The green building materials market will become more standardized.

China’s building materials industry is poised to enter a “fully green” era. The recent release of the Implementation Rules for the Administration Measures on the Evaluation and Labeling of Green Building Materials marks the official commencement of these measures, which is a positive development for the industry as they will serve to guide and standardize practices.

The Implementing Rules will undoubtedly exert a gradual and incremental impact on the building-materials industry. At present, all enterprises are still at the starting line. Over the next three to five years, if they fail to obtain the green-building-materials label, it will be extremely difficult for them to sell their products,” says Ma Juanyong, Director of the Green Building Materials Research Institute of the China Urban Science Research Association. He believes that if building-materials companies do not prioritize this area, the market is very likely to shrink substantially.

With the vigorous promotion of green building, various “green building materials” have also surged in popularity, riding on this favorable momentum. Today, building-materials companies often hold anywhere from two to a dozen environmental-certification labels for their products, many of which bear such seemingly “eco-friendly” designations as “China’s Outstanding Green and Environmental Protection Product” or “Green and Environmental Protection Promotion Product.”

However, the aforementioned industry veteran dismisses these myriad green labels and certification certificates, noting that most of the certifying bodies are non-governmental organizations—and some certificates can even be purchased for a fee. “I’ve even had companies tell me outright that for just RMB 30,000 to 50,000, obtaining an environmental protection certificate is no problem at all.”

Today, public awareness of energy conservation and environmental protection is steadily increasing, and with rising economic affluence, many people are willing to spend more to ensure peace of mind. Yet the “green building materials” that sales representatives used to tout often turn out to be far from straightforward. In the minds of most consumers, the term “green building materials” tends to be more of a buzzword than a concrete reality, because when it comes to actual use, many performance indicators remain vague and difficult to quantify, lacking the kind of clear, easily understandable energy-consumption metrics that are readily available for conventional appliances such as color TVs, air conditioners, and refrigerators.

Truly green building materials should, following certification, be able to provide users with quantifiable products that come with specific performance parameters for practical application. The issuance of the Implementation Rules will ensure that the “green label” for the green building materials industry is based on a solid regulatory framework. In the future, the government will impose administrative requirements for the management of green building material evaluation labels; for instance, national projects and key government-invested projects will be required to give priority to the use of green building materials, thereby accelerating the development of this sector.

From the perspective of the building-materials industry, the issuance of the Implementing Rules is positive for industry development, as the green-building-materials label cannot be affixed by manufacturers at will—it requires certification by a qualified third-party organization. This means that, once the Measures for the Administration of Green Building Materials are put into effect, a number of non-compliant enterprises will be automatically phased out.

But with Thermal insulation material This issue will be effectively addressed by the Technical Guidelines for the Evaluation of Green Building Materials for Walls and Roofs. Green thermal insulation materials can be evaluated based on indicators such as energy efficiency, emission reduction, safety, convenience, and recyclability, with scores assigned to each indicator after applying corresponding weights. Furthermore, if a thermal insulation material manufacturer adopts advanced production processes or equipment during manufacturing, resulting in an environmental impact significantly lower than the industry average, or if the material demonstrates outstanding innovation and performance markedly superior to the industry average, it may receive additional bonus points ranging from 2 to 5.

Unlike evaluation and management practices in other industries, green building materials evaluation bodies, evaluation experts, and relevant staff bear lifelong responsibility for the evaluation results and certification labels. This will effectively prevent improper practices such as favoritism, corruption, and backroom dealings, and is expected to usher in a genuine golden age for the green building materials industry.