Influencing Factors of the Energy Consumption Behaviour of Civil Buildings in Hubei Province, China

Civil buildings are among the structures that consume the most energy in society. Reducing the energy consumption of civil buildings has become an important component of China’s energy policy. Identifying the key influencing factors of the energy consumption of civil buildings and formulating effective energy-saving countermeasures are important to enhance the energy efficiency of civil buildings. This study conducted a systematic analysis of the influencing factors of the energy consumption of civil buildings in Hubei Province, China. First, existing studies on the influencing factors of the energy consumption of buildings in foreign developed countries were reviewed. The status of the population, economic life, and social life that influenced the energy consumption of civil buildings in Hubei Province in the past 10 years was summarized. Relevant influencing factors were estimated via ridge regression. Results demonstrated that developed countries generally investigated the influencing factors of the energy consumption of civil buildings from the energy supply-demand relation, family factors, and out-of-family factors. Gross domestic product (GDP), total population, tertiary industry development, per capita floor space, household consumption level, and urbanization facilitated the energy consumption of civil buildings in Hubei Province during the aforementioned period, and the regression coefficients were significant at the 5% level. Lastly, policy countermeasures were proposed to accelerate the energy-saving development of civil buildings. Research conclusions are important to enrich theories regarding the energy consumption reduction of civil buildings, to help relevant government sectors of Hubei Province recognize action points for the energy-saving development of civil buildings, and to accelerate the benign development of energy-saving buildings.