Telecommunication base station (TBS) buildings have large numbers, high energy consumptions and great potentials on energy conservation. Through field investigation of a typical TBS in Guangzhou, the basic information of TBS was achieved, the key factors influencing energy consumption of TBS were determined and several energy efficient envelope designs were proposed. The effect on annual cooling load was analyzed for each energy efficient design and the combined effects were achieved for several combinations of the designs by thermal simulation. The energy efficient design strategy of building envelope for TBS in Guangzhou was proposed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.