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REPORT SUMMARY

"I’ve heard various people say this phase of growth in China will last another 30-50 years. All things being equal, I could see that happening. But can our planet sustain that given what is going on in the rest of the world? I’m not so sure."
- James Heinrick, Roggeo Design
 

The following three columns summarize the most significant takeaways from our research within four main topics: Construction Industry, Government, Awareness, and Products & Services. Click on the three column headers below and discover how certain barriers are leading to opportunity and therefore, action. We encourage you to take the initiative to address some of the opportunities and to contact organizations listed under Actions. At the bottom of this page we have also summarized the key geographies & audiences to target and the site footer links to detailed report pages.


Construction Industry
BARRIERS OPPORTUNITY ACTION
There are no national and few local organizations promoting the green building industry, sharing product information, developing case studies, or facilitating networking and knowledge transfer. 3rd-Party Trade
Organizations		 USGBC in China
Market entry into China is quite difficult for smaller firms which need resources and experience to navigate regulations, educate the industry education as well as market and distribute product. Partner or band together
with others		 Market to services firms
already in China
Foreign architects can only design the concept phase deliverables of a project and foreign construction companies are not allowed to setup business in China. Local Partnerships Follow the lead of
other architects
Many green building projects and methodologies are inaccessible to regular industry professionals and the general public. Centers of Excellence Exposition area in
pilot projects.
Most projects only address energy efficiency and the few green building projects are not well documented. Case studies and
pilot projects		 Public-Private Partnerships
The Chinese green building industry is a loose network of dedicated foreign and local government and industry professionals spread thinly across the country. Industry
Network		 Online virtual
industry network
Government
BARRIERS OPPORTUNITY ACTION
Waste disposal, water, electricity and fossil fuel prices are kept artificially low by the government. This reduces incentives to increase efficiency and makes it difficult for renewable energy to compete. Raise price of public
services & utilies		 Institute market pricing
Developers usually pay for the costs of green building infrastructure and decentralized utilities but the benefits are seen by residents and the local municipalities that can allocate less funds to roads, waste water treatment, waste management, and power generation and distribution. Cost and benefit redistribution policies
for decentralized utilities		 Central and local
government policies
There is very little measurable and quantifiable data regarding efficient products. There are no standards or certifications for many green building products and the standards that do exist for others are numerous and confusing. Green building product certification
schemes and standards bodies		 Government and other
3rd-party agents
Awareness and Attitudes
BARRIERS OPPORTUNITY ACTION
There is insufficient consumer demand
for residential green construction.		 Marketing Marketing Campaign
Many Chinese mayors and local Communist party secretaries equate modernity and development with "Manhattan" and tall glass skyscrapers. This is what they desire for their cities. Marketing Marketing Films
There is still relatively little interest from local government leaders and developers in building green. Increase visibility Contests and awards
Few local government officials desire or understand how to implement sustainable development and green building techniques. Education Mayoral Training Modules
Few local government officials, design institutes or industry professionals have the skills and experience to implement green building projects. Resources Toolkits
Products and Services
BARRIERS OPPORTUNITY ACTION
Environmentally preferable construction projects often have higher initial costs compared to business as usual. Many developers or clients will not accept this and, if they do, payback periods need to be shorter than what is considered acceptable in the US. Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) and White Certificates		 Carbon Finance and Tradable
White Certificates
Many green building products are available in China but are often priced for export, such as motion sensors or photovoltaic panels. Bulk Purchasing Consortium
for green building products		 Bulk purchasing of
key components
Industry professionals disagree on what green building products are available in China and at what cost. Product database Online Products
Marketplace
Certain high-technology items are still in short supply or unavailable in China. Concrete, insulation, lighting
controls, HVAC, renewable energy		 Firms facilitating
market entry
Rural China is developing almost as fast as urban regions. The building material of choice in China's cold Northeast is red brick - energy intense, inefficient to heat (3-4 tons of coal/winter), and dangerous in an earthquake. Straw building in
Northeast China		 Green Dragon and ADRA
straw building project

 

Target Geographies (in order of importance and foreign accessibility)

  1. Rapidly growing, larger cities such as Tianjin and Chongqing.
  2. Cities with reputations for greater business professionalism and efficient municipal government. Some of these cities include Qingdao, Suzhou, and Shekou/Shenzhen.
  3. Smaller 2nd, 3rd and 4th-tier cities located close to the major 1st-tier cities and key logistics routes, such as Lianyungang or Cixi. These cities are less built out and offer more opportunities for green improvement. They are also under serious pressure from the central government to improve their environmental performance but lack much of the expertise and experience seen in the larger cities.

Target Audiences (in order of importance and foreign accessibility)

  1. Commercial/Industrial Developer/Funders.
    1. The largest industrial/commercial investors/developers – Prologis, Capital Land, Shimao, Hutchison Wampoa, China Merchants, Sun Hung Kai, Yan Lord, etc. – that care about their image and have enormous volume. These organizations will drive the mass Chinese market. Full-circle players that fund, develop, and manage are best (ex: Prologis).
    2. Major banks that control much of the capital and would be swayed by arguments linking green building to reuced risk.
    3. International companies locating operations in China that are concerned about corporate social responsibility (CSR).
  2. Residential Developers. The initial target would be large owner/operators such as Vanke.
  3. Urban Residents. Since they use 3 times the resources as their rural counterparts and the group is growing rapidly. Their primary concerns are closely related to green design: location, position relative to sun/airflow, comfort of relatives, and nationalism (environmental security).
  4. Government. There is great potential here in both new and existing building projects but it is difficult for foreigners to access the market.
 
How the Chinese Construction Industry WorksThe Role of the Chinese GovernmentAwareness & Attitudes to 'Green'China's Cultural ContextGreen Building Products in China
Explore Video Clips by Interviewee

PAGE LAST UPDATED 04/25/2008