Li Qiang, Beijing University of Technology: How do countries develop green buildings?

The construction industry consumes one-third of the total use of human natural resources, including 17% of fresh water extraction, 25% of wood extraction and 40% of energy use. The greenhouse gases produced account for about 30% of global emissions, which is an important area for emission reduction. The development of green buildings provides a feasible path for energy conservation, emission reduction and carbon reduction. Green buildings emphasize low energy consumption and low emissions. During the entire life cycle of planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and dismantling, it saves resources, protects the environment, reduces pollution, and provides people with healthy, applicable and efficient use space.

Since the 1990s, developed countries have promoted the rapid development of green buildings through mandatory standards and laws and regulations, incentive fiscal and taxation, and reward and subsidy policies.

Laws, regulations and standards are constantly improving. Developed countries have gradually established a complete green building certification system by introducing laws, regulations and policies on building energy conservation and emission reduction. Since the launch of the first BREEAM green building assessment system for office buildings in 1990, the UK has successively launched versions suitable for residential, commercial buildings, communities, etc., and is constantly updated. After the United States established the LEED green building certification system in 1998, it launched multiple versions such as 2000 V2.0, 2009 V3.0, and 2018 V4.1. Since Japan established the CASBEE Building Comprehensive Environmental Performance Evaluation System in 2002, it has successively launched versions suitable for office buildings, independent houses, commercial buildings, existing buildings, etc. At the same time, building energy conservation and emission reduction regulations continue to deepen, gradually moving from "green" to "zero carbon". The United States enacted the Energy Policy Act in 2005, requiring that energy use by federal government agencies be reduced to 80% by 2003 after 2015; in 2024, it released "Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: National Blueprint for the Construction Industry", proposing that "By 2035, greenhouse gas emissions from buildings will be reduced by 65% and by 90% by 2050." The UK is also making every effort to achieve net-zero emissions in all buildings by 2050. Japan will release the sixth edition of its "Energy Basic Plan" in 2021, requiring new buildings to achieve zero energy consumption by 2030, and existing buildings to achieve average zero energy consumption after 2050.

Promote the establishment of a national green building innovation system. Developed countries have established green building committees to build a huge innovation network covering governments, universities, scientific research institutions and various related enterprises in the construction industry such as real estate, planning, design, construction, materials, operations, and finance to promote green building innovation and sustainable development. The U.S. Green Building Council, the British Building Institute, the German Sustainable Building Council, and the Japan New Energy Industry Technology Comprehensive Development Agency have played an important role in building the country's green building innovation network.

Establish incentive mechanisms to promote the industrialization of green buildings. Developed countries have established incentive mechanisms through policy tools such as tax exemptions, special funds, carbon trading compensation, and carbon finance. In 2020, Japan funded 45.95 billion yen to improve the energy efficiency of factories, houses, etc., and build zero-energy buildings. In 2020, the UK invested £ 2 billion in energy-saving renovations of houses, and in 2021 announced an investment of £ 1 billion to reduce carbon emissions in industries, schools and hospitals. In 2023, the United States announced a $530 million competitive grant for building energy efficiency projects.

At present, developed countries have formed a large-scale, innovative and active green building industry system. Driven by the government, green buildings have gradually emerged from the high-cost dilemma and become a new economic growth point. Many international institutions predict that the size of the green building market will grow at a rate of about 10% in the next decade. The International Finance Corporation predicts that investment demand in green building emerging markets will reach US$3.5 trillion in the next decade. From 2016 to 2020, green building jobs in the United States grew by approximately 20%. According to the 2021 U.S. Energy and Jobs Report, the number of people employed in the U.S. green building sector has exceeded 2.1 million. Market research firm Precedence Research predicts that the global green building industry market size will reach US$968.99 billion in 2030, with an annual growth rate of 9.4%. According to estimates by global data organization GlobalData, in 2023, the UK's green building market will reach US$5.89 billion, with an annual growth rate of more than 9% in the next five years; the German green building market will reach US$5.89 billion, with an annual growth rate in the next five years. It will exceed 4%; Japan's green building market will reach US$3.57 billion, with an annual growth rate of more than 3% in the next five years.

my country vigorously promotes green buildings and has issued the "Green Building Action Plan","National New Urbanization Plan (2014-2020)","Green Building Creation Action Plan","14th Five-Year Plan for Building Energy Conservation and Green Building Development Plan", etc., and has successively compiled "Key Points and Technical Guidelines for the Construction of Green Ecological Residential Communities","Green Building Evaluation Standards", and "Green Construction Evaluation Standards for Building and Municipal Engineering" and other specifications. At present, a green building standard system has been initially established from design, construction, operation, transformation to evaluation, and the development of green buildings has been promoted through a combination of planning guidance and economic incentives. In view of the existing problems such as weak awareness of green transformation, imperfect innovation systems, low level of industrial clusters, and imperfect laws, regulations and standard systems, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of manufacturing countries and systems, and focus on the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Build a green building innovation network, optimize the innovation environment, improve the legal, regulations and standard systems, accelerate talent training, effectively promote the green transformation of enterprises, and create a green building industry cluster with international influence.

The author is a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology