IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/2503.05824.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Building floorspace and stock measurement: A review of global efforts, knowledge gaps, and research priorities

Author

Listed:
  • Minda Ma
  • Shufan Zhang
  • Junhong Liu
  • Ran Yan
  • Weiguang Cai
  • Nan Zhou
  • Jinyue Yan

Abstract

Despite a substantial body of research-evidenced by our analysis of 2,628 peer-reviewed papers-global building floorspace data remain fragmented, inconsistent, and methodologically diverse. The lack of high-quality and openly accessible datasets poses major challenges to accurately assessing building carbon neutrality. This review focuses on global building floorspace, especially its nexus with energy and emissions. The key research areas include energy modeling, emissions analysis, building retrofits, and life cycle assessments. Each measurement approach-top-down, bottom-up, and hybrid-has its own limitations: top-down methods provide broad estimates but low accuracy, whereas bottom-up approaches are more precise but data intensive. Our simulations reveal a surge in floorspace growth across emerging economies-most notably in India, Indonesia, and Africa-with India's per capita floorspace projected to triple by 2070. We emphasize the need for a high-resolution global floorspace imagery database to compare energy efficiency, track decarbonization progress, and assess renovation impacts while promoting building sufficiency and accelerating the transition to net-zero building systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Minda Ma & Shufan Zhang & Junhong Liu & Ran Yan & Weiguang Cai & Nan Zhou & Jinyue Yan, 2025. "Building floorspace and stock measurement: A review of global efforts, knowledge gaps, and research priorities," Papers 2503.05824, arXiv.org, revised May 2025.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2503.05824
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.05824
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Verena Göswein & Jonathan Krones & Giulia Celentano & John E. Fernández & Guillaume Habert, 2018. "Embodied GHGs in a Fast Growing City: Looking at the Evolution of a Dwelling Stock using Structural Element Breakdown and Policy Scenarios," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(6), pages 1339-1351, December.
    2. Zhou, Nan & Fridley, David & Khanna, Nina Zheng & Ke, Jing & McNeil, Michael & Levine, Mark, 2013. "China's energy and emissions outlook to 2050: Perspectives from bottom-up energy end-use model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 51-62.
    3. Shufan Zhang & Minda Ma & Nan Zhou & Jinyue Yan & Wei Feng & Ran Yan & Kairui You & Jingjing Zhang & Jing Ke, 2024. "Estimation of Global Building Stocks by 2070: Unlocking Renovation Potential," Papers 2406.04074, arXiv.org.
    4. Carine Lausselet & Linda Ager‐Wick Ellingsen & Anders Hammer Strømman & Helge Brattebø, 2020. "A life‐cycle assessment model for zero emission neighborhoods," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(3), pages 500-516, June.
    5. Xiang, Xiwang & Ma, Minda & Ma, Xin & Chen, Liming & Cai, Weiguang & Feng, Wei & Ma, Zhili, 2022. "Historical decarbonization of global commercial building operations in the 21st century," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    6. Ahmed Gassar, Abdo Abdullah & Yun, Geun Young & Kim, Sumin, 2019. "Data-driven approach to prediction of residential energy consumption at urban scales in London," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    7. Yanqiao Deng & Minda Ma & Nan Zhou & Zhili Ma & Ran Yan & Xin Ma, 2024. "China's plug-in hybrid electric vehicle transition: an operational carbon perspective," Papers 2405.07308, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2024.
    8. Orehounig, Kristina & Evins, Ralph & Dorer, Viktor, 2015. "Integration of decentralized energy systems in neighbourhoods using the energy hub approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 277-289.
    9. Shiva Amirkhani & Ali Bahadori-Jahromi & Anastasia Mylona & Paulina Godfrey & Darren Cook, 2020. "Impact of Adding Comfort Cooling Systems on the Energy Consumption and EPC Rating of an Existing UK Hotel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.
    10. Li, Wenliang & Zhou, Yuyu & Cetin, Kristen & Eom, Jiyong & Wang, Yu & Chen, Gang & Zhang, Xuesong, 2017. "Modeling urban building energy use: A review of modeling approaches and procedures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 2445-2457.
    11. Lidberg, T. & Gustafsson, M. & Myhren, J.A. & Olofsson, T. & Ödlund (former Trygg), L., 2018. "Environmental impact of energy refurbishment of buildings within different district heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 231-238.
    12. Hong, Lixuan & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Khanna, Nina & Fridley, David & Zhao, Yongqiang & Sandholt, Kaare, 2016. "Building stock dynamics and its impacts on materials and energy demand in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 47-55.
    13. Wang, Tianyi & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Ma, Zhili, 2025. "Toward net zero: Assessing the decarbonization impact of global commercial building electrification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    14. Ballarini, Ilaria & Corgnati, Stefano Paolo & Corrado, Vincenzo, 2014. "Use of reference buildings to assess the energy saving potentials of the residential building stock: The experience of TABULA project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 273-284.
    15. Shimoda, Yoshiyuki & Sugiyama, Minami & Nishimoto, Ryuya & Momonoki, Takashi, 2021. "Evaluating decarbonization scenarios and energy management requirement for the residential sector in Japan through bottom-up simulations of energy end-use demand in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    16. López-González, Luis M. & López-Ochoa, Luis M. & Las-Heras-Casas, Jesús & García-Lozano, César, 2016. "Update of energy performance certificates in the residential sector and scenarios that consider the impact of automation, control and management systems: A case study of La Rioja," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 308-322.
    17. Zhang, Shufan & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Ma, Minda & Xiang, Xiwang & You, Kairui, 2023. "Pathway for decarbonizing residential building operations in the US and China beyond the mid-century," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    18. Rafiee, A. & Dias, E. & Koomen, E., 2019. "Analysing the impact of spatial context on the heat consumption of individual households," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 461-470.
    19. Amasyali, Kadir & El-Gohary, Nora M., 2018. "A review of data-driven building energy consumption prediction studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1192-1205.
    20. Bauermann, Klaas, 2016. "German Energiewende and the heating market – Impact and limits of policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 235-246.
    21. Zhang, Shufan & Ma, Minda & Li, Kai & Ma, Zhili & Feng, Wei & Cai, Weiguang, 2022. "Historical carbon abatement in the commercial building operation: China versus the US," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    22. Di Turi, Silvia & Stefanizzi, Pietro, 2015. "Energy analysis and refurbishment proposals for public housing in the city of Bari, Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 58-71.
    23. Sarıca, Kemal & Harputlugil, Gulsu U. & İnaner, Gulfem & Kollugil, Esin Tetik, 2023. "Building sector emission reduction assessment from a developing European economy: A bottom-up modelling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    24. Dong Yang & Mengyuan Dang & Jing Guo & Lingwen Sun & Ruirui Zhang & Feng Han & Feng Shi & Qian Liu & Hiroki Tanikawa, 2023. "Spatial–temporal dynamics of the built environment toward sustainability: A material stock and flow analysis in Chinese new and old urban areas," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 84-95, February.
    25. Drewniok, Michał P. & Dunant, Cyrille F. & Allwood, Julian M. & Ibell, Tim & Hawkins, Will, 2023. "Modelling the embodied carbon cost of UK domestic building construction: Today to 2050," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    26. Yuan, Hong & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Xie, Hui & Ma, Zhili & Xiang, Xiwang & Ma, Xin, 2024. "Battery electric vehicle charging in China: Energy demand and emissions trends in the 2020s," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 365(C).
    27. Yan, Ran & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Xiang, Xiwang & Mao, Chao, 2023. "Towards COP27: Decarbonization patterns of residential building in China and India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    28. Moynihan, Muiris C. & Allwood, Julian M., 2012. "The flow of steel into the construction sector," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 88-95.
    29. Mata, Érika & Kalagasidis, Angela Sasic & Johnsson, Filip, 2018. "Contributions of building retrofitting in five member states to EU targets for energy savings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 759-774.
    30. Stefan Pauliuk & Niko Heeren & Peter Berrill & Tomer Fishman & Andrea Nistad & Qingshi Tu & Paul Wolfram & Edgar G. Hertwich, 2021. "Global scenarios of resource and emission savings from material efficiency in residential buildings and cars," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    31. Peter Berrill & Eric J. H. Wilson & Janet L. Reyna & Anthony D. Fontanini & Edgar G. Hertwich, 2022. "Decarbonization pathways for the residential sector in the United States," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(8), pages 712-718, August.
    32. Alessio Mastrucci & Bas Ruijven & Edward Byers & Miguel Poblete-Cazenave & Shonali Pachauri, 2021. "Global scenarios of residential heating and cooling energy demand and CO2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 1-26, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shufan Zhang & Minda Ma & Nan Zhou & Jinyue Yan & Wei Feng & Ran Yan & Kairui You & Jingjing Zhang & Jing Ke, 2024. "Estimation of Global Building Stocks by 2070: Unlocking Renovation Potential," Papers 2406.04074, arXiv.org.
    2. Zhang, Shufan & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Ma, Minda & Xiang, Xiwang & You, Kairui, 2023. "Pathway for decarbonizing residential building operations in the US and China beyond the mid-century," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    3. Langevin, J. & Reyna, J.L. & Ebrahimigharehbaghi, S. & Sandberg, N. & Fennell, P. & Nägeli, C. & Laverge, J. & Delghust, M. & Mata, É. & Van Hove, M. & Webster, J. & Federico, F. & Jakob, M. & Camaras, 2020. "Developing a common approach for classifying building stock energy models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Ghimire, Sujan & AL-Musaylh, Mohanad S. & Nguyen-Huy, Thong & Deo, Ravinesh C. & Acharya, Rajendra & Casillas-Pérez, David & Yaseen, Zaher Mundher & Salcedo-Sanz, Sancho, 2025. "Explainable deeply-fused nets electricity demand prediction model: Factoring climate predictors for accuracy and deeper insights with probabilistic confidence interval and point-based forecasts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 378(PA).
    5. Hong Yuan & Minda Ma & Nan Zhou & Zhili Ma, 2025. "Assessing provincial carbon budgets for residential buildings to advance net-zero ambitions," Papers 2503.05795, arXiv.org.
    6. Zou, Chenchen & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & You, Kairui & Zhang, Shufan, 2023. "Toward carbon free by 2060: A decarbonization roadmap of operational residential buildings in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    7. Yuan, Hong & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Xie, Hui & Ma, Zhili & Xiang, Xiwang & Ma, Xin, 2024. "Battery electric vehicle charging in China: Energy demand and emissions trends in the 2020s," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 365(C).
    8. Zhang, Xiufeng & Han, Yizhuo & Jiao, Huiduo & Feng, Yanchao, 2025. "Re-evaluating the effectiveness of regional energy saving targets: Empirical evidence from the Eleventh Five-year Plan in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    9. Gatt, Damien & Yousif, Charles & Cellura, Maurizio & Camilleri, Liberato & Guarino, Francesco, 2020. "Assessment of building energy modelling studies to meet the requirements of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    10. Yan, Ran & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Feng, Wei & Xiang, Xiwang & Mao, Chao, 2023. "Towards COP27: Decarbonization patterns of residential building in China and India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    11. Wang, Wei & Hong, Tianzhen & Xu, Xiaodong & Chen, Jiayu & Liu, Ziang & Xu, Ning, 2019. "Forecasting district-scale energy dynamics through integrating building network and long short-term memory learning algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 217-230.
    12. Deng, Yanqiao & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Zou, Chenchen & Ma, Zhili & Yan, Ran & Ma, Xin, 2025. "Provincial allocation of China's commercial building operational carbon toward carbon neutrality," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 384(C).
    13. Wang, Tianyi & Ma, Minda & Zhou, Nan & Ma, Zhili, 2025. "Toward net zero: Assessing the decarbonization impact of global commercial building electrification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    14. Solène Goy & François Maréchal & Donal Finn, 2020. "Data for Urban Scale Building Energy Modelling: Assessing Impacts and Overcoming Availability Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-23, August.
    15. Tian, Shen & Shao, Shuangquan & Liu, Bin, 2019. "Investigation on transient energy consumption of cold storages: Modeling and a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1-9.
    16. Jiang, Hong-Dian & Pradhan, Basanta K. & Dong, Kangyin & Yu, Yan-Yan & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2024. "An economy-wide impacts of multiple mitigation pathways toward carbon neutrality in China: A CGE-based analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    17. Zhigao Liao & Yufeng Bai & Kerong Jian & Wongvanichtawee Chalermkiat, 2024. "The Spatial Spillover Effect and Mechanism of Carbon Emission Trading Policy on Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction: Evidence from the Pearl River–West River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-25, November.
    18. Rik van Heerden & Oreane Y Edelenbosch & Vassilis Daioglou & Thomas Le Gallic & Luiz Bernardo Baptista & Alice Di Bella & Francesco Pietro Colelli & Johannes Emmerling & Panagiotis Fragkos & Robin Has, 2025. "Demand-side strategies enable rapid and deep cuts in buildings and transport emissions to 2050," Post-Print hal-04985303, HAL.
    19. Fahlstedt, Oskar & Temeljotov-Salaj, Alenka & Lohne, Jardar & Bohne, Rolf André, 2022. "Holistic assessment of carbon abatement strategies in building refurbishment literature — A scoping review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    20. Martin Eriksson & Jan Akander & Bahram Moshfegh, 2022. "Investigating Energy Use in a City District in Nordic Climate Using Energy Signature," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2503.05824. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.