In order to enhance the energy efficiency strategies’ implementation, on behalf of the State Council, The Ministry of Construction is drawing up the ‘‘Decision on reinforcing building energy efficiency’’, which aims to establish a building energy efficiency legislation system, principally using a policy of economic incentives in order to stimulate the reform in building energy efficiency. To fulfill this task, a large-scale investigation has been carried out focusing on the awareness, understanding and degree of support for the reform of energy  3  efficiency in buildings.

                     2.Methodology

The survey method has been applied in this investigation.The questionnaire survey is a common method, which has been used by many researchers worldwide. A detailed description of the survey method used in this work is as follows.

2.1. Objects and subjects of the investigation

The survey into the ‘‘existing situation and trends of building energy efficiency management in China’’ was carried out from September 2005 to February 2006 and aimed to supply realistic information for providing a reliable warranty for drawing up building energy management regulations. Extensive discussions  have been conducted with experts in the country in order to design the survey questionnaire. About 22,000 copies of the survey questionnaire have been distributed to about 22 provincial capitals and the major cities throughout the country. The survey subjects are mainly government administrative departments, research institutions, property developers, design institutions, construction companies, construction consultancy  service  companies,  facility  management  departments,  finance  organizations, the media and residents.

The information  derived from the investigation becomes an important reference for the drawing up of the ‘‘Decision on reinforcing building energy efficiency’’. The topics of the investigation are pided into one general part and eight specific parts. The general part is to investigate the existing situation of energy efficiency management, the development tendency and the cost of building energy  efficiency.

The specific parts include:

Part 1: New building market entrance permission;

Part 2: Promotion, limitation and restriction;

Part 3: Statistic of building energy consumption;

Part 4: Energy efficiency labelling and certification;  

Part 5: Energy efficiency management and refurbishment for public buildings;

Part 6: Energy efficiency management and refurbishment for residential buildings;  

Part 7: Application of renewable energy;

Part 8: Incentive policy for energy efficiency

The subjects come from 11 groups, they are:

No.1: Government departments;

No.2: Property developers;  

No.3: Design and construction companies;

No.4: Energy service companies;

No.5: Clients of public buildings;

No.6: Property service companies;

No.7: Heating suppliers;  

No.8: Manufacturers of construction materials and products;

No.9: Financial institutions;

No.10: Residents;

No.11: The Media.

The 11 subjects were required to answer the questions in the general part but did not necessarily have to answer all the questions in the specific parts. The 11 types of questionnaire were designed for the different subjects.

                          3. Analysis of samples

The 22,000 copies of the questionnaire have been distributed, and about 13,125  valid copies have been returned, a response rate of 59.7%. Among these valid  completed questionnaires, 10,236 copies were from residents and 2889  copies  from institutions.

3.1. Resident subject samples

The resident questionnaire includes four criteria: ownership of property,  building type, building age and average family income. From the investigation we  can see that the ownership of property accounts for 67.8%; the multi-floor buildings  account for  61.8%; the buildings aged less than 10 years old account for  62.9%;  and households with monthly average family income less than 5000 Yuan account  for 61.8%. These figures match the real situation in China . In general, the valid  completed  questionnaires from resident subjects reflect the general  situation in  Chinese society. It represents the society’s  mainstream.