Policies for promoting green buildings at the local level: a case study of Ningbo, China

This paper is based on an ongoing research project funded by the World Bank GEF Program, which aims to identify the key policy incentives for promoting green buildings using a city in China as a case study. China is undergoing the largest scale of urbanization in history and at an unprecedented pace. The construction and operation of buildings have inevitably brought severe pressures on resource conservation and environmental protection. China has initiated policies, strategies and financial incentive schemes at a national level to address these issues. It is also seen that there is a growing interest in recent years at the local government level in promoting green buildings. Ambitious green building development targets have been proposed in some Chinese cities. This paper will take a look at the current national policies and targets and then discuss the motivations and opportunities of developing green buildings from a perspective of local governments. Questionnaire surveys and interviews have been conducted in the case study city of Ningbo, China. Based on these surveys and interviews, the key areas for policy improvement for the case study city have been identified