How can economic development and carbon reduction in commercial buildings be reconciled? Evidence from Chinese cities

PurposeClarifying the relationship between building carbon emissions and economic development can help sustainable construction in the field of construction, and this paper provides a constructive suggestion for ensuring economic development while realizing energy efficiency and emission reduction in buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe study focuses on the building sector and firstly analyzes the complex relationship between economic agglomeration (EA) and carbon emission intensity (CEI) of commercial buildings at the city level through the spatial Durbin model and the threshold effect model, and then discusses the regional heterogeneity of this complex relationship from the dimensions of economic density and climate zones, respectively, and finally analyzes in depth the intrinsic influencing mechanism of EA on the CEI of commercial buildings.FindingsThe authors found that (1) there is an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship between EA and CEI of commercial buildings, and the inflection point of the EA level is 2.42, i.e. 1.125 bn RMB/km2. (2) Significant regional differences exist in the inverted U-shaped relationship for cities with different economic densities and cities in different climate zones. (3) EA mainly affects the CEI of commercial buildings through externalities such as commercial building size and tertiary industry share, of which commercial building size is the most important factor hindering the decoupling of urban economic development from the CEI of commercial buildings.Originality/valueThis paper discusses for the first time the relationship between economic development and carbon emissions at the city level and clarifies the spatial differences and influencing mechanism of this relationship, providing a fuller reference for policymakers to develop differentiated building energy efficiency and emission reduction strategies.