Renewal of aging residential buildings for electricity saving and carbon mitigation under climate change
Loading...
Access rights
openAccess
CC BY-NC-ND
CC BY-NC-ND
publishedVersion
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
This publication is imported from Aalto University research portal.
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Date
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
17
Series
npj Urban Sustainability, Volume 5, issue 1
Abstract
Climate change is amplifying Residential Electricity Carbon Emissions (RECE), with aging buildings posing challenges. Due to lack of era-specific assessments of RECE, it still remains unclear whether urban renewal strategies can effectively counteract these climate-driven impacts. Using daily electricity and temperature datasets, we developed temperature-responsive Residential Electricity Carbon footprint (RECF) functions to quantify RECE at building and community’s scale. Aging buildings exhibited 2–4 times higher RECF, while newer buildings contribute >50% of Beijing’s RECE. Higher RECF and compacted conditions led to increased Residential Electricity Carbon Intensity (RECI) in aging communities. Our projections indicated that future climate change will elevate RECE by 6–45% by 2050, with hotspots identified in aging communities inside the 3rd Ring Road and high-rise clusters beyond the 5th Ring Road in Beijing. Among the three evaluated renewal strategies, we also found that Near-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) could fully offset the climate-induced increase in RECE in the future. Although requiring a higher initial investment, Ultra-Low Energy Buildings (ULEB) could offer substantial long-term carbon reductions and enhanced climate resilience. These findings can provide an integrated perspective on the interplay among climate conditions, building age, and renewal pathways, offering critical insights for policymaking aimed at facilitating low-carbon and climate-resilient transitions in megacities.Description
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
Keywords
Other note
Citation
Hu, Q, Gao, X, Zhang, T, Zhou, Y, Huang, N, Zhao, D, Varis, O, Peñuelas, J, Sardans, J, Ciais, P, Wu, J, Pan, Z, An, P, Zhang, D, Ma, W & Lun, F 2025, 'Renewal of aging residential buildings for electricity saving and carbon mitigation under climate change', npj Urban Sustainability, vol. 5, no. 1, 110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00298-6