Residents in Shenzhen will be able to obtain bigger mortgage loans when buying apartments in green buildings, according to the city’s draft of green building regulations recently published to solicit public opinion.
In 2008, Shenzhen put forward a goal to become a city of green buildings. The draft of the regulations is aimed at further promoting a high-quality development of the city’s construction, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Currently China has three levels of green buildings, specifically the one-star level, two-star level and three-star level, from the lowest to the highest standard.
In order to boost the level of green construction in the city, the regulations stipulated that all construction on newly sold land lots should meet the country’s first-star level.
Meanwhile, large public facilities should be constructed to meet the country’s two-star level, at the minimum. Industrial buildings should follow both energy saving and green building regulations.
The city will also publish its own standards on green buildings, according to the draft.
Real estate developers will be required to provide related information at the time of sale to let customers know that their apartments have met required standards on green building and energy saving. Buildings that fail to meet required standards will not be able to pass inspection upon completion, per the draft.
To promote green buildings, enterprises in the green building field will enjoy benefits when participating in bidding for projects funded by the government.
Financial institutions are also encouraged to provide special services for green building projects via instruments such as green credit loans, green insurance and green bonds.
Residential apartments that meet either the country’s three-star green building standards or the city’s gold level will be allowed to put units on sale when over a third of its main buildings are finished, which is earlier than the time of sale for lower levels of buildings, according to the draft.
Shenzhen currently has a total of 1,388 projects identified as green buildings, covering an area of over 130 million square meters.
Shenzhen has one of the highest number and greatest density of green buildings among Chinese cities, according to the Daily.