The road of decarbonization and emission reduction in construction industry

The road of decarbonization and emission reduction in construction industry: the background of carbon emission in construction industry, the implementation path of decarbonization and emission reduction in construction industry, and the key tasks of decarbonization and emission reduction in construction enterprises.

First, the background of carbon emissions in the construction industry

1. Internationally, the carbon emissions of the construction industry account for more than one third.

According to the Global Building and Construction Industry Report 2022, the carbon dioxide emissions from construction operations reached the highest level in history in 20021year, about1000 million tons of carbon dioxide, an increase of about 5% over 2020 and 2% over the previous peak of 20 19.

If the carbon dioxide emissions from the production of building materials (such as concrete, steel, aluminum, glass and bricks) are estimated, the carbon emissions from buildings in 20021year account for about 37% of the global emissions.

Carbon dioxide emissions of buildings in 20 10-202 1 year (left) and the proportion of buildings in global carbon emissions in 20021year (right) (data source: Global Report on Building and Construction Industry in 2022).

In view of the increasingly severe situation of building carbon emissions, in 20021year, 23 countries/regions revised and updated the National Independent Contribution (NDC), making further commitments to building energy efficiency and adaptability. Achieving ultra-low or even zero emissions in the construction industry is an important starting point for achieving carbon neutrality at the peak of carbon dioxide emissions.

2. Domestically, the low-carbon development of China's construction industry has been steadily advanced in recent years.

With the release of Technical Standards for Near-zero Energy-consumption Buildings, Calculation Standards for Building Carbon Emissions, Evaluation Standards for Green Buildings, Evaluation Standards for Ultra-low Energy-consumption Buildings, Passive Design Guidelines for Green Buildings, Technical Guidelines for Green Buildings (for Trial Implementation) and General Specifications for Building Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Utilization, the rapid development of green and low-carbon construction industry has been promoted.

However, China's building carbon emissions are huge, involving three important stages: building materials production, construction and building operation. According to the Research Report on Building Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions in China in 2022, the total carbon emissions of the whole building process in 2020 will be 5.08 billion tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for 50.9% of the national carbon emissions. The construction industry urgently needs to achieve carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions.

Total energy consumption and carbon emissions of buildings in China in 2020 (data source: 2022 China Research Report on Building Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions).

Second, the implementation path of decarbonization and emission reduction in the construction industry

As we all know, China's overall national policy on "double carbon" is issued in the form of "1+N", where "1" is the top-level design guidance and n is the policy measures of various industries and fields.

Opinions on completely, accurately and comprehensively implementing the new development concept and doing a good job of carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emission (hereinafter referred to as opinions) is "1" in the "65438+N" policy system. The seventh part of the Opinions, "Improving the quality of green and low-carbon development of urban and rural construction", points out that it is necessary to "promote the low-carbon transformation of urban and rural construction and management methods, vigorously develop energy-saving and low-carbon buildings, and accelerate the optimization of building energy structure".

The top requirements of green and low-carbon development in urban and rural construction are put forward. At the same time, policies such as "Action Plan for Peak Carbon Dioxide Emissions by 2030" and "Implementation Plan for Peak Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Urban and Rural Construction" have also given guidance to the green and low-carbon development of the construction industry.

Based on the interpretation of national and local policies, the implementation paths of decarbonization and emission reduction in China's construction industry mainly include six categories: source emission reduction, energy transformation, energy efficiency improvement, mode upgrading, resource recycling and negative carbon technology.

1. Source reduction: reduce and eliminate backward production capacity through policy means.

Taking carbon emissions, total energy consumption, pollutant emissions and other indicators as an important starting point, we will reduce and eliminate backward production capacity through policy means, strengthen the certification of green and low-carbon building materials, promote the application of prefabricated buildings, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the source.

2. Energy transformation: promoting energy structure transformation with renewable energy technology.

Promote the integration of building solar photovoltaic, accelerate the application of wind energy, geothermal energy, air energy and hydrogen energy, gradually reduce the dependence on traditional fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, and realize the green and low-carbon transformation of building energy structure.

3. Improve energy efficiency: Improve energy efficiency through comprehensive electrification and technological innovation.

Carry out the comprehensive electrification energy consumption mode, and improve the proportion of high clean energy and energy utilization efficiency in the construction industry through the innovation and upgrading of equipment efficiency and energy saving, informatization and heat recovery technology.

4. Mode upgrade: realize green new format with new mode, new technology and new products.

By changing the operation mode of existing equipment and processes, innovative technological processes, new intelligent equipment, advanced energy technology and green financial tools are adopted to support the construction industry to build a sustainable green and low-carbon industrial system.

5. Resource recovery: Reduce production carbon emissions by recycling construction solid waste.

Through the classified treatment and recycling of solid waste such as building materials production waste, construction waste and domestic waste, a recycling system of building renewable resources is constructed to effectively reduce carbon emissions in the process of primary production and disposal.

6. Negative carbon technology: CCUS and ecological carbon sink as "bottom" measures.

Accelerate the innovation, pilot demonstration, popularization and application of low-cost carbon dioxide capture and storage technology, promote the deep integration of urban and rural construction and ecological carbon sinks, enhance the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems, and absorb carbon emissions that cannot be reduced by the construction industry.

Third, the key work of decarbonization and emission reduction of construction enterprises

In the process of achieving the goal of carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions, construction enterprises, as the intermediate link of the industrial chain, play the role of the core fulcrum. Many leading international large-scale construction enterprises began to explore low-carbon solutions based on the whole industrial chain many years ago, and supported green innovation in all directions through various modes such as internal incubation and R&D, external project cooperation, enterprise mergers and acquisitions, and the establishment of venture funds.

At this stage, although the voice of opening the road of carbon neutrality for enterprises with peak carbon dioxide emissions is increasing, there are still few domestic enterprises that have really embarked on the journey and made substantial progress.

From the external environment, the lack of policies, the lack of international unified carbon pricing, the indifference of the market to low-carbon products and the immaturity of low-carbon technologies all hinder the green and low-carbon development of enterprises.

On the other hand, the implementation of carbon neutral plan with peak carbon dioxide emissions often requires high cost, but its return value is difficult to cash or quantify in the short term. All these have "hit" the enthusiasm of enterprises to promote carbon neutrality.

Combined with external environmental challenges and internal constraints, construction enterprises should also focus on the following five points in order to achieve green and low-carbon development.

1. Clarify the role orientation under the background of national double carbon.

First, construction enterprises should focus on promoting carbon emission reduction and self-sustaining property operation in the construction process to achieve the peak carbon dioxide emission of enterprises; Second, we must vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries, promote the carbon emission reduction of building materials production in the upstream of the industrial chain and the carbon emission reduction of buildings used by downstream users, and help the country achieve carbon neutrality.

2. Check the carbon footprint/carbon baseline of the whole industrial chain.

In order to formulate the "double carbon" action target of enterprises reasonably, it is necessary to know the carbon footprint distribution and carbon emission boundary of enterprises, determine a year based on accurate and reliable carbon emission data, and then put forward short-,medium-and long-term carbon emission reduction targets according to the peak time plan and total amount forecast of carbon dioxide emissions of enterprises.

3. Formulate carbon emission reduction targets, measures and paths.

Construction enterprises must promote carbon emission reduction to maintain a certain growth rate, reasonably set achievable carbon dioxide emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets, actively benchmark the practices of international leading enterprises, and formulate emission reduction measures and overall action plans from green design, green building materials, green energy, green construction and green operation.

4. Explore new opportunities for industry expansion.

Explore the expansion of new industries from three aspects: "upward extension", "downward extension" and "integration": upward extension mainly refers to new building materials and building intelligent equipment; Downward extension mainly refers to future urban operation, construction of circular economy and intelligent digital platform. Integration mainly refers to one-stop solutions for future buildings, including green consultation and design, green construction and smart construction site, and green smart operation.

5. Disclosure of carbon neutral targets and progress of peak carbon dioxide emissions.

Turn the experience and achievements of enterprises in developing new technologies, new businesses and new models into industry standards, strive to be the chain length of the whole industry chain, and promote energy saving and carbon reduction of enterprises in the industry. It is necessary to publish the targets and progress of double carbon in the form of a white paper, and actively guide enterprises in the industrial chain to promote each other and join together.