Green construction transforms traditional construction practices by prioritizing energy efficiency, environmental protection, and long-term sustainability. With the construction sector accounting for 36 % of global energy consumption and 37 % of energy-related CO₂ emissions, the critical and systematic analyses of policy-based initiatives driving green construction and implementation barriers in China remain critically needed. This study addresses these gaps through a comprehensive mixed-method approach, incorporating extensive analysis of 189 publications, complemented by 9 in-depth interviews with experienced professionals (each with over 10 years of expertise). Key contributions include: (1) development of a multi-dimensional policy classification framework analyzing administrative, economic, and technological perspectives; (2) Systematic identification of five major implementation barriers through expert validation using Delphi methodology; (3) Successful international case studies are examined to offer comparative insights and targeted policy recommendations for China. This study also identifies key barriers and formulates practical solutions through a multi-stakeholder lens, integrating interview findings to enhance the relevance and applicability of the recommendations. The innovations encompass the integrated literature-expert triangulation framework for China's green construction policy assessment, combining policy document analysis with stakeholder validation to ensure robust findings. The study reveals critical policy gaps in interdepartmental coordination, financial mechanisms, and public engagement, while proposing actionable strategies including enhanced assessment systems, improved policy coherence, and expanded financial access. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for policymakers to accelerate China's construction industry transition toward carbon neutrality goals.

Although Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) offer a clear path to reducing energy use and carbon emissions, different stakeholder groups face numerous barriers at four stages of implementation. Existing reviews catalog these barriers but lack precise stakeholder–stage alignment and fail to match each barrier with its most effective mitigation strategy. We reviewed 89 publications, identified 42 barriers and nine strategy categories, and applied Simple Correspondence Analysis (SCA) to quantify the couplings between barriers and strategies based on the consensus in the literature. We then developed a barrier–strategy mapping and prioritization framework to identify the dominant academic strategies associated with each barrier. The results show: (1) barriers shift from early financing–policy frictions to later human–technology frictions; (2) 90 % of barriers link to at least one highly significant strategy; (3) information coordination gaps and frequent design changes show no significant coupling with any mitigation strategy. The framework offers three values: (1) Practical guidance: it provides clear, stage‑specific guidance for barrier identification and strategy selection; (2) Theoretical foundation: it lays a structured basis for context‑sensitive empirical studies across regions, project types, and scales, enabling localized validation and optimization of the NZEB barrier–strategy model; (3) Mapping paradigm: this study proposes a strategy–barrier mapping paradigm grounded in systematic literature consensus. It provides a structured basis for selecting and prioritizing strategies across diverse regional conditions, project typologies, and real-world applications.

The energy crisis, that began in 2021 has exacerbated energy poverty throughout Europe. Households with lower incomes, higher energy requirements, and less efficient homes and appliances are disproportionately affected by this crisis. These households often lack the financial capacity to upgrade outdated and inefficient appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines. This then leads to increased energy costs or necessitates cutbacks in other energy uses such as heating, which in turn diminishes their residential comfort. In response to this issue, the Dutch government has implemented various strategies to mitigate energy poverty, including the 'White Goods Scheme'. The term ‘White Goods Schemes’ usually refers to a governmental initiative that offers financial incentives or assistance to consumers to encourage the purchase of new, energy-efficient household appliances. Despite such initiatives, there is hardly any research evaluating their effectiveness. This study examined the impact of the 'White Goods Scheme' in two regions of the Netherlands, by means of a questionnaire among residents (N = 541), comparing households that have made use of a white goods scheme (intervention group; N = 310) with households that have not yet made use of a white goods scheme (control group; N = 231). The findings show that the white goods schemes have the potential to improve residential comfort conditions, enhance physical health and reduce energy costs and financial concerns, yield better mental health. Yet, the causal mechanisms behind these connections need to be further scrutinised. While the scheme has demonstrated positive outcomes in terms of comfort, financial well-being and health, it is suggested that combining improvements like shallow retrofits and appliance schemes with other local support initiatives like energy advice is essential to address energy poverty, effectively.

The renovation of old neighborhood plays a pivotal role in augmenting the quality of life and catalyzing urban development. Currently, numerous old neighborhoods in China necessitate renovation due to insufficient maintenance and management, inadequate supporting infrastructure, and suboptimal energy efficiency. Despite extensive research and practical endeavors dedicated to old neighborhood renovation, a research gap in critical analysis emerged during the literature review. This study endeavors a comprehensive analysis to delineate the current state of renovation endeavors, elucidate barriers encountered, and propose innovative strategies to surmount these barriers. Firstly, this study provides a comprehensive overview of ongoing status of renovation efforts and their key focal points. Secondly, this study furnishes an encompassing summary of the fundamental aspects of old neighborhood renovation, encompassing sponge city renovation, environmental enhancement, building energy-efficient renovation, elevator installation, and modernizing elderly facilities and services. Furthermore, this paper meticulously analyzes the barriers such as stakeholder conflicts, resident skepticism, funding limitations, divergent perceptions, limited resident participation, and intricate decision-making processes. To solve these identified barriers, some targeted practical solutions are proposed including bolstering the governmental leadership, exploring diversified funding mechanisms, expanding policy implementation agents, improving resident communication, and establishing collaborative multi-party framework. These measures provide practical guidance to facilitate the seamless progression of renovation initiatives. This study aspires to furnish theoretical insights, practical guidance for policy formulation, and actionable recommendations for sustainable urban neighborhood renovation, contributing to the scholarly discourse and practice in this field.

Rising energy prices across Europe have increased concerns over energy poverty. Despite significant scholarly focus on financial relief measures instituted by national governments, locally tailored crisis measures have remained overlooked. This study delves into the Dutch context, where part of the government's response to the energy crisis was decentralised, allowing municipalities considerable discretion in experimenting with energy poverty interventions. It compares two strategies: ‘energy coaching’ services – offering advice on sustainable energy practices – and shallow retrofitting by ‘fix teams’ – installing minor energy-saving measures in homes. The impact of these interventions on residential comfort, sustainable behaviour adoption, and (financial concerns regarding) energy bills is assessed through an extensive survey involving treatment and control groups coupled with detailed administrative data on households and dwellings. Results indicate that, on an aggregate level, local interventions significantly enhanced perceived comfort and reduced energy bills among the treatment groups. Comparing individual interventions, notably, more extensive ones such as fix teams and comprehensive energy coaching were significantly more impactful than those involving a single visit, highlighting the importance of continuous engagement. Additionally, we found that energy poverty status significantly amplified the effectiveness of these interventions, thereby stressing the importance of focusing efforts on vulnerable households.

In the context of urban regeneration, community renovation has been a vital approach for improving local living conditions and global sustainable development. Due to the financial burden and uneven regional development, China’s community renovation has gradually shifted from the government-led model to the market-oriented model. However, these projects are subject to various intra- and inter-stakeholder barriers, particularly hidden transaction costs. This study investigates the transaction costs experienced by key stakeholders, including residents, developers, governments, and architects, with a specific focus on the pre-design phase of market-oriented community renovation projects in China. Data on stakeholders’ experienced transaction costs and their origins were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys and were investigated using content analysis and quantitative analysis. Results show that developers bear the most categories of transaction costs. The most significant transaction costs persist in the interactions between developers and governments, including estimating benefits and costs and receiving project approval. Furthermore, negotiating costs are the primary obstructions that hinder stakeholder collaboration. By tracing the origins of these transaction costs, the study proposes measures to optimize the renovation process by reducing transaction costs.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is regarded as a representative of digital innovation in the construction industry. However, the process of its innovation is often hindered by the resistance from stakeholders. Many studies view such resistance as a barrier or static outcome, overlooking both stage and pathway perspectives. Even when considered, existing discussions remain fragmented. To fill this gap, this paper integrates diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory to build a theoretical framework that guides a systematic literature review of 55 journal articles. Based on the results, this study proposes a stage-based and pathway-oriented conceptual model to enhance the understanding of BIM innovation resistance. The conceptual model provides an intermediate theory, providing a theoretical basis for future knowledge development. It also offers stage-based practical references for managers and policymakers to identify and mitigate resistance in the process of BIM promotion.

Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) are widely seen as a key pathway to achieving energy efficiency and decarbonization in the building sector. Although subsidies in some regions of China cover most explicit costs, large-scale adoption remains limited. The main reason lies in the significant hidden costs borne by stakeholders due to multi-stage certification systems, emerging technologies, and complex policies. Despite their impact, these costs are underexplored in current research. To address this, this study applies transaction cost theory and interviews 23 NZEB experts to identify hidden costs, then develops mitigation strategies validated by 12 experts and a focus group, yielding a three-tier roadmap. It makes three contributions: 1) It introduces a replicable “stage–stakeholder–cost” framework to analyze hidden costs in NZEB practices; 2) It identifies 36 transaction cost items and maps cost flows across 11 stakeholder groups, providing a model for visualizing procedural frictions in complex building environments; 3) It targets major transaction cost bottlenecks and, drawing on international experience, proposes and validates strategies to reduce hidden costs, offering a roadmap for China and other emerging markets.

Active resident engagement and effective organizer management are crucial for participatory neighborhood rehabilitation. Yet, existing public participation research focuses on residents, leaving the behaviors of organizers and their influence on outcomes less examined. Furthermore, most renewal studies treat the rehabilitation process as homogeneous and static, overlooking how stakeholders’ objectives, strategies, and actions evolve throughout the project lifecycle. To address these gaps, this paper employs stakeholder theory to propose the Stakeholder Influence Model (SIM), which investigates the multifaceted influence of stakeholders on resident participation across different phases of neighborhood rehabilitation. Drawing on 44 in-depth interviews and a four-month participant observation in Wuhan, China, deductive content analysis reveals stakeholders’ distinct influence strategies and both stimulating or disincentivizing effects on resident engagement. Specifically, indirect local government involvement, excessive delegation to neighborhood committees, and imbalanced power dynamics among residents are identified, jeopardizing the fairness, inclusiveness, and long-term viability of rehabilitation initiatives. By highlighting diverse stakeholders’ evolving impacts, this study advances current understanding of participatory urban renewal. The proposed SIM provides a robust framework for analyzing stakeholder interactions and informs policy interventions aimed at fostering more equitable and inclusive urban rehabilitation in China.

China has recently shown great enthusiasm for developing neighborhood renewal, and good cooperation within resident groups is the key to successful implementation. Residents’ cooperative behavior is easily influenced by social relationships among residents, which are referred to as resident-level social capital. Further, resident-level social capital is influenced by the neighborhood effects, known as neighborhood-level social capital. However, few studies examined the impact of social capital on residents’ behavior from the perspective of both resident-level and neighborhood-level. This paper aims to examine the multilevel social capital that influence residents’ cooperative behavior in China. Using social capital theory and the theory of planned behavior, this study collects questionnaire survey data from 1039 residents in 98 neighborhood renewal projects in China. The results from multilevel structural equation modeling suggest that residents’ social capital can directly influence residents’ cooperative behavioral intention. The variability of neighborhood-level social capital and the impact of multidimensional social capital were examined. The findings of this study have strengthened the explanatory power of the theory of planned behavior and expanded the application scope of social capital theory. The results provide a more cultural and historical perspective, that is, resident relationships, for promoting cooperation among residents in neighborhood renewal.

The effectiveness of interventions promoting household energy-efficiency investments depends on the diversity of the target audience. In the context of home energy retrofit, where decision-making is complex and influenced by multiple market and behavioural failures, few studies have rigorously analysed real-world homeowner attitudes and behaviours that enable meaningful policy implications. This study addresses this gap by applying model-based 3-step latent class analyses (LCA) to a sample of 1,011 Dutch homeowners with actual retrofit experience, focusing particularly on various motivations and barriers of home energy retrofit. Five motivation segments and three barrier segments are identified, separately. The motivation segments include balanced motivation homeowners (26.7 %), individual utility maximisers (6.8 %), immediate utility seekers (14.7 %), environmental and immediate utility maximisers (6.3 %), and the environmental-financial sensitive majority (45.4 %). The barrier segments are labelled as balanced financial and feasibility barriers (72.3 %), lack of demand (24.3 %), and prominent non-financial barriers (3.4 %). Both segmentation solutions demonstrate high classification accuracy and meaningful substantive interpretation. Furthermore, the segments for motivations and barriers show only marginal correlations, offering complementary insights. The findings enhance the understanding of homeowner heterogeneity in the energy retrofit market and support the design of more targeted incentives, information, and de-hassling programmes.

High household end-user services demand of high-income families results in higher energy consumption compared with low-income families, indicating high-income families may save more energy from similar building energy retrofitting (BER) strategies. Therefore, current BER subsidy policies, which consider technique indicators and ignore families' income, will make high-income families' recovery costs faster, and can't maximize the incentive for residents’ BER awareness. To formulate a equitable and efficient subsidy policies considering families’ income, this study selected Chongqing as the study case and employed propensity scores matching method to evaluate BER's actual energy savings performance for families with different incomes. Meanwhile, the BER subsidies are reallocated based on the dynamic cost payback period. The results indicated that, following BER, the energy savings of high-income families (7.36 kWh/m²) were higher than the mid- (3.96 kWh/m²) and low-income (3.25 kWh/m²) families. Notably, under current subsidy policies, the cost payback period of low-income families is nearly 2.55 and 3.14 times of the mid-income (6.61 years) and high-income (5.37 years) groups, respectively. This study suggests a subsidy of 32.57 yuan/m², 20.27 yuan/m², and 15.38 yuan/m² for low-income, mid-income, and high-income families, respectively. These results provide novel insights into the actual energy-saving performance of residential buildings and help policymakers to formulate fair subsidy policies.

In the context of increasing focus on social sustainability, neighborhood rehabilitation has emerged as a crucial component of global urban renewal initiatives. Distinct from most renewal paradigms that are usually one-offs, neighborhood rehabilitation is a long-term endeavor that requires ongoing resident participation to effectively address diverse needs, investment shortages, and governance challenges. Extant research predominantly focuses on residents' initial engagement, leaving the dynamics of continued participation and its influencing factors largely unexamined. Employing the Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM), this study explores how residents' initial participation experiences influence their intentions to continue participation. Analyzing questionnaire responses from 367 experienced residents in Wuhan, China, the study finds that a mere 38.2 % of residents exhibit re-engage intention. Path analysis shows that initial participation experience influences residents' re-engage intention indirectly through participation satisfaction and perceived usefulness. Residents' re-engage intention is most influenced by level of influence residents hold in decision-making, followed by type of activities they engage in, and stage of their initial involvement. As an exploratory study into the realm of continued participation, this research uncovers several potential pathways and policy recommendations, aiming to ease residents' transition from initial acceptance to sustained engagement in future neighborhood development efforts.

This chapter addresses Social Innovation. It describes conditions, methods, and procedures to optimize engagement and strengthen people's and the community’s position in affordable energy renovations in buildings and on the district level. We focus on the lower- and middle-income occupants being tenants of not-for-profit or public housing associations and owner / occupiers in apartment buildings. [...]

Buildings in the EU consume around 40 % of energy and are responsible for 36 % of greenhouse gas emissions. This necessitates building energy renovations as a coping strategy for energy reduction. Residential buildings consume about 27 % of the energy use in Europe. Multifamily residential buildings, known as condominiums, feature individually owned apartments and are managed by Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs). HOAs constitute a considerable percentage of the owners of the residential sector in Europe. However, the deep energy renovation rate is still low due to the complex process and the barriers faced by HOAs. There is a lack of understanding of the main barriers to undertaking deep energy renovation projects by HOAs and their potential solutions. Therefore, this paper investigates barriers, incentives, and possible solutions that motivate HOAs to undertake deep energy renovation projects. This study employs a combination of qualitative methods, including archival research, the gathering of information through observations at meetings organized by the EU, four interviews, and a workshop with eleven experts. This exploration was conducted from the perspective of three actors: home renovation providers, public authorities, and policymakers in the Netherlands and Flanders. The barriers are grouped under four categories, namely: financial, legal, social, and technical. The findings indicate that communication, cost, and legal structure are the most significant barriers. The incentives play a vital role only in the early phases of the renovation. The findings can inform policymakers, energy practitioners, and researchers in developing targeted strategies for successfully implementing deep renovation projects for HOAs.

Residential energy retrofitting projects in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone of China face various risks related to project activities, which incur transaction costs (TCs), such as search, negotiation, and monitoring costs. As the leader in project implementation, the Chinese government is responsible for project planning, organisation, and coordination. However, TCs impede the government’s ability to execute risk-related project activities effectively, subsequently increasing the probability of the occurrence of risk. Drawing on transaction cost economics (TCE), this study proposes a theoretical framework to understand the barriers—such as asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency—that prevent the government from performing project activities and mitigating risks effectively. An artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to verify the hypotheses. The results underscore experience and operational maturity in project activities, cost and time constraints, and the immature retrofitting market as significant impediments to the government’s execution of risk-related activities. Considering the varying roles of the government in reducing different risks, this study concludes by offering policy recommendations to alleviate these activity barriers and mitigate risks. By employing a TCs perspective, this study not only identifies key barriers but also deepens our understanding of risk mitigation mechanisms, providing robust policy insights tailored to the specific regional context of China, thereby enhancing both the execution and the framework of government-led retrofitting projects.

Resident participation is essential for neighborhood rehabilitation. It requires the active involvement of residents and efficient management by organizers. To improve the effectiveness of resident participation, it is necessary to understand the critical success factors (CSFs) underlying it. However, previous research has examined the critical factors from a single-stakeholder perspective, overlooking potential differences in perceptions among stakeholders with diverse roles and rehabilitation experiences. Based on 30 interviews and 255 questionnaires from six stakeholder groups in Wuhan, China, this study explores how the perception of critical factors for effective resident participation varies among local government, community-based organization, designer, contractor, consulting party, and resident. Thirty-seven factors were identified and compared among the stakeholders. Financial Incentive (for participation organizers) was identified as the most critical factor for effective resident participation, followed by Information Disclosure and Transparency, and Trust. Results from the analysis of variance (ANOVA) show that the six groups differed significantly in the importance of most factors (25/37), especially in Participant Education and Prejudice against the Working Group. Interview results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and rehabilitation experience changed stakeholders’ perceived importance of some factors. Specifically, in future RP initiatives, extra emphasis could be placed on Trait and Capacity (of the working group) and Participation-assistance Technologies. Stakeholders regarded these two factors as more critical as their rehabilitation experience accumulated. By understanding stakeholders' conflicting and changing perceptions of effective resident participation, suggestions were proposed to each stakeholder group to fulfill their distinct participation objectives and improve the overall effectiveness of participation practices.

Urban sustainability is a pressing challenge that intertwines energy efficiency, social equity, technological innovation, and community involvement. With the growing global emphasis on reducing carbon footprints and addressing climate change, the need for sustainable urban housing and communities has become increasingly critical. This Research Topic, “Sustainable Transition for Urban Housing and Community,” brings together a Research Topic of research that examines the multifaceted issues surrounding sustainable development in urban contexts. By analyzing the interplay of energy consumption, governance, technological innovation, and digital transformation, the articles in this Research Topic present a holistic view of how urban sustainability can be achieved. [...]

Across the European Union (EU), approximately 46% of the population resides in apartment buildings. A majority of these buildings are in need of energy renovation and are managed by Homeowner associations (HOAs). HOAs face distinct challenges in renovating their buildings. Integrated home renovation services (IHRS) have emerged as a potential solution to accelerate highly energy-efficient renovations for HOAs. The question arises: How do current integrated home renovation service providers facilitate energy renovations for homeowner associations, overcoming the prevailing barriers to uptake? This paper explores the current state of IHRS providers operating in four European regions with a focus on the Netherlands and Flanders. The study offers insights into the dynamics of their business models, strategies, and ways forward. The methods employed involve a combination of qualitative approaches. Fourteen business models of IHRS providers in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Austria were analysed, to define their strategies within the regional context. The results reveal that while public entities prioritize broad societal challenges, private models focus on operational efficiency and financial sustainability. Public-private partnerships offer a hybrid approach, blending strengths but requiring precise governance to align diverse interests and achieve comprehensive, sustainable outcomes. The findings can inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in developing effective and targeted IHRS initiatives in the EU.

Highlights
• The aging systems, and the house's condition, are important factors that motivate occupants to consider energy retrofitting.
• Educating occupants on regular monitoring can enhance the durability and performance of energy-efficient technologies.
• Policymakers need to implement region-specific strategies, to promote energy retrofitting initiatives.