Low Carbon Urban Infrastructure Investment in Asian Cities

ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC INCENTIVE POLICIES... 39

3.1.1 Energy Conservation Legislation in China’s

Building Sector

The “Northern Residential Building Energy-saving Design Standards,”
which were issued in 1986, mark the beginning of energy-saving build-
ing development in China. Since their creation, a series of energy-saving
standards have been issued by the Ministry of Construction and by local
governments. These standards include mandated energy-saving objectives
for the building sector. For example, energy consumption in all new and
refurbished public buildings^1 must be reduced by 50 % relative to public
building energy performance levels of the 1980s under GB50189-2005
standards (Chinese Construction Ministry 2005 ). Some local municipal
governments have also issued their own energy efficiency design standards
for buildings by referring to the national standards and by considering
local realities. For instance, the Beijing government issued the “Beijing
Public Building Energy Saving Design Standards,” which came into effect
in June 2006. The Beijing standards are designed to meet the energy-

(^1) Public buildings refer to non-residential buildings, for example, offices, shopping malls,
hotels, schools, hospitals, with the exception of factories and plants, as outlined in
GB50189-2005.
Table 3.1 Overview of green building coding systems employed in the USA, the
UK, and Japan
Name Country Issue
time
Building types Rating
standards
Standards
LEED USA 1995 • Commercial
buildings

• Public
  Buildings


• New buildings

Four-star Construction, water,

energy and environment,

materials and sources,

indoor environment and

innovation

BREEAM UK 1990 • New buildings

• Existing
  buildings

Four-

grades of

Management, energy,

traffic, pollution,

materials, water

resources, land use,

ecological value, physical

and mental health

CASBEE Japan 2003 • New buildings

• Existing
  buildings

Five-

grades of

Energy consumption,

resource reuse, local

environments, indoor

environment