Insufficient and delayed subsidies, as well as longer construction cycles than general projects, have affected the promotion of green buildings in residential projects.

 

But this situation may improve in the near future. "Guangzhou is formulating a new method for calculating the floor area ratio of green buildings, which will refer to practices in Singapore and other places to compensate 1% to 2% of the building area for buildings with good implementation." On July 23, Chen Yaxin, deputy director of the Guangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Commission, revealed in an interview with reporters that after the new method is implemented, the saleable area of green buildings may not decrease but increase, which is equivalent to balancing the incremental cost of green buildings. This will greatly enhance developers' enthusiasm for building green buildings.

 

New Method for Calculating Floor Area Ratio in the Pipeline

 

On June 1 this year, the "Guangzhou Green Building and Building Energy Efficiency Management Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") came into effect, incorporating green building management requirements into all stages of project approval, planning, land transfer, design and construction, and acceptance, and proposing more than ten innovative measures such as the verification of land and electricity indicators, the green building completion labeling system, the whole-process control system of energy consumption indicators, and the verification of green building floor area ratio.

 

The "Regulations" clearly stipulate that for green buildings reaching the two-star and three-star levels, the floor area ratio will be calculated according to the new method and implemented in the planning approval process. It is understood that at present, the Guangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Commission is taking the lead in drafting the method for calculating the floor area ratio, proposing the basic idea that for green buildings, the ground-floor open space, public sky gardens, terraces, equipment occupation space, etc. may not be counted in the floor area ratio, and similar areas such as balconies and entrance gardens may be counted as half of the area in the floor area ratio.

 

Chen Yaxin introduced that in the future, Guangzhou's green buildings will undergo minor adjustments in area recognition, that is, to give developers support in building area to encourage them to invest in the construction of green buildings. "Unlike public buildings, the incremental cost of residential green buildings is borne by developers, while the benefits obtained through later operation and management go to the small property owners. He believes that the mismatch between input and output has to some extent affected the enthusiasm of developers. To solve this problem, Guangzhou will refer to Singapore's practice and return floor area ratio for green buildings.

 

 

 

According to Singapore's green building area reward standards, for platinum-level green buildings, the government can grant up to 2% additional building area, with a maximum of 5,000 square meters. Guangzhou's additional building area compensation is also planned to be 1% to 2%.

 

Li Ming stated that the current national subsidies for green buildings are not enough to fully cover developers' construction costs, and this subsidy must be obtained after the project is delivered and used and after a complex evaluation, "with a significant time lag." For example, the construction cycle of Vanke Fuqian No. 1 has been 3 to 4 years, and it can only apply for two-star and three-star one year after delivery, so it takes at least 5 years from land acquisition to finally obtaining the subsidy. According to relevant national regulations, green buildings reaching the two-star standard can be rewarded 45 yuan per square meter, and three-star 80 yuan per square meter. Guangdong Province's subsidy standard is lower: 25 yuan per square meter for two-star, with a maximum subsidy of 1.5 million yuan per project; 45 yuan per square meter for three-star, with a maximum subsidy of 2 million yuan per project. In fact, the incremental cost of Vanke's one-star green building has already exceeded 50 yuan per square meter, and for three-star it may exceed 300 yuan per square meter.

 

On the other hand, the demand side of the current real estate market does not have much awareness of green buildings, the premium capacity of green buildings cannot be reflected, and developers' incremental costs cannot be passed on to housing prices. At the recently held Fourth Sino-British Construction Forum, Fan Tie, co-partner of Foster + Partners, told reporters: "Promoting green buildings in residential projects is much more difficult than in public buildings, because developers cannot explain to homebuyers exactly how much green buildings can save each household."

 

From the developer's perspective, Li Ming believes that the return of floor area ratio will play a positive role in the promotion of green buildings. "If developers can be attracted at the beginning, the subsequent steps are irreversible."

 

Large-Scale Mandatory Implementation

 

Li Ming stated that in advancing green buildings, in addition to developers, the participation and professionalism of upstream and downstream suppliers and supporting providers also urgently need to be improved. "The design and construction cycle of green buildings is longer than that of general buildings, and many developers are unwilling to do it because they are afraid of trouble," revealed a staff member of the Guangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Commission.

 

As the link connecting owners and buildings, the participation of design units is particularly crucial. "We encourage design units to try their best to persuade owners to accept green buildings." Chen Yaxin introduced that in order to mobilize the enthusiasm of designers to carry out green building design, the Guangzhou Urban and Rural Construction Commission has established integrity files for design enterprises and technical personnel, awarding bonus points for good behavior such as winning awards for green building design, recording them in the files, and issuing warnings to units that have not achieved green building design performance for three consecutive years.

 

Since the development of green buildings in China is still in its infancy, many design units know little about its design points and technical requirements, so issuing corresponding technical guidelines and special training is also an indispensable step. Chen Yaxin stated that at present, Guangzhou is compiling the "Technical Guidelines for Green Buildings and Low-Energy Buildings in Guangzhou Region," organizing the summary and selection of new green building technologies, materials, and products suitable for local climate characteristics, and recommending them for use in various green building projects. In the past year, more than 3,000 professional and technical personnel in Guangzhou have received special training on green buildings.

 

Promoting green buildings solely through guiding or encouraging policies is clearly no longer able to meet Guangzhou's requirements. At the beginning of 2012, Guangzhou issued the "Notice on Accelerating the Development of Green Buildings," stipulating that new (reconstructed, expanded) buildings using fiscal funds and state-owned funds in the city, as well as new buildings in 13 new urban areas such as Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, Haizhu Eco-City, and International Financial City, must fully implement green building standards, making it the first city in the country to implement green buildings on a large scale mandatorily.

 

On this basis, Guangzhou issued the "Guangzhou Green Building and Building Energy Efficiency Management Regulations" this year, adding requirements for the implementation of green buildings in large public buildings of more than 20,000 square meters in the city.

 

"For this industry to develop comprehensively, the government must have a strong means, such as legislation. Although mandatory implementation of green buildings will encounter certain resistance, with the guarantee of laws and regulations, it is believed that good results will be achieved," said Chen Yaxin.