Chapter 1: Challenges in U.S.-China Building Research Collaboration

With the increased growth of the world's population and rapid urbanization, the share of building energy consumption in the energy sector is accelerating at a faster pace. If the trend continues, by 2025, buildings will be the top consumers of energy worldwide. Almost a third of the world's energy is now consumed by buildings. In the United States, 40% of the energy is consumed by residential and commercial buildings [1]. China's energy consumption in buildings has a similar share in its national energy portfolio. To match the increasing energy demand worldwide, there is no alternative but to look for a potential solution of low energy use for buildings.