China – Shenzhen
Organisation : Shenzhen General institute of Architectural Design and Research CO.,LTD
Basic Information & Building History:
Location & Project Identity: Design Building is located at the intersection of Ganquan Road, Zhenxing Road, and Zhenhua Road, Huaqiangbei Subdistrict, Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It is jointly declared and occupied by the Shenzhen Housing and Construction Bureau, Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research Co., Ltd. (CAPOL), and other entities.
Building Scale & Timeline: Construction began in 1993 and was completed and put into operation in 1998 (baseline period: 2019–2020). The retrofit was implemented from 2021 to 2024, and it officially entered operation in January 2025. The total gross floor area (GFA) is 59,372 m², with a conditioned area of approx. 54,249.48 m². The building features a reinforced concrete frame structure (22 floors above ground, 2 basement levels) with a maximum height of 88.25 m.
Occupancy & Operating Schedule:
Occupancy & Tenant Density: The building currently operates at a high-density, fully saturated level, accommodating approximately 2,720 office personnel.
Operating Schedule & Load Profiles: Office spaces operate on standard workday schedules, characterized by frequent overtime, high electronic equipment density, and heavy personnel concentration typical of the design industry. Lighting and plug loads remain stable and high year-round; central HVAC delivers centralized cooling on workdays, while 13 pantry water boilers originally ran 24/7 and were subsequently upgraded with time-controlled strategies.
Climate Zone & Specificities:
According to China's architectural climate zoning, the project is located in the hot-summer and warm-winter climate zone, equivalent to a subtropical climate zone. As an early landmark building of the Special Economic Zone completed in 1998, it carries the historical memory of Shenzhen's architectural design and involves 16 property-owning entities.
Environmental Impact:
Post-retrofit, total building carbon emissions decreased by 59.2%, reducing carbon intensity to 21.15 kgCO₂/(m²·a), successfully establishing a benchmark demonstration project for near-zero carbon emission retrofitting of existing public buildings in Shenzhen.
Total Investment & Incremental Cost:
The total estimated investment for the retrofit project is RMB 104 million, with a unit area investment of RMB 1,733/m². It achieved an overall carbon reduction of 59.2%, reducing carbon intensity to 21.15 kgCO₂/(m²·a).
The main actions implemented to reduce the energy consumption of this building.
Building Envelope, Insulation & Shading:
Roof & Exterior Wall Insulation Upgrades: Installed 1,700 m² of 40 mm XPS roof insulation boards and 11,500 m² of 20 mm XPS exterior wall insulation boards, reducing the total cooling load from 7,513 kW to 5,868 kW (down 21.9%).
High-Performance Glazing Replacement: Replaced 10,000 m² of legacy windows with double-silver Low-E thermal-break aluminum insulated glazing (shading coefficient Se lowered to 0.32, U-value to 2.0 W/(m²·K).
High-Efficiency HVAC & Equipment:
High-Efficiency Centrifugal Chillers: Replaced inefficient legacy chillers (COP 1.9–2.8) with 2 high-efficiency water-cooled centrifugal chillers (designed COP ≥ 6.3), cutting annual CO₂ emissions by 714.1 tons (38.67% reduction contribution).
VFD Pumps & Brushless DC Fan Coil Units: Upgraded 10 energy-saving VFD water pumps (-68.1 tCO₂/a) and 1,031 VFD fan coil units (-133.9 tCO₂/a).
High-Efficiency Lighting & Electrical Systems:
100% LED Lighting Retrofit: Replaced 1,800 fluorescent fixtures with high-efficiency LED lights (office LPD reduced from 12 W/m² to 8 W/m², electricity savings 33%–37.4%, -94.74 tCO₂/a).
Renewable Energy System:
Rooftop & Facade Monocrystalline PV: Installed 2,038 monocrystalline PV modules (360 Wp each) across 3,750 m² of available space on rooftops, corridors, garage roofs, and south facade (733.68 kWp capacity), generating ~704,332 kWh annually and reducing CO₂ by 317.64 t/a (17.14% contribution).
Energy & Carbon Monitoring Platform:
Sub-metering & Real-Time Tracking: Deploys an integrated carbon and energy monitoring system to perform real-time sub-metering across central chillers, pumps, FCUs, lighting, plug loads, water boilers, and PV systems.
Carbon Emission Analytics: Consolidates energy consumption with PV and green power data to continuously compute carbon metrics, delivering actionable analytics for facility managers to optimize operations.
Building Automation (BAS) & HVAC Optimization:
HVAC BAS & Coordinated Controls: Implements automated HVAC controls to centrally monitor and optimize high-efficiency centrifugal chillers, VFD pumps, and 1,031 VFD FCUs, keeping cooling equipment within peak performance ranges.
Seasonal & Shoulder-Season Scheduling: Adapts cooling delivery to Shenzhen's hot-summer and warm-winter climate with staged temperature resets and off-hour cut-offs during shoulder seasons to eliminate cooling waste.
Pantry & Intelligent Lighting Controls:
Pantry Water Boiler Time Controls: Outfits 13 electric water boilers with programmable timers, shifting from 24/7 operation to an 8-hour workday schedule (achieving 66.7% electricity savings and reducing 191 tCO₂/a).
Smart Zoned Lighting Regulation: Replaces centralized manual switches with intelligent lighting controls, enabling zoned scheduling, daylight-responsive dimming, and automated shut-off in non-occupied zones.
Digital Operations & Maintenance:
Data-Driven PV & Asset Maintenance: Establishes data-informed maintenance protocols for periodic cleaning and inspection of 2,038 PV modules across rooftops, corridors, and south facade, preserving optimal output for the 733.68 kWp system.
Energy & Carbon Monitoring Platform:
Sub-metering & Real-Time Tracking: Deploys an integrated carbon and energy monitoring system to perform real-time sub-metering across central chillers, pumps, FCUs, lighting, plug loads, water boilers, and PV systems.
Carbon Emission Analytics: Consolidates energy consumption with PV and green power data to continuously compute carbon metrics, delivering actionable analytics for facility managers to optimize operations.
Building Automation (BAS) & HVAC Optimization:
HVAC BAS & Coordinated Controls: Implements automated HVAC controls to centrally monitor and optimize high-efficiency centrifugal chillers, VFD pumps, and 1,031 VFD FCUs, keeping cooling equipment within peak performance ranges.
Seasonal & Shoulder-Season Scheduling: Adapts cooling delivery to Shenzhen's hot-summer and warm-winter climate with staged temperature resets and off-hour cut-offs during shoulder seasons to eliminate cooling waste.
Pantry & Intelligent Lighting Controls:
Pantry Water Boiler Time Controls: Outfits 13 electric water boilers with programmable timers, shifting from 24/7 operation to an 8-hour workday schedule (achieving 66.7% electricity savings and reducing 191 tCO₂/a).
Smart Zoned Lighting Regulation: Replaces centralized manual switches with intelligent lighting controls, enabling zoned scheduling, daylight-responsive dimming, and automated shut-off in non-occupied zones.
Digital Operations & Maintenance:
Data-Driven PV & Asset Maintenance: Establishes data-informed maintenance protocols for periodic cleaning and inspection of 2,038 PV modules across rooftops, corridors, and south facade, preserving optimal output for the 733.68 kWp system.
Behavioral Energy Conservation & Low-Carbon Office Guidance:
HVAC Temperature Reset & Usage Habits: Enforces a summer cooling setpoint of no lower than 26°C, combined with shoulder-season natural ventilation and off-hour terminal shut-offs, cultivating "turn-off upon exit" low-carbon habits among 2,720 office personnel.
Office Equipment & Pantry Power Scheduling: Encourages design staff to eliminate standby power for high-performance workstations; pairs with time-control modules on 13 pantry water boilers to foster energy-efficient habits during office hours.
Green Power Procurement & Energy Mix Optimization:
22% Green Electricity Purchase Plan: Complements the onsite rooftop and facade solar PV system (733.68 kWp, 704.3 MWh/a) by procuring 22% of grid electricity through market-based green power trading, achieving a 16.51% renewable energy utilization rate and significantly slashing Scope 2 emissions.
Multi-Owner Coordination & Spatial Operations:
16 Property Owners' Alignment & Green Leases: Establishes a joint low-carbon management mechanism across 16 property owners (government agencies, SOEs, and private entities) and tenant businesses, successfully overcoming space relocation hurdles in a highly saturated building.
Carbon Dashboards & Occupant Engagement: Displays real-time energy and carbon reduction metrics via the digital carbon platform, leveraging data transparency to actively engage occupants and tenant entities in long-term decarbonization.
