Promote the low-carbon transformation of Fujian's construction industry under the "double carbon" goal

The construction industry has always been a large carbon emitter. In 2020, the carbon emission of the whole process of construction in China will account for more than 50% of the national total. Accelerating the low-carbon transformation of the construction industry is a key starting point and core measure for implementing the central carbon peaking and carbon neutrality decision and deployment. This is also an important practice to promote the construction of ecological civilization and implement the requirements of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in various industries and fields of the economy and society during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

The construction industry is a pillar industry in Fujian. In 2021, the total output value of Fujian's construction industry will reach 1.58 trillion yuan, accounting for 32.4% of the province's GDP, a year-on-year increase of 12%, and an added value of 514.055 billion yuan. In recent years, Fujian has promoted high-quality development in an all-round way, further promoted energy conservation and emission reduction in the construction sector, and vigorously developed green buildings and prefabricated buildings, laying a solid foundation for the low-carbon development of the construction industry. However, the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry is still at the middle and lower level in the country, and the carbon emission per unit of output value is still relatively high. Therefore, Fujian urgently needs to speed up the low-carbon transformation of the construction industry in order to effectively promote the realization of the provincial carbon peak and carbon neutrality goal.

Accelerating the low-carbon transformation can not only reshape Fujian's construction industry in terms of product form, production method, management model, business model and supervision method. It can also spawn new industries, new formats, and new models, provide application scenarios for cross-domain, all-round, and multi-level industrial deep integration, and cultivate and strengthen new development momentum. The low-carbon transformation of the construction industry is a complex systematic project involving economic, social, environmental and other fields. It is necessary to further improve and improve the low-carbon transformation and governance system of the construction industry. Adhering to the scientific thinking of the system, adhere to the problem-oriented, demand-oriented, and goal-oriented, and make efforts from the following aspects to promote the low-carbon transformation of Fujian's construction industry and achieve sustainable development.

Strengthen top-level design and overall planning, and systematically design the low-carbon transformation and development path of the construction industry. The governance task of carbon neutralization in the construction industry is complex, involving different government functional departments such as housing urban and rural construction, ecological environment, and industrial informatization. It is necessary to clarify the governance task requirements and responsible subjects of the low-carbon transformation and development of the construction industry in Fujian, establish and improve the provincial organizational leadership and working mechanism, and build a regionally representative low-carbon construction technology system, institutional system, and assessment and supervision system. Based on key indicators such as construction industry-related carbon emissions, carbon emission intensity, carbon factor productivity, and low-carbon technology conversion rate, combined with the current construction industry technology, management, and overall economic level, the Fujian Province construction industry carbon emission reduction targets are formulated in stages, plan a scientific and reasonable development path. To promote the implementation and supervision of the carbon emission reduction responsibility system, the local competent department will lead the establishment of a work leading group and a special work class, proceeding from the local reality, and taking the problem and demand as the orientation, formulate and implement the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action plan in the construction field. Coordinate and manage carbon emission reduction planning, standards, calculations, audits, etc., establish a joint assessment mechanism, and put responsibilities in place.

Establish and improve the low-carbon building policy and system, and give play to the basic guarantee role of policies, regulations and systems. From April 1, 2022, my country began to strictly implement the mandatory specification "General Specification for Building Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Utilization". However, the corresponding policies and regulations related to carbon emissions in Fujian are relatively lacking. The existing relevant regulations are mostly oriented to green buildings, and the policy system focusing on low-carbon buildings has not yet been formed. It is suggested that the mandatory policies and regulations covering all dimensions of carbon emissions in the construction industry should be revised and improved around carbon emissions, and the legal status of promoting low-carbon buildings should be further improved. Strengthen the integration and innovation of implemented policies and measures, and enhance the systematic, synergistic and pertinence of low-carbon construction promotion policies and measures. Incorporate low-carbon building standards into the review content of planning and design, construction, supervision, and completion acceptance, and clarify the legal responsibilities of all parties. The specific rules and regulations for the development of low-carbon buildings shall be refined and implemented, and relevant policies with operational implementation rules shall be issued to strengthen the accuracy and sustainability of policy delivery.

Accelerate the improvement of the carbon emission accounting system in the construction sector, and strengthen the strategic supporting role of carbon emission data. Scientific accounting of building carbon emissions is the basic work to support the low-carbon transformation of the construction industry. There is an urgent need to speed up the establishment of a building carbon emission accounting system in Fujian to provide important data support for restricting building carbon emissions. Establish an easy-to-implement building carbon emission calculation standard, and clarify the boundary, scope, measurement subject and calculation method of building carbon emission calculation. Build a carbon emission accounting standard system in various fields, levels and stages of urban and rural construction, such as the construction of carbon emission standards for prefabricated building components, and project-level carbon emission accounting standards for buildings and municipal facilities. Based on the project pricing method, establish and improve the building carbon emission factor library, and develop a rapid calculation method for building carbon emissions. Support industries and enterprises to carry out research on building carbon emission accounting methodologies according to their own characteristics, and establish and improve a building carbon emission measurement system. Promote the development of building carbon emission measurement technology, accelerate the application of emerging technologies such as remote sensing measurement, BIM, and cloud computing in the field of building carbon emission measurement technology, and improve the level of statistical accounting.

Comprehensively build a diversified building carbon emission reduction incentive mechanism to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all stakeholders. Low-carbon buildings may bring incremental costs. Although Fujian has introduced some incentive measures, the scope of incentives is generally narrow and the means are single. The different demands of various stakeholders should be fully considered, and diversified incentives should be integrated to mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties. On the basis of calculating the incremental cost, provide financial subsidies for projects such as low-carbon renovation of new buildings and existing buildings, and energy efficiency improvement of public institutions, increase subsidies for green building materials, and encourage villagers to purchase and use low-carbon building materials. Use market-based incentives to promote the establishment of a mechanism linking building energy efficiency, low carbon and some land transfers. For government investment projects, government office buildings, etc., priority should be given to adopting low-carbon products or standards. Implement policies such as accelerated depreciation, discounted loans, and tax reduction and exemption for newly built energy-saving residences and low-carbon building equipment. Encourage consumers to choose low-carbon housing, provide consumers with housing loans and tax incentives, and promote and encourage the renovation of old urban communities, dilapidated houses in rural areas, and energy-saving and low-carbon renovation of high-energy-consuming buildings. Establish a corporate low-carbon reputation incentive mechanism, and take corporate low-carbon behavior as part of its reputation.

Accelerate the establishment of a low-carbon technology innovation mechanism in the construction field, and promote the industrialization of low-carbon construction technology. By encouraging enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions to cooperate to establish modern low-carbon technology research institutes, it will carry out research on related technical routes, technology development, technology integration, etc. in the fields of new construction methods, green construction, clean energy, and zero-energy buildings. Focus on breaking through a number of forward-looking, strategic and applied technologies. Fujian should actively carry out low-carbon, zero-carbon, and negative-carbon pilot projects, carry out low-carbon construction demonstration projects, promote green, industrial, informatized, intensive, and industrialized construction methods, and strengthen technological innovation and integration.