Comparison of energy use assessment for office buildings in China among China building codes, LEED and HKBEAM

China had a rapid economic growth in the past two decades which results in large energy consumption and various environmental impacts. Building construction was the third largest player in China economy and building energy consumption accounted for about one third of total energy consumption in 2011. It was projected to increase up to 35% in 2020. However, there is still lack of published information on the effectiveness of China building energy codes.

In this article, we use a wellrecognized US building environmental assessment scheme, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Hong Kong building environmental assessment method (HKBEAM) to benchmark the energy use assessment for the China office buildings. Two office buildings located in Beijing and Shanghai are selected to conduct this assessment to analyze the difference of these two schemes and China commonly used scheme. The assessment is based on building performance rating method which is simulated with typical Beijing and Shanghai weather data to obtain hourly energy consumptions and cost. Most of building operation parameters are considered in this analysis which includes lighting power intensity, envelope features and HVAC system features, designed indoor temperature, ventilating rate, equipment power intensity and operation schedules. The simulation results are compared with energy and cost savings of the proposed building based on the two international schemes and China commonly used scheme. The results of this study provide useful information to China policymakers and building designers for development and improvement of the energy environment assessment scheme in China.