The newly completed green building area in Guangzhou accounts for 74%

In recent years, China has been committed to promoting the development of green buildings. According to the "Green Building Creation Action Plan" issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seven departments in July last year, the proportion of green buildings in China's urban new buildings will reach 70% in 2022.

Green buildings refer to high-quality buildings that save resources, protect the environment, reduce pollution, provide people with healthy, applicable, and efficient use of space, and maximize the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.

Recently, it was learned from the "2020 Guangdong—Hong Kong—Macao Greater Bay Area Green Building Sharing Forum" that, as an important central city in the Guangdong—Hong Kong—Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou has been at the forefront of promoting green buildings. It is understood that the proportion of newly completed green buildings in Guangzhou in 2019 has reached 74%.

In November last year, in order to promote the development of healthy buildings in the region, Guangzhou City issued the "Guangzhou Healthy Building Design Guidance Trial". Eight professional fields including planning, construction, HVAC, water supply and drainage, electrical, indoor intelligence and landscape have formulated standards and guidance for healthy buildings and green buildings.

Xu Chenbo, Director of Market Transformation and Development in China of the Green Building Council, said that with the increasing awareness of green environmental protection, Chinese property owners have also increased their investment in this area in recent years, striving to obtain LEED certification.

According to him, since LEED certification was introduced to China in 2001, more than 2,600 commercial projects have been certified. Among them, Guangzhou Tianhe CBD has 15 LEED-certified buildings, and the world's highest-scoring super high-rise office building-Kaihua International Center is also located in Zhujiang New Town. The entire Greater Bay Area is an area with a very high concentration of LEED. Nearly 1,200 projects have applied for LEED, and more than 500 projects have been certified.

Interestingly, the research team found that the rent for LEED certification is 25% higher than that of ordinary office buildings. A LEED platinum-certified office building tends to be 27.5% higher than others. In this regard, Xu Chenbo believes that this is because many of the projects that apply for LEED certification are urban landmarks, so the rent is expensive. It also shows that some outstanding corporate customers are actually very willing to pay for a good green building.

He gave an example. At the end of 2018, CITIC Group and the Green Building Committee reached an in-depth cooperation, promising that 1,800 newly opened restaurants in China in the next five years will be LEED certified. As of the end of 2020, 500 stores have been recognized, "They also hope that when consumers come to the restaurant to consume, they will be able to provide a green and healthy environment."

Bao Ziyang, secretary general of Guangzhou Building Economy Promotion Association, believes that building construction and economy are highly integrated, and the development of building economy in the future will promote the concepts of green, health, humanity, and sharing. "Development operators are committed to building space and supporting facilities, highlighting elements such as technology and green, and embodying shared and diversified operating concepts."