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.

Zero-carbon community (ZCC) is essential in addressing critical social and environmental challenges, particularly in reducing energy consumption, lowering carbon emissions, and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. However, several issues are still unclear, including inconsistent definitions of ZCC, the lack of detailed policy analyses, and limited exploration of implementation challenges and solutions persist. This study addresses these gaps by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the drivers and barriers to ZCC development in China. It begins with a detailed review of the definitions of ZCC, comparing and contrasting them from both domestic and international perspectives. Then, it evaluates existing incentives, categorizes them into policy documents, laws, and standards while assessing their evolution and real-world applications. This study also presents case studies of exemplary ZCC, including the Beddington Community in the UK and the Zero Carbon Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo Park in China. These cases offer insights into practical approaches, societal impacts, and advanced practices, proposing a ZCC construction model tailored to China’s unique economic and policy environment. Furthermore, the study identifies key barriers to adopting ZCC in China and proposes targeted recommendations across five domains: administrative, economic, technological, socio-cultural, and environmental. A “macro-meso-micro” implementation pathway is developed, emphasizing stakeholder collaboration as a core element for successful execution. This study systematically reviews and critically analyzes current policies and practices related to ZCC, and offering valuable theoretical guidance for developing regulations and standards, along with practical solutions to address current implementation challenges.

The renewal of old communities (OCR) is a crucial component of China's urban renewal strategy. However, the huge funding gap, coupled with the unwillingness of enterprises to participate, has impeded the sustainable development of OCR in China. This issue has become a major practical challenge for the government. This study employed the modified theory of planned behavior (M-TPB) to examine enterprise behavior, focusing on how internal capabilities and external conditions influence their participation. Data was collected from 261 questionnaire surveys, and structured equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Further in-depth interviews were conducted to explain and validate the results from the SEM. The findings illustrate that: (1) the M-TPB offers a more detailed and nuanced explanation of the mechanisms influencing participation behavior; (2) the attitude towards participation is an important factor in shaping the intention to participate; (3) there is a significant negative correlation between perceived behavioral control, which is based on external conditions, and the participation intention; and (4) different types of enterprises show differences in attitude and perceived behavioral control. These findings provide new insights and perspectives on the OCR dilemma in China, highlighting some important practical implications for fostering various forms of enterprise participation in OCR projects.