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Climate change calls for worldwide public concern and effort to cut down carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and globally realize sustainable development. As one of the largest energy consumers, the construction industry plays a crucial role in achieving the national carbon emission reduction goal. This paper, by employing an improved Kaya model, explored the relationships and trends among carbon emission, energy consumption, and GDP growth rate and carbon emission intensity of the Chinese construction industry. Results showed that the carbon emission of the construction industry is mainly affected by GDP growth of construction scale. The energy consumption was the main driver to the increase of carbon emissions. The carbon emissions of unit area and carbon intensity showed a decreased trend with the development of economy and the increase of construction scale. The dependence of construction activities on the fossil fuel remained despite noticeable decrease. Energy intensity helps to reduce construction carbon emissions. Low carbon economy development of construction industry calls for technological innovation, alternative energy and new technical support for further breakthrough. These findings provide scientific evidence of carbon emissions in the Chinese construction industry and useful inputs for industry-specific emission regulations.