46 P. JIANG ET AL.
3.2 Methods
In comparison to “normal” buildings, green buildings can maximize
resource conservation (e.g., savings on energy, water, and materials), facil-
itate environmental protection, and reduce pollution while also ensuring
the healthful, comfortable, and efficient use of space for occupants over
the entire building life cycle (Chinese Construction Ministry 2006 ). Green
buildings have thus had a positive external impact by reducing energy
consumption and water use levels, by reducing pollution levels, and by
improving indoor and outdoor environments at different life cycle stages
(Liu 2006 ). Green building construction and operation costs, which are
mainly borne by developers, are typically higher than those of other build-
ings because of the nature of positive external benefits. However, most
external benefits are enjoyed by occupants, not by developers. In turn,
developers are presented with few incentives to develop green buildings.
To address this situation, policies such as subsidies, tax exemptions, and
other economic incentives should be designed and implemented to com-
prehensively support green building design, planning, land use, material
development, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and
demolition over the life cycle.
A total of 104 green buildings are selected as research samples in this
study to explore the economic incentives for green building development
in China. The cities of Suzhou and Shanghai are used as case studies for
assessing local economic policies. In particular, data from the following
sources are used: the Chinese Society for Urban Studies (CSUA), the
China Green Building Council (CHINAGBC), and the China Association
of Building Energy Efficiency (CABEE). The 104 samples are located in
22 Chinese provinces and cities. The data also include information on
building names, building types, identified green star features, floor areas,
initial investment costs, and operational cost savings.
We conduct both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The qualita-
tive method employed in the study involves a literature review and com-
parative analysis. Information collection, identification, and comparisons
are conducted by means of a literature review. First, major international
green codes (i.e., LEED, BREEAM, and CASBEE) are presented, China’s
Green Standards (i.e., the Evaluation Standards of Green Buildings) are
introduced, and green building development conditions in China are
described in the literature review. Our research objectives, questions, and
framework are formed based on the literature analysis.