Province stipulates that newly built and rebuilt residential buildings (including villas), guesthouses and hotels less than 12 storeys tall should integrate a solar water heating system with the building. Jiangsu Provinces stipulates that all newly built residential buildings less than 12 storeys and all newly built, rebuilt, and extended guesthouses and hotels in the cities and towns across the province should install solar water heating systems that are uniformly designed. In these cases, their experience of policy implementation should be summarised for further promotion in a timely manner. Meanwhile, during the promotion of the mandatory installation of solar water heating systems, it is advisable to perfect technical standards and adopt matching economic incentive policies to offer the proper tax preferences and subsidies to qualified projects that integrate solar energy with the building.

5. Conclusion During the 2006–2008 period, there were 386 demonstration projects organised jointly by the MOHURD and the MOF and using

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technology including solar energy photo-thermal utilisation, ground source heat pump technologies of varied heat sources, and so on, with a demonstration area of approximately 40.42 million square metres. By the end of 2011, 367 demonstration projects had passed the on-site testing conducted by the national energy efficiency testing institutions, and 312 projects had passed the final acceptance of construction. The actual implementation shows that the demonstration projects made a satisfactory demonstration effect, with notable achievements made in the development of the REAB market and the technologies, arousing the enthusiasm of all sides concerned with promoting the use of renewable energy. In addition, through the REAADP, the feasibility of different technological types in different climatic zones are clarified, and project implementation experience has accumulated, providing further guidance for the development of the REAB. However, the REAB in China is still in its early stage. Therefore, there still are problems to be solved regarding aspects of project management, standard criteria, technological development, and incentive policies. To realise the long-term development goal of the REAB, the Chinese government should perfect the related policies and regulations in the following fields step by step: (1) The technical standards should be perfected. A standard system of project construction covering aspects from design to acceptance inspection and a standard system of product certification should be established. (2) The technological types employed in the REAB should be enriched. The promotion of mature technologies used in the REAB should be strengthened. (3) The technological development in the REAB should be promoted. More support should be given to the research and development of technologies. (4) The market entry system should be enforced. Inventories of recommended technologies, products, and equipment for the REAB should be compiled. (5) The project management for the REAB projects should be strengthened. A certification system for the qualifications of enterprises and specialised personnel should be established. All concerned departments should be made aware of their explicit responsibilities, and an overall management system covering planning, design, construction, acceptance inspection, operation and maintenance should be established. (6) More effective incentive policies for the REAB should be issued. (7) New market players such as energy management companies should be supported, and a long-acting mechanism for the development of the REAB should be established. (8) Policies on the mandatory promotion of solar energy utilisation should be implemented where applicable.

Acknowledgements My deep appreciation goes to the Department of Building Energy Efficiency and Science & Technology, MOHURD, and the Department of Economic Construction, MOF, for their support and assistance during my survey of the Demonstration Projects for REAB and for the related policy consultation provided by them. References Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban–rural Development, 2010. “The Project of Heating and Refrigeration Engineering with Reclaimed Water Source Heat Pump in the Olympic Village” has passed the checking and acceptance of the demonstration engineering for buildings with the application of renewable energy of our city. 〈http://www.bjjs.gov.cn/publish/portal0/ Table1648/info63577.htm〉.

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