Barriers to Zero Energy Building technologies adoption in hot summer cold winter regions: theoretical model and staged roadmap at the city scale

The building sector accounts for approximately 40 % of total carbon emissions in China, which is crucial to achieving carbon neutrality. Despite significant progress in building energy efficiency, the promotion of Zero Energy Building (ZEB) technologies in China remains in its early stages and faces numerous challenges. This research employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses to assess the identified barriers from multiple stakeholder perspectives. A questionnaire survey was conducted to rank the significance of barriers, while in-depth interviews provided further insights through thematic analysis, with Shanghai serving as a case study representing China's Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) region. Through a comprehensive literature review, 16 key barriers were identified and categorized into three perspectives: Investment and Market, Design and Construction, and Management and Policy. Data were collected from 144 valid questionnaire responses and interviews with eight industry experts. Statistical analysis ranked the barriers, correlation analysis explored their interrelationships, and thematic analysis provided qualitative depth. The findings revealed that ‘Requirement of higher design and construction standard’ and ‘Unclear construction methods’ were the most significant barriers, while ‘Resistance of stakeholders to make change’ and ‘Insufficient communication and coordination between different stakeholders’ were identified as barriers that have a widespread effect. This research developed a theoretical model to illustrate how the identified barriers influence the promotion of ZEB technologies. Additionally, a staged roadmap was proposed, outlining short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to address these barriers. This study fills a critical research gap by examining the promotion of ZEB technologies in China's HSCW regions and provides a development model and actionable measures for policymakers and stakeholders at the urban scale.