Progress in energy efficiency standards of residential buildings in China’s severe cold and cold zones

Since Chinese government released the first residential building energy efficiency standard in 1986, the energy efficiency of residential buildings have been improved significantly. Three editions of residential building energy efficiency standards in severe cold and cold zones have been issued in the past 30 years, meanwhile, a new version is in the course of development and will be released in 2018. The paper reviews energy efficiency standards that have been issued for residential buildings in severe cold and cold zones in China, and development of new energy efficiency standards. The paper also describes the variation of key requirement in standards. Finally, future prospects for further developing energy efficiency standards for residential buildings in China are addressed. The findings show that the energy consumption reduction percentage has raised from 30% of JGJ 26-86 to 65% of the JGJ 26-2010. The insulation performance of roofs and external walls increased respectively by 103% and 83%, and the window performance increased by 130%.