*1.1. The Energy Crisis Is Becoming Severe in China*

With the rapid development of the social economy and the acceleration of urbanization, climate change, the energy crisis and biodiversity loss—caused by resource depletion and noticeable environmental pollution problems—are seriously threatening the sustainable development of the social economy and have become the biggest challenge for the progress of human society. China's economy has long maintained a good momentum of high-speed growth, which requires the support of sufficient energy resources. As a country with relatively scarce oil and gas resources, China requires a large amount of energy, such as coal and oil, to ensure its normal functioning and future development. Beyond that, it faces the requirement for an unyielding supply of energy due to the demand caused by extensive development, and the contradiction between economic development and resource shortages. According to the statistics released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the total energy consumption of oil equivalent worldwide in 2018 was 9,937,702 kilotons, while the total energy consumption of oil equivalent in China was as high as 2,057,666 kilotons, accounting for 20.71% of the world's total, far higher than the 16.04% used by the United

**Citation:** Huang, M.-Q.; Lin, R.-J. Evolutionary Game Analysis of Energy-Saving Renovations of Existing Rural Residential Buildings from the Perspective of Stakeholders. *Sustainability* **2022**, *14*, 5723. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095723

Academic Editor: Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno

Received: 11 March 2022 Accepted: 6 May 2022 Published: 9 May 2022

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States, thus making China the largest energy consumer in the world [1]. This low energy efficiency not only wastes energy, but also causes serious environmental pollution problems. According to the data from the BP World Energy Statistics Yearbook 2021, China's total carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 totaled 9.899 billion tons, accounting for 30.7% of the world's total emissions, compared with 20.9% in 2005 [2]. Therefore, considering the need for energy conservation and pollution control, it is urgent to "decouple" China's economic growth from energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

#### *1.2. The Construction Industry Is the Focus of Energy Conservation and Emission Reductions*

Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are often closely related to industrial production and development, to which the construction industry is a great contributor [3]. As one of the main driving forces to promote economic development, the construction industry plays a key role in economic and social development, but is one of major factors affecting the sharp increase in energy consumption and carbon emissions each year. In 2018, the total energy consumption of the global construction industry was as high as 2,109,205 kilotons of oil equivalent, and produced 2033 MtCO2 [1]. In Britain, the total energy consumed by buildings accounted for about 40% of the total consumption and the carbon emissions caused by this account for 50% of the total emissions [4]. In the European Union, buildings consume about 50% of the total energy and produce about 50% of the carbon emissions during their life cycle [5,6]. In Malaysia, the construction industry consumed about 7750 GWh of energy and released about 5301 kilotons of carbon dioxide in 2008 [7,8]. In Canada, the total energy consumption of residential buildings and commercial buildings accounts for 30% of the national total, forming about 29% of carbon emissions [9]. For China, in terms of energy consumption, by 2018, the energy consumption of the national construction industry reached 2,109,205 kilotons of oil equivalent and produced 391MtCO2 [10]. Moreover, the building construction sectors in countries all over the world, when combined, are responsible for over one-third of the global final energy consumption, and the carbon emissions share of the building sector will reach 50% by 2050, as estimated based on the current energy usage and emission intensity [11–13]. Buildings will, therefore, add substantial pressure to the primary energy supply if further policy actions are not taken at a global level to improve their efficiency [14,15].

#### *1.3. Energy-Saving Renovation of Existing Rural Residential Buildings Is Key to the Sustainable Development of the Construction Industry in China*

The urbanization rate in China grew from 42.99 percent in 2005 to 63.89 percent in 2020, and is expected to exceed 80 percent by 2050. With the increase in the urbanization rate, the rural population will gradually decrease, but the energy consumption of rural residential buildings still accounts for a very high proportion of the total energy consumption of buildings in China. In 2005, the energy use by rural residential buildings accounted for around 65% of total building energy use in China (including traditional biomass). Even with rapid urbanization, this is still expected to take up a quarter of China's building energy use in 2050 [16–19]. Due to serious lagging in the technical standards for rural residential building planning, design and construction, there are a great deal of problems in the construction of rural residential buildings, such as the over-simplified technical standards and the delay in the adoption of energy-saving evaluations. Compared with the 50% standard for building energy-efficiency in urban residential buildings, few strict energy-saving measures have been taken in the construction of most rural residential buildings in China. The low heating and cooling efficiency of residential buildings, and their poor thermal insulation performance, are also notable. At present, there are almost no accurate statistical data on the energy consumption of rural residential buildings in China. The evaluation of the energy consumption of rural residential buildings in China remains weak in all aspects. For instance, there is no effective evaluation system for the energysaving performance and grading of rural residential buildings. In addition, the construction of rural residential buildings mainly utilizes the self-built and decentralized modes. Hence, the commercialization rate of residential buildings is extremely low, and the engineering quality, functional quality and environmental quality of residential buildings are poor. In terms of residential construction technology, traditional techniques and methods are frequently adopted, such as manual masonry, a brick–concrete structure, few prefabricated components, low modular and assembly components, low labor productivity and low application levels for new technology. Since energy saving techniques have not been integrated into the design, planning and initial construction [20], these buildings consume a large amount of energy and emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is imperative to carry out energy-saving renovations of existing rural residential buildings. This is an important part of the new rural construction and urbanization process, and is widely accepted as the best solution for aging residential buildings. Moreover, this could have various benefits, such as saving energy, decreasing environmental pollution, and promoting inhabitants' health [21,22].
