Driving factors of the changes in the carbon emissions in the Chinese construction industry

As the world's largest carbon emitter, China is confronting a great challenge to mitigate its carbon emissions. The construction industry is one of the major contributors to the carbon emissions in China. This study investigated the driving factors of the changes in the carbon emissions in the Chinese construction industry by using the structural decomposition analysis method and the data from the World Input-Output Database. The results show that the total final demand effect contributed most (131%) to the increase in the construction carbon emissions, while the energy intensity effect offset the largest part (108%) of the increase during the whole period. The production structure effect and final demand ratio effect contributed 49% and 35% to the total increase in the carbon emissions between 1995 and 2009, respectively. The carbonization factor effect had a very small decrease impact (7%) on the carbon emissions between 1995 and 2009. The trends of the effects of driving factors during 1995-2009 and the contributions by industries to the effects of driving factors between 1999 and 2009 have been further explored. This study can help the Chinese policymakers formulate more effective policies for mitigating the construction carbon emissions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.