۱٫ Introduction

Due to urbanization and industrialization, China has been the biggest contributor to emissions since 2007 [1]. Industry, transportation and buildings are the three main fields of energy consumption in China, and consumption in the building sector in China has occupied more than 33% of the national energy consumption [2]. Currently, the total building area in China is near 40 billion m2 , and by 2020, the total building area will reach 70 billion m2 [2]. Meanwhile, more than 90% of existing buildings are high energy consumption, thus making China’s existing building energy consumption per unit area approximately 2 times that of developed countries in same environmental conditions [3]. Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) provides excellent opportunities to reduce energy consumption in buildings and encourages the implementations of other sustainability practices, such as environmental protection, rational resource use, and occupants’ healthcare [4]. Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) is a process to reduce buildings’ operational energy use by applying certain approaches of the building envelope and mechanical systems improvements while keeping the buildings’ indoor environment and comfort [5]. Thus, China should accelerate the energy efficiency improvements of existing buildings. The Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) industry, a recently emergent industry, provides a market mechanism called energy performance contracting (EPC) to deliver energy efficiency projects. EPC is a financing package that includes energy savings guarantees, associated designs and installation services for energy efficiency retrofit projects [6–۹]. EPC was introduced to China in 1996 in partnership with the World Bank and the Global Environment Fund. The program aims to introduce EPC, improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment in China. In 1998, three pilot ESCOs were created: the Beijing ESCO, the Liaoning ESCO, and the Shandong ESCO [8]. In 2004, The Energy Management Company Association (EMCA) was created to facilitate the operation of EPC and development of the ESCOs industry in China. From then on, the number of ESCOs experienced a rapid growth period. The numbers of ESCOs, investments and production have increased over all these years (Figs. 1 and 2). There has surely been a significant average annual growth rate of 34.91% in the number of ESCOs from 2004 to 2013. In this millennium, the Chinese government has established a series of policies to support the application of EPC and the development of ESCOs. Obviously, the government’s attention brings huge developmental opportunities for ESCOs. However, such a number cannot represent a healthy energy service market since there are some inevitable obstacles leading to a difficult situation for ESCOs, especially in building sector [10]. Most of the ESCOs in China remain small. According to the EMCA, the financial capacity of Chinese ESCOs is limited: 60% of the ESCOs have less than 10 million RMB of registration capital; 20% have more than 50 million RMB of registration capital; and approximately 50% of ESCOs have less than 100 employees [11]. Moreover, in China, it is difficult for small companies with little capital to obtain loans or other financial support, thereby making it difficult for ESCOs to obtain financing [12–۱۴].