Research On The Carbon Emission Efficiency Evaluation And Influencing Factors Of The Construction Industry In The Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

In the new era,the construction industry has become a pillar of China’s national economy,but it is also a key area of resource and energy consumption.The energy consumption throughout the entire building process accounts for almost half of the country’s total energy consumption.Energy-saving and emission reduction in the building sector and low-carbon transformation are key areas of China’s ecological civilization construction,and also a crucial element for achieving carbon neutrality and peak carbon emissions.The development of the construction industry in the Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle(CCEC)is a driving force for promoting the economic and social development,ecological civilization construction,and green transformation of urbanization construction in the western region.Therefore,this article conducts an indepth study on the current carbon emissions status,carbon emission efficiency,and influencing factors of the construction industry in the CCEC region and proposes targeted suggestions to provide reference for the low-carbon and green development of the construction industry in the CCEC region.Firstly,this article selects the carbon emission coefficient method to construct a carbon emission measurement model,taking 16 cities including Chengdu,Deyang,Mianyang,Suining,Leshan,and Chongqing in the CCEC region as the research objects.The corresponding sample data from 2010 to 2021 were collected,and the total carbon emissions of the construction industry in the CCEC region and the other provinces and cities were calculated.The results showed that the carbon emissions of the construction industry in the CCEC region increased by more than four times during the research period,with a significant change in the proportion of main building materials used,where the traditional use of cement has gradually declined,while the use of steel and aluminum has gradually increased and grown significantly.We then constructed a super-efficient SBM evaluation model for carbon emissions in the construction industry,selecting energy consumption,fixed asset investment,total power of mechanical equipment,and the number of employees in the construction industry as input indicators,with total output value and carbon emissions as expected and non-expected outputs,respectively.Based on sample data from 16 cities in the CCEC region and 30 provinces and cities nationwide from 2010 to 2021,we calculated the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry.Starting from both dynamic and static perspectives,this paper analyzes the causes and internal mechanisms of carbon emissions efficiency in the construction industry of the CCEC.Efficiency measurement results show that except for Chengdu,the carbon emissions efficiency of other cities in the CCEC has not been effective and is presented in a high-low agglomeration centering on Chengdu-Chongqing,but is steadily increasing overall.The ML index and decomposition index of carbon emissions efficiency of the construction industry in the CCEC are both greater than 1,but there are significant differences among the ML indices of various cities.Half of the cities have improved the total factor carbon emissions efficiency of the construction industry,while the other half show a backward trend.In addition,The carbon emission efficiency level of the construction industry in the southwestern region shows a significant gap compared to the eastern coastal region,and there is also a noticeable variation in carbon emission efficiency among provinces and cities within the southwestern region.Based on the Tobit regression model,the key factors affecting the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in the CCEC region were analyzed.The carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle was used as the dependent variable,while per capita disposable income,urbanization level,energy structure,energy intensity,the size of the construction enterprise,mechanization level,number of employees in the construction industry,and the development level of the construction industry were used as independent variables.The study found that per capita disposable income,urbanization level,energy structure,and technological innovation level have a significant negative effect on the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in the CCEC region,while the number of employees in the construction industry and the development level of the construction industry have a positive effect.Energy intensity and mechanization level have no significant impact on the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in the CCEC region.In light of these findings,the following policy recommendations are proposed:Increasing the supply of green buildings and advancing sustainable development;optimizing regional spatial structures to promote efficient and intensive use of urban space;adjusting the energy structure of the construction industry and improving the renewable energy supply system;advancing the low-carbon and intelligent transformation of the construction industry and improving the system for incubating technological achievements;establishing a big data sharing platform and building a carbon emission trading mechanism for the construction industry in Sichuan and Chongqing.