Shanghai Green Building Regulations

(Adopted at the 16th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on September 27, 2024)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

with a view to promoting the high-quality development of green buildings, enhancing construction quality, conserving resources, reducing pollution and carbon emissions, and improving the living environment, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with relevant laws and administrative rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

These Regulations apply to activities related to planning, construction, operation, renovation, as well as incentive guarantees and supervision management concerning green buildings within the administrative region of this Municipality.

The term "green building" as referred to in these Regulations means buildings that save resources, protect the environment, reduce pollution, and provide healthy, suitable, and efficient spaces for people throughout their life cycle, maximizing the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. The green buildings include green civil buildings (green residential buildings and green public buildings) and green industrial buildings.

Article 3

The development of green buildings in this Municipality shall adhere to the principles of government guidance, market dominance, public participation, people-oriented idea, health and livability, green low-carbon, overall planning, standard navigation, and adaptability to local conditions.

Article 4

The municipal and district people's governments shall strengthen the leadership over green building affairs within their administrative regions and promote related work in a coordinated manner.

Town/township people's governments and subdistrict offices shall carry out relevant green building work in accordance with their responsibilities.

Article 5

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department shall be responsible for the comprehensive management of green building activities in this Municipality, organizing the formulation of special plans and relevant standards for the development, and supervising and managing green building activities in related professional fields. The district housing and urban-rural development management departments shall be responsible for the relevant supervision and management of green building activities within their administrative regions according to their division of responsibilities.

Departments such as transportation, water affairs, greening and city appearance, housing management and national defense mobilization shall be responsible for supervising and managing green building activities in their respective professional fields according to laws, rules, and the division of responsibilities set by the Municipal People's Government.

Departments such as development and reform, finance, planning and resources, economy and informatization, market regulation, science and technology, local finance, and management of administrative affairs shall collaborate to implement these Regulations within their respective areas of responsibility.

Article 6

This Municipality supports the use of modern information technology to empower the digital development of green buildings, promote the digital transformation of the entire process and all elements of green buildings, and enhance the digital level of green buildings.

Article 7

This Municipality supports scientific research, technology development, and the promotion of advanced technologies related to green buildings, encourages key core technology breakthroughs in areas such as green building materials, new energy systems for buildings, building industrialization, intelligent architecture, and green operation, promotes deep integration of industry, academia, research and application, and facilitates the achievements transformation, application and promotion.

Article 8

This Municipality strengthens the standardization of green buildings and establishes a relevant standard system.

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, formulate local standards for green buildings based on national and municipal provisions, in line with this Municipality's economic and social development level, climate, geography, resources, and other conditions.

Relevant social organizations and enterprises are encouraged to formulate group standards and enterprise standards for green buildings that exceed national, industrial, and local standards.

Article 9

Relevant industry associations in this Municipality shall conduct training related to green building business, provide information, technology, and consulting services, organize and guide members to participate in green building activities, strengthen industry self-discipline, and promote healthy industry development.

Article 10

People's governments at all levels in this Municipality and their relevant departments, as well as news media, shall widely carry out social publicity and education through various means, popularize knowledge related to green buildings, guide the public to participate in green building activities, and promote the formation of a social atmosphere that advocates a green and low-carbon lifestyle.

Article 11

This Municipality shall, in collaboration with relevant provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, establish a communication and coordination mechanism for green building affairs to enhance information sharing, promote the coordination and unification of relevant standards and norms for green buildings, and jointly address technological innovations, thereby facilitating high-quality coordinated development in the green building sector.

This Municipality shall promote both domestic and international cooperation in the green building field, support various forms of exchanges in aspects such as technological innovation, talent training, and development experience.

Chapter II Planning and Construction

Article 12

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department, shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, organize the preparation of special plans for the development of green buildings based on national economic and social development plans, and in line with the requirements of building waste-free cities, sponge cities, and green ecological urban areas. The special plan for green building development should clarify development goals, general requirements, key tasks, and safeguard measures.

The relevant content of the special plan for green building development should be incorporated into the corresponding territorial spatial planning according to law.

Article 13

According to national standards, green civil buildings are classified into basic, one-star, two-star, and three-star levels; green industrial buildings are classified into one-star, two-star, and three-star levels.

New civil buildings should be constructed in compliance with the one-star or above standard for green civil buildings. Therein, new office buildings of state agencies, large public buildings, and other public buildings invested by the government with a certain scale of single building area should be constructed according to the three-star standard for green civil buildings. Specific methods should be formulated by the municipal housing and urban-rural development management department.

New buildings used for office, daily life services, and other non-production purposes within the scope of industrial land in this Municipality should be constructed according to the green civil building standards specified in the preceding paragraph.

New residential buildings are encouraged to be constructed according to the two-star or above standard for green civil buildings.

New industrial buildings are encouraged to be constructed according to the one-star or above standard for green industrial buildings.

Article 14

This Municipality shall continuously improve the energy-saving and carbon-reduction level of green buildings, promote the large-scale development of ultra-low energy consumption buildings, close-to-zero energy consumption buildings, and zero carbon buildings.

New civil buildings in areas such as the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Chongming World-Class Eco-Island, and the five new towns should be constructed according to standards not lower than those for ultra-low energy consumption buildings.

Article 15

The departments of municipal housing and urban-rural development management, market regulation, economy and informatization, and other departments shall strengthen the supervision and management of green building materials, speed up the application and promotion of green building materials.

This Municipality shall implement a certification and evaluation system for green building materials. The certification and evaluation of green building materials shall be carried out in accordance with national and municipal provisions.

Article 16

This Municipality shall accelerate the promotion of prefabricated construction to improve the level of industrialization.

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department shall clarify the development goals, promotion routes, and index requirements for prefabricated buildings in this Municipality according to the comprehensive green transformation requirements of this Municipality's economic and social development and in combination with the special plan for green building development.

The prefabricated construction methods should be adopted in the new buildings in this Municipality as prescribed, with specific scopes and requirements to be formulated separately by the municipal housing and urban-rural development management department in conjunction with relevant departments.

Article 17

For green building construction as prescribed in these Regulations, development units shall fulfill their primary responsibility and implement full-process management of green building; the units of design, construction, supervision shall fulfill their respective duties in design, construction, and supervision activities.

Article 18

Development units shall specify green building star ratings, energy consumption, use of green building materials, renewable energy utilization, prefabricated construction, and full decoration of residential buildings in the project initiation documents and the construction contracts according to this Municipality's provisions, and include related expenses in project estimates and budgets. For construction projects that should be tendered by law, the green building requirements should also be specified in the tender documents.

In the paid use contracts for land or opinions on the planning of land use for construction projects, the green building requirements should be specified.

New office buildings of state organs and large public buildings should be equipped with energy consumption monitoring devices simultaneously and be connected to this Municipality's intelligent supervision platform for carbon emissions of public buildings.

Development units shall not explicitly or implicitly imply that the design, construction, or supervision unit of the construction project shall design, construct, or supervise in violation of the requirements of the green building.

Article 19

When preparing design documents, the designing units shall prepare a special section on green buildings according to the green building requirements of the construction project.

The reviewing agency for construction drawing design documents shall review the content of the special section on green buildings in the construction drawing design documents according to law. The content of the special section on green buildings that has been reviewed and approved shall not be changed without authorization; major content changes shall be resubmitted for review according to provisions.

Article 20

When preparing construction organization design documents, the construction units shall formulate a green construction plan according to national and municipal technical standards for green construction and in line with the content of the green building special section in the construction drawing design documents.

Construction units shall carry out the construction according to the green construction plan, conserve resources and reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions during the construction process.

Supervision units shall legally supervise the implementation of the green construction plan by the construction units.

Article 21

Construction project quality inspection agencies shall conduct testing activities in accordance with relevant laws, rules, regulations, and technical standards. They shall enhance the witness sampling inspection of green building-related materials and equipment that enter the construction as well as the quality inspection of construction projects to ensure the entire process of quality inspection activities is traceable through this Municipality's unified construction project inspection information management system.

Article 22

When organizing the completion acceptance of a construction project, the development unit must verify the specific green building section content in the construction drawing design documents. If the verification is not satisfactory, a completion acceptance report cannot be issued.

New civil buildings should undergo indoor air pollutant content testing before completion acceptance; if the testing fails, the buildings cannot be put into use.

Article 23

When selling new green buildings, the development unit must specify the green building star rating, performance indicators, facilities, and equipment in the sales contract and clearly display this information at the sales site.

The user manual and quality assurance document for new residential buildings must include relevant content about the green building.

Article 24

Upon delivery of new green buildings, the development unit must provide the building owner, user, or property service personnel with information on the green building star rating, performance indicators, maintenance requirements for prefabricated buildings, full decoration, renewable energy application systems, and other related facilities, equipment, materials, and their use, maintenance, and warranty.

Chapter III Operation and Green Renovation

Article 25

This Municipality shall implement a green building labeling system in accordance with relevant national provisions. For new green buildings constructed with government investment, green building labels shall be applied, and for other new green buildings, these labels are encouraged to be applied. The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department shall promptly disclose to the public the green buildings that have obtained such labels.

Article 26

1. The building exterior protection structure is in good condition, and facilities for energy saving, water saving, and renewable energy are functioning normally;

2. Energy consumption and water consumption metering devices and energy consumption monitoring devices are functioning normally, with complete records; and

3. Other requirements as prescribed by laws, rules, regulations, and relevant technical standards.

The owners and users of green public buildings may entrust the property service personnel to specifically undertake operational maintenance work. It is encouraged to adopt energy management contracts, professional green operation management, and other innovative modes for the operation and maintenance of green public buildings.

Article 27

This Municipality shall conduct statistics on the consumption of gas, electricity, heating, and water in civil buildings according to national provisions. Gas, electricity, heating, and water supply enterprises shall report relevant data from the previous year to the municipal housing and urban-rural development management department in the first quarter of each year.

This Municipality shall, based on the level of economic and social development and conditions such as climate, geography, and resources, and in conjunction with the statistical data mentioned above, implement green renovations of existing civil buildings in a planned and phased manner. When implementing urban renewal, the green transformation of existing civil buildings should be carried out simultaneously in accordance with actual conditions.

This Municipality encourages green renovations of existing civil buildings according to green building standards and promotes carbon efficiency management for existing public buildings, guiding the optimization of the energy structure of buildings.

Article 28

When renovating, expanding, decorating, or conducting comprehensive renovations of existing public buildings and residential communities, appropriate technical measures for green building renovation should be taken based on local conditions. The municipal housing and urban-rural development management and housing management departments shall strengthen the relevant guidance.

For existing public buildings undergoing renovation, expansion, or decoration, the building owners or users must conduct indoor air pollutant testing according to national provisions before the buildings are put into use; if the testing fails, such buildings cannot be used.

Article 29

This Municipality shall establish a monitoring and hierarchical management system for the energy efficiency of government office buildings and large public buildings. The owners or users of government office buildings and large public buildings shall regularly submit data on building energy consumption and carbon emissions to the housing and urban-rural development management department; those with installed energy consumption monitoring devices shall report such data through this Municipality's smart supervision platform for carbon emissions of public buildings. The submitted data shall be guaranteed to be true, and there shall be no tampering, forgery or other fraudulent acts.

For government office buildings and large public buildings whose annual energy consumption is below the limit and meets advanced values，this Municipality shall give commendation. For those whose annual energy consumption exceeds the limit, measures such as energy audits and green renovations shall be taken based on the extent of the excess. Specific provisions shall be formulated by the municipal housing and urban-rural development management department in conjunction with relevant departments.

If green renovations are required according to the previous paragraph, the relevant building owners must formulate and implement a green renovation plan; during the green renovation process, energy consumption monitoring devices must also be installed and connected to this Municipality’s smart supervision platform for carbon emissions of public buildings.

Article 30

The energy consumption and carbon emissions statistics of industrial buildings shall be included in the relevant energy consumption statistics of the municipal economy and informatization department. This Municipality encourages existing industrial buildings to undergo green renovations according to green building standards.

Article 31

When demolishing existing buildings, construction units shall strengthen the prevention and control of dust, noise, and other pollutants, and properly carry out the comprehensive utilization of construction waste.

Chapter IV Incentives and Safeguards

Article 32

The municipal and district people's governments and their relevant departments shall formulate and improve relevant policy measures to support the development of green buildings, and comprehensively utilize planning, land, fiscal administration, finance, pricing, and other policies to increase support for green buildings.

Article 33

The following measures may be taken to incentive units and individuals who construct, renovate, purchase, or operate green buildings according to the relevant provisions of this Municipality:

1. For green buildings included in the urban renewal projects that exceed the current standards and meet the corresponding technical requirements, the additional building area incurred  from the use of green building technologies may be granted a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) bonus after being recognized by the relevant departments through the prescribed procedures;

2. Individuals using housing provident fund loans to purchase green buildings of two-star or above rating can have the loan quota increased within the specified percentage range;

3. Financial support shall be provided  for green building demonstration projects;

4. In the evaluation of various building project awards, two-star or above green building projects shall be prioritized for recommendation under the same conditions.

Article 34

This Municipality encourages financial institutions to support the development of green buildings through the provision of green credit, green insurance, green bonds, and other financial products and services.

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department shall, relying on the green finance service platform, provide information on green buildings to support financial institutions in carrying out related green finance services.

Article 35

This Municipality shall push forward the coordinated development of green building, intelligent architecture, and industrialization of construction, promote the standardized design, factory production, prefabricated construction, digital delivery, and intelligent management of green buildings, to form a green building industrial system covering the entire industrial chain, including research, design, production and processing, construction assembly, and operation.

Article 36

This Municipality supports technological innovation in the field of green buildings. If in a construction project, new green building technologies or materials that do not have national technical standards are planed to be used, they can be used in the project after undergoing testing, verification, approval, or recognition in accordance with national and municipal provisions.

This Municipality shall promote the application of digital technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the field of green buildings, with specific methods to be formulated by the municipal housing and urban-rural development management department in conjunction with relevant departments.

Article 37

This Municipality shall explore the establishment of a carbon emissions trading mechanism for the construction sector and gradually incorporate buildings that reach a certain scale of carbon emissions into carbon emission management.

This Municipality encourages the development of carbon reduction projects and scenarios in the construction sector, quantifies carbon reduction actions and assigns them value, and uses commercial incentives and market transactions to promote the achievement of carbon peak and carbon neutrality in the construction sector.

Article 38

The municipal and district housing and urban-rural development management departments, along with other relevant departments, shall strengthen the supervision and management of the quality and safety of green buildings, establish a traceability system for their quality and safety and utilize the public building carbon emissions smart supervision platform to conduct monitoring of green building data, operational assessments, and other activities, and facilitate the management of green buildings throughout their life cycle.

This Municipality shall rely on the government affairs "Government Online-Offline Shanghai" platform, city management "Integrated Online Management"  platform and big data resource platform to enhance the sharing of green building data among such departments as housing and urban-rural development management, development and reform, planning and resources, transportation, water affairs, greening and city appearance, housing management, and national defense mobilization, optimizing government services, promoting business collaboration, and improving the intelligent management and service level of green buildings.

Article 39

Institutions engaged in consulting, assessment, testing, auditing, and other activities related to green buildings must possess the corresponding qualifications or professional capabilities, be equipped with appropriate professional personnel and facilities, establish a quality management system, conduct activities according to relevant technical specifications, and be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy, and completeness of the technical service reports they issue.

Article 40

The municipal housing and urban-rural development management department, in conjunction with relevant departments, shall collect the credit information related to units engaged in green building activities and integrate it into this Municipality's public credit information service platform in accordance with national and municipal provisions, and take legal measures to incentive trustworthiness and impose penalties for dishonesty.

Chapter V Legal Responsibilities

Article 41

For behaviors that violate these Regulations, if laws and rules already have provisions for handling such behaviors, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 42

If a development unit, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 4 of Article 18 of these Regulations, explicitly or implicitly implies the design, construction, or supervision units to conduct designing, construction, supervision that violate green building requirements, the housing and urban-rural development management department or other relevant departments shall order rectification according to their responsibilities and impose a fine of not less than 200,000 but not more than 500,000 yuan.

If a construction unit, in violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 22 of these Regulations, issues a completion acceptance report for a construction project with unqualified content in the green building section, the housing and urban-rural development management department or other relevant departments shall order rectification according to their responsibilities and impose a fine of not less than 2% but not more than  4% of the project contract price; if losses occur, they shall bear liability for compensation according to the law.

Article 43

If a construction unit, in violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 20 of these Regulations, fails to prepare a green construction plan, the housing and urban-rural development management department or other relevant departments shall order rectification within a specified time according to their responsibilities; failing to make the rectification within the time limit, a fine of not less than 10,000 but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 44

If the relevant building owner or user, in violation of  Paragraph 2 of Article 29 of these Regulations, fails to submit the required data, the housing and urban-rural development management department shall order rectification within a specified time; failing to make the rectification within the time limit, a fine of not less than 10,000 but not more than 50,000 yuan shall be imposed; if there are acts of tampering, falsifying data, or other fraudulent activities, a fine of not less than 50,000 but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed.

If the relevant building owner, in violation of Paragraph 4 of Article 29 of these Regulations, fails to formulate and implement a green renovation plan, the housing and urban-rural development management department shall order rectification within a specified time limit; failing to make the rectification within the time limit, a fine of not less than 50,000 but not more than 200,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 45

The activities related to green building for urban infrastructure within the administrative region of this Municipality shall be implemented in accordance with these Regulations.

This Municipality encourages rural residents to build their own houses according to the standards of green civil buildings; it also encourages temporary buildings to adopt energy-saving and renewable energy measures.

Article 46

These Regulations shall be effective as of January 1, 2025. The Regulations of Shanghai Municipal on Building Energy Conservation adopted at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on September 17, 2010 shall be simultaneously repealed.