Assessing the effects of technological progress on energy efficiency in the construction industry: A case of China

Energy-saving technologies in buildings have received great attention from energy efficiency researchers in the construction sector. Traditional research tends to focus on the energy used during building operation and in construction materials production, but it usually neglects the energy consumed in the building construction process. Very few studies have explored the impacts of technological progress on energy efficiency in the construction industry. This paper presents a model of the building construction process based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The model estimates the effects of technological progress on energy efficiency with the objective to examine the role that technological progress plays in energy savings in China's construction industry. The modeling results indicated that technological progress improved energy efficiency by an average of 7.1% per year from 1997 to 2014. Furthermore, three main technological progress factors (the efficiency of machinery and equipment, the proportion change of the energy structure, and research and development investment) were selected to analyze their effects on energy efficiency improvement. These positive effects were verified, and results show the effects of first two factors are significant. Finally, recommendations for promoting energy efficiency in the construction industry are proposed

UKERC Review of evidence for the rebound effect: Technical report 5: Energy, productivity and economic growth studies

This report forms part of the TPA’s assessment of evidence for a rebound effect from improved energy efficiency. Technical Report 5 focuses upon the relationship between energy, productivity and economic growth and examines the claim that improved energy efficiency will increase economy-wide energy consumption - the so-called ‘Khazzoom-Brookes postulate’

The Scorecard on Development, 19602016: China and the Global Economic Rebound

This report looks at the rate of progress of economic, health, and social indicators, including per capita GDP, mortality, life expectancy, and education for all countries with available data. It examines the twenty-first century rebound for the majority of low- and middle-income countries after an unusual long-term decline in the rate of progress on most of these indicators in the last two decades of the twentieth century. It discuss the role of China in the twenty-first-century rebound, and the possible role of major policy changes that took place in many low- and middle-income countries, as well as other policy and institutional influences.The report is the latest edition of a series that began in 2001; the last version was published in 2011. The first two editions of the Scorecard (2001 and 2005) documented a then ongoing, historic long-term economic failure that occurred in the 1980s and '90s, before most low- and middle-income countries began to experience an economic rebound

UKERC Review of evidence for the rebound effect: Technical report 3: Elasticity of substitution studies

This Working Paper forms part of the TPA’s assessment of evidence for a rebound effect from improved energy efficiency. Technical Report 3 focuses upon empirical estimates of the elasticity of substitution between energy and capital. This parameter has been identified as a key determinant of the likely magnitude of the rebound effect in different sectors. The report clarifies the meaning and importance of this parameter, summarises and compares empirical estimates of this parameter, evaluates the reasons that have been proposed for the differing results, discusses whether a consensus has been reached to whether energy and capital can be considered as ‘substitutes’ or ‘complements’ and draws some implications for the rebound effect

Analyzing rebound effects

Are efficiency improvements in the use of natural resources the key for sustainable development, are they the solution to environmental problems, or will second round effects - so-called rebound effects - compensate or even overcompensate potential savings, will they fire back? The answer to this question will have fundamental policy implications but the research on rebound effects does not provide clear results. This paper aims to clarify the theoretical basis of various analytical approaches which lead to widely different estimates of rebound effects. -- Sind Verbesserungen in der Effizienz im Umgang mit den natürlichen Ressourcen der Schlüssel für eine Nachhaltige Entwicklung, können sie eine Lösung für die Umweltprobleme sein? Oder werden die potenziellen Einsparungen durch so genannte Rebound-Effekte wieder aufgefressen, also kompensiert oder gar überkompensiert? Die Antwort hierauf hat weitreichende politische Implikationen, doch die Forschung zu Rebound-Effekten liefert keine klaren Ergebnisse. Dieses Papier soll dazu beitragen, die theoretische Basis verschiedener analytischer Zugänge, die zu weit voneinander abweichenden Abschätzungen der Rebound-Effekte kommen, zu klären.

RETHINKING ECONOMY-WIDE REBOUND MEASURES: AN UNBIASED PROPOSAL

In spite of having been first introduced in the last half of the ninetieth century, the debate about the possible rebound effects from energy efficiency improvements is still an open question in the economic literature. This paper contributes to the existing research on this issue proposing an unbiased measure for economy-wide rebound effects. The novelty of this economy-wide rebound measure stems from the fact that not only actual energy savings but also potential energy savings are quantified under general equilibrium conditions. Our findings indicate that the use of engineering savings instead of general equilibrium potential savings downward biases economy-wide rebound effects and upward-biases backfire effects. The discrepancies between the traditional indicator and our proposed measure are analysed in the context of the Spanish economy.