In this paper, in contrast to the usual rough estimation, we present a model to simulate and evaluate the direct, indirect economic and environmental impacts of the implementation of building energy efficiency standards on Chinese economic system and environment by 12 indicators in two scenarios. Four indicators are used to evaluate the direct economic impact degree, five indicators are used to evaluate the direct environmental impact degree, three indicators are used to evaluate the indirect economic impact degree of 34 sectors and the whole Chinese economic system. This research makes it possible to link developments in the implementation of building energy efficiency standards with environmental and economic structure change. The most important finding is that the implementation of building energy efficiency standards can reduce a large amount of pollutants emissions and increase the GDP at the same time. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.