The total amount of resources and energy consumed by long-lifespan residential buildings (RBs) is far less than that of short-lifespan RBs with repeated demolitions and constructions. This study aims to expand revealing of comprehensive influencing of the service lifespan of RBs beyond the previous approach that focused only on the one aspect of physical conditions with RBs. This study proposed these latent variables (i.e., physical, functional, economic, environmental and social lifespans), which made a better understanding of the service lifespan of RBs. To analyze the influence mechanism of the service lifespan of RBs, an empirical RB's lifespan dataset was established and tested utilizing a two-stage structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The results indicated that: (1) functional lifespan (total effects = 2.15) and environmental lifespan (total effects = 1.46) have an obvious positive impact on the service lifespan of RBs; (2) the influencing factors including structure design, land finance, employment of migrant workers, planning forward, and technical measures have a significant impact in corresponding lifespan dimension; and (3) improving construction technology and guaranteeing land value are regarded as the fundamental extending measure for the service lifespan of RBs. This study complements the connotation of RB service lifespan to a certain extent and further improves the sustainable development theory. Policy implications derived from the results were discussed at the end of the study.

长寿命住宅建筑消耗的资源和能源总量远低于反复拆除和建设的短寿命住宅建筑。本研究旨在超越以往仅关注RB物理状况某一方面的方法，扩大揭示RB使用寿命的综合影响。本研究提出了这些潜在变量（即物理、功能、经济、环境和社会寿命），从而更好地了解了RB的使用寿命。为了分析RB使用寿命的影响机制，利用两阶段结构方程建模（SEM）方法建立了RB寿命经验数据集并进行了测试。结果表明：（1）功能寿命（总效应=2.15）和环境寿命（总效应=1.46）对RB的使用寿命有明显的正向影响；（2）结构设计、土地财政、农民工就业、规划前瞻、技术措施等影响因素对相应寿命维​​度有显着影响；（3）把提高施工技术、保证土地价值作为延长RB使用寿命的根本措施。本研究在一定程度上补充了RB使用寿命的内涵，进一步完善了可持续发展理论。研究结束时讨论了研究结果得出的政策影响。