Green and low carbon buildings will be a major driving force in China's economy, but more preferential policies are needed to bolster construction, market experts said at the China Real Estate Brand Value Summit held Wednesday in Beijing.

China has set an ambitious goal of a 40-45 percent cut on carbon emission per unit of GDP by 2020. Carbon reduction in the property sector is necessary for the country to meet that goal and accomplish economic restructuring, said Nie Meisheng, president of China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce.

If half of China's buildings adopt energy-saving technology, carbon emissions could be cut drastically, saving a total of about 1 trillion yuan ($147.71 billion) by 2020, she estimated.

Low carbon green buildings will also be helpful to bring green technology production and employment, driving economic development, Nie said.

Real estate is one of the country's most energy-intensive industries.

The sector currently consumes 47 percent of the nation's total energy, and 95 percent of buildings are high-energy consuming, said Tian Ming, chairman of Landsea Group.

After two decades of non-stop urbanization, China now consumes 40 percent of the world's cement and steel, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural De-velopment.

More than 80 percent of the areas developed last year were built without energy saving initiatives, Tian said.

The country has a rule that 50 percent of the new buildings must meet energy-saving requirements.

However, many property developers are not fully motivated to go green.

The government allowance for energy-saving heat pumps is far below the cost, said Ren Zhiqiang, president of Huayuan Group, at the forum.

Developers could reduce energy waste up to 40 percent if they did the interior design, Ren added, but they have to pay additional taxes so that leaves it up to the homeowners.