Energy-efficient retrofitting has emerged as a primary strategy for reducing the energy consumption of buildings. Buildings in China account for about 40% of total national energy consumption. Large office buildings account for the most. Less than 5% of the building area of existing office buildings is energy efficient. Energy-efficient retrofitting for sustainable buildings is a complicated system that involves various sustainable dimensions and operational technical schemes. Making multi-criteria decisions becomes a challenging problem for stakeholders. Based on the theory of sustainability, this paper establishes a sustainable analysis framework to guide stakeholders to select an optimal technical combination of energy-efficient retrofit measures for large office buildings. Based on empirical data collected in Beijing, a number of energy efficiency measures are selected, tailored and applied to a virtual model of a typical large office building. Technical features and the energy performance are simulated accordingly. The energy consumption, energy-saving ratio and lifecycle costs are derived to identify the optimal configuration. The outcome of this research offers a feasible technical plan for stakeholders relating to technical design and design making. The study finds that an LED lighting system and frequency conversion device for the cooling water chiller cannot only sufficiently reduce the building’s energy consumption but also perform economically. Different thermal insulation materials for reconstructing the building envelope have no obvious effect on the thermal performance in comprehensive simulations of technology combinations. The sustainable analysis framework offers theoretical and practical support and can be used as a reference for the other types of buildings in future research.

Purpose: This article aims to establish a dynamic Energy Performance Contract (EPC) risk allocation model for commercial buildings based on the theory of Incomplete Contract. The purpose is to fill the policy vacuum and allow stakeholders to manage risks in energy conservation management by EPCs to better adapt to climate change in the building sector.Design/methodology/approach: The article chooses a qualitative research approach to depict the whole risk allocation picture of EPC projects and establish a dynamic EPC risk allocation model for commercial buildings in China. It starts with a comprehensive literature review on risks of EPCs. By modifying the theory of Incomplete Contract and adopting the so-called bow-tie model, a theoretical EPC risk allocation model is developed and verified by interview results. By discussing its application in the commercial building sector in China, an operational EPC three-stage risk allocation model is developed.Findings: This study points out the contract incompleteness of the risk allocation for EPC projects and offered an operational method to guide practice. The reasonable risk allocation between building owners and Energy Service Companies can realize their bilateral targets on commercial building energy-saving benefits, which makes EPC more attractive for energy conservation.Originality/value: Existing research focused mainly on static risk allocation. Less research was directed to the phased and dynamic risk allocation. This study developed a theoretical three-stage EPC risk allocation model, which provided the theoretical support for dynamic EPC risk allocation of EPC projects. By addressing the contract incompleteness of the risk allocation, an operational method is developed. This is a new approach to allocate risks for EPC projects in a dynamic and staged way.

The fine chemical industry is a high-pollution and energy-intensive sector and a key target for environmental regulation (ER). However, evaluations of existing ER policies predominantly rely on data from publicly listed firms. Consequently, non-listed enterprises are often overlooked, even though they dominate the industrial base and differ from listed firms in financing access, disclosure requirements, external monitoring, and organizational resources. This mismatch may lead to biased assessments of regulatory effectiveness. To address this gap, this study investigates the nonlinear impact of ER on firm-level total factor productivity (TFP) using a hand-collected 12-year panel dataset (2012–2023) of 55 fine chemical enterprises in China. By developing a multi-dimensional ER index that integrates carbon emissions, this study uncovers a U-shaped ER-TFP relationship, partially mediated by resource-efficiency-oriented process upgrading. The findings further show that non-listed firms exhibit a substantially delayed inflection point in this U-shaped relationship, suggesting that stronger regulatory intensity is required to induce their productivity improvements. This pattern is associated with their reliance on end-of-pipe treatment and limited resource endowments. These results provide firm-level evidence on the heterogeneous effects of environmental regulation and suggest that differentiated regulatory approaches and targeted financial support may be needed to facilitate green transitions in pollution-intensive industries.