According to officials from the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Shanxi, on October 19, the province will introduce a green building project for affordable housing units across the region this year in an effort to provide properties for those with medium or low household income. The government will preferentially offer fixed subsidies for properties that meet the corresponding standards of the project.

Green building refers to a building that conserves resources to the utmost (energy conservation, land, water and materials), protects the environment and reduces pollution. It provides a healthy, applicable and efficient space for people as well as forms a symbiotic relationship with nature throughout its life-cycle. The so-called “green” does not mean vertical planting and roof gardens in general. Rather, it refers to a building that is environmentally friendly and can make the most of environmental and natural resources. In addition, it should be built without damaging the basic ecological balance. It is also known as a sustainable building, ecological construction, return-to-nature building, or environmental-friendly and energy-saving building. In conformance with state requirement, this year, Shanxi will select some of the government-subsidized housing projects to carry out the green building action and meet at least a one-star standard in green building. It is said that the selected government-subsidized housing projects should meet four requirements at the same time: government investment; new projects approved in 2014 and thereafter; buildings built simultaneously with a building scale of over 20,000 square meters; public rental housing (including low-rent housing after the unification).

Shanxi will exert supervision and control on government-subsidized housing projects within the range of green building construction from all aspects, including planning, design, approval of drawings, construction, and inspection and acceptance. During the review and approval of the project, the planning department should bring key indexes of the green building into design conditions of the project planning. Projects that fail to meet the requirements cannot be issued a building construction planning permit.

In addition, the assessment system of the green building involves six indexes, and the system is divided into three-star, two-star and one-star tiers. As for the government-subsidized housing project reaching the one-star level on a certain scale, Shanxi will preferentially offer fixed subsidies. As for those reaching higher level (two-star and three-star level), financial incentives will be granted. All municipal governments in Shanxi will also aggressively provide stimulation and guidance for green building projects to stimulate enterprise initiative in construction and give better play to the demonstration effect.

Edited by Michael Thai