China is the largest building construction market in the world, with up to 2 billion square meters constructed annually. In 2017, buildings accounted for 21% of the total energy consumption of China. The carbon emission of buildings was 2 billion tons of CO2, accounting for almost 20% of total carbon emissions in China – which is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for about a third of the global carbon emissions.
The concept of sustainable buildings, as pursued by Chinese side, aims to improve building energy efficiency (both for existing buildings and new constructed buildings) through energy savings and efficiency standards. The increase in building energy efficiency is to be combined with other urban development measures against the background of the goals of the 2030 Agenda in terms of holistic, sustainable urban development.
In 2019, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China (MoHURD) published the National Standard of Green Buildings Assessment and the National Calculation Standard for Building Carbon Emissions, which aims to implement national policies on climate change, energy conservation, and emission reduction.
