Differences in energy-saving benefits between the rich and poor: Data-driven method to study equity of mandatory energy efficiency policy in China

The equity of mandatory building energy efficiency design standards (BEEDSs) has not received sufficient attention, for there is little study emphasizing the equity between the rich and the poor from the perspective of mandatory energy policies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the heterogeneous effect of BEEDSs on the energy consumption of households with varying incomes based on household-level data (n = 1196) from China. The study indicates that the actual energy efficiency of the high-income group is 47%, whereas those of the middle- and low-income groups are 32% and 25% respectively, compared to groups in the absence of BEEDSs. Furthermore, the energy-saving benefits of the rich is approximately twice that of the poor. Also, the Lorenz curve is used to describe the inequality in the distribution of energy-saving benefits, showing that the inequality coefficient is 0.25. This study provides a strong reference for research by scholars and policy-making.