Green practices in the Chinese building industry: drivers and impediments

Abstract

Purpose -Green building has become increasingly significant in China, with hundreds of projects being certified. While this has been the case, the driving and impeding factors behind this have remained unclear. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the green practices in China and to investigate the current status and the driving and impeding factors for green practices in the Chinese building industry. Design/methodology/approach -After a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature, this study first describes major environmental changes in China. Next, this study conducts an industry-wide survey, with 65 completed responses received that form the analysis of this research. Findings -The results of the survey showed that "to obtain countenance and incentives from the government" appears to be the dominant motivation for green practices. "High fabrication cost" in design and "cost control" in construction were considered to be the largest obstacles encountered. "Lack of application experience" seems to be the largest obstacle faced in certification. The respondents seem to disagree much on the advantages of green buildings over conventional ones. The study also found that "countenance and incentives from the government" were the most significant driving force behind the rapid expansion of the green building industry in China. Originality/value -A clearer understanding of the perceptions of industry practitioners would assist those in the green building industry to better appreciate their shortcomings and to inspire new ways of improving performance of the green building industry. Although the future of the green building sector in China is promising, this industry still faces significant obstacles in technologies relating to design, production and manufacturing as well as in "soft" skills relating to regulations, management and stimulation.

Why sustainable construction? Why not? An owner's perspective

“…This indicates that Chinese owners pay more attention to the economics of SC. This is consistent with previous studies (Liu et al, 2012;Shi et al, 2013.) that regard additional cost as the most significant barrier to green construction from the owner's perspective. It is worth noting that a Finnish study found owners perception of the risk due to lack of related experience and information to be the most crucial barrier to SC (H€ akkinen & Belloni, 2011).…”

“…However, SC is still in its infancy in China (Mao, Lu, & Li, 2011;Shi, Zuo, Huang, Huang, & Pullen, 2013). For instance, only 4% of the building stock meet the green building standard (Liu, Low, & He, 2012). Li, Yang, He, and Zhao (2014) also argue that the green building practices in China lagged behind of that in developed countries significantly.…”

“…In terms of sustainable construction, this is indeed a challenging task for the Chinese construction industry due to the significant environmental impact and the large scale consumption of natural resources involved (Liu et al, 2012;Shi et al, 2012). Despite measures that have been introduced for promoting SC, their effectiveness is in doubt where action relies on the stakeholders' own initiatives (Qi et al, 2010).…”

“…This has created a massive demand for building and infrastructure. It is estimated that around 30 billion m 2 of building area will be newly constructed by 2020 to meet the requirements of urbanization (Liu et al, 2012.). Without paying attention to sustainability during this development process, there is likely to be a considerable new burden on the environment, with economic wastefulness and social deficiencies, and taking many years to reduce the ensuing environmental footprint (Golubchikov & Badyina, 2012).…”

Kajian Penerapan Green Building Pada Gedung Bank Indonesia Surakarta

“…Eksploitasi sumber daya alam yang tidak memperhatikan kemampuan dan daya dukung lingkungan dapat mengakibatkan merosotnya kualitas lingkungan. Kaitannya dengan masalah kualitas lingkungan ini adalah adanya isu pemanasan global di mana bangunan menjadi salah satu sebab pemanasan global karena bangunan berpotensi memproduksi emisi gas karbon lebih dari 40% (Ervianto, 2012 (Liu, Low, & He, 2012;Zhang, Platten, & Shen, 2011 …”