Under the "dual carbon" goal, the three major trends of green buildings in the future are: more efficient, lower carbon, and healthier

Source: New Beijing News

Under the "dual carbon" goal, how to promote the high-quality development of construction has become a topic in the current industry. At the ACT2023 (First) International Zero Carbon City Conference and Zero-energy building Expo held from June 28 to June 30, the "Second Low Carbon Healthy Real Estate Collaborative Innovation and Development Forum" released the industry's first carbon neutral Big data white paper.

Participants believe that the high-quality development of the construction industry cannot be separated from collaborative innovation in low-carbon and health aspects. In the future, it is necessary to explore a path of resource conservation, environmental friendliness, low-carbon and emission reduction, and healthy human settlement development.

The real estate industry needs to transform towards a healthy and low-carbon direction

The construction industry is a major carbon emitter and a key area for achieving the "dual carbon" goals. The specific goal of high-quality development in the construction field is to vigorously promote the achievement of low-carbon and healthy buildings.

Regarding this, Ni Jiangbo, Vice President of the China Building Energy Conservation Association, stated that as of the end of 2022, the cumulative built energy-saving building area in China has exceeded 30.3 billion square meters, with energy-saving buildings accounting for over 64% of the urban civil building area. China's construction industry has achieved phased achievements in low-carbon, healthy, and high-quality development, and the future real estate industry must transform towards a healthy and low-carbon direction and take the path of sustainable development.

Energy conservation and efficiency improvement is the preferred choice for achieving the 'dual carbon' goal, with a contribution of over 75% to achieving carbon neutrality. Achieving this goal is the result of joint efforts and collaboration among all parties. The 'dual carbon' strategy will not only lead to a new round of energy technology revolution, but also drive a new round of industrial revolution. "said Kang Yanbing, Deputy Director and Researcher of the National Energy Conservation Center.

Han Aixing, former Deputy Director of the Department of Building Energy Efficiency and Technology of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, pointed out that there are three major trends in the future development of green buildings. Firstly, building energy efficiency is more efficient, and passive ultra-low energy buildings have become the key, prerequisite, and foundation for achieving carbon peak in the construction field; Secondly, building energy consumption is lower in carbon, and the application of renewable energy such as solar energy and air energy in buildings is the future development direction; Finally, the living environment is healthier, and three-dimensional garden architecture is an important measure to expand building functions, improve building performance, and create a healthy and comfortable environment.

According to Wang Qingqin, Vice General Manager of China Academy of Building Sciences Co., Ltd. and Chairman of the Healthy Building Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance, low-carbon and healthy are two important characteristics of green buildings. The average carbon emissions of green buildings can be reduced by more than 20%, and their health performance is also significantly improved compared to ordinary buildings. Therefore, developing green buildings is an important lever for implementing the 'dual carbon goals' and' healthy China 'strategies in the construction field

Technology leads by building new buildings, while reducing carbon emissions requires a focus on existing buildings

Xu Qiang, the rotating chairman of the Passive Building Special Committee of the China Building Energy Conservation Association and senior chief engineer of Shanghai Jianke Group Co., Ltd., stated in an interview with the Beijing News that green, industrialization, and digitalization are the current and future directions for the development of the construction industry. If we simply talk about the green transformation of construction enterprises, it mainly faces three core factors: green, industrialization, and digitalization. Firstly, it is necessary to grasp the technological direction of green development and develop green core technologies.

When it comes to industrialization, Xu Qiang stated that although China's construction industrialization has been advancing, it has never been completed.

Industrialization is one of the important core factors that construction enterprises must grasp in their transformation. As of now, the question of how to build a good house has always existed. The goal of industrialization is to build high-quality buildings. The deviation degree of the construction site is calculated in cm, while the deviation degree of Prefabricated building is mm, which can "build houses like cars".

Regarding the digitization of architecture, Xu Qiang believes that it is a deep integration of informatization and industrialization. By digitizing, building benefits can be maximized to a greater extent. In fact, many energy-saving renovation projects can reduce energy consumption by 5-8% through digital transformation alone. Currently, many enterprises are engaged in the research and development of related products.

Regarding the high cost issue faced in the process of building carbon reduction, Xu Qiang believes that cost issues always exist in any new technology promotion, and in fact, it takes time to digest. A very typical example is that compared to 10 years ago, the current cost of solar photovoltaic power generation is only 1/10 of what it was then. As the demand increases, there will be competition, not only to improve performance and functionality in technology, but also to improve efficiency in mass production processes. Reduce costs while driving innovation.

"Technology leadership depends on new buildings, but carbon emission reduction should also focus on existing buildings." Xu Qiang said that under the dual carbon goals, the technology of super energy consumption buildings or Zero-energy building is only reflected in new buildings; The remaining 80% of buildings can only be solved through renovation and renovation.

Real estate enterprises drive low-carbon transformation of the entire construction industry chain

The Chinese real estate industry has entered the second half, and market differentiation has intensified. At the same time, the shift from "quantity" in the first half to "quality" in the second half. In this industry context, Cheng Xin, Assistant President of China Shipping Enterprise Group, believes that only high-quality products can win customer recognition, and high-quality development enterprises can survive.

According to Huang Junpeng, CEO of Youlv and Secretary General of the Low Carbon and Healthy Real Estate Professional Committee of the China Building Energy Conservation Association, carbon neutrality of real estate enterprises will drive the low-carbon transformation of the entire construction industry chain. Because the driving effect of real estate enterprises is strong, the reduction of 1 ton in real estate construction area can drive a reduction of 2.8 tons in furniture and building materials related industries.

To this end, Huang Junpeng said that enterprises can improve the "carbon business" and establish key competitive advantages in the low-carbon era through carbon inventory, control and rating of implied carbon, building carbon asset management systems, and carrying out pilot demonstration of Zero-energy building.

In terms of corporate carbon management, Huang Junpeng believes that, at present, "low carbon" has become a key factor in real estate enterprise financing, and is one of the Critical path method to improve enterprise ESG (environment, society, governance) performance.