Shandong recently announced instructions for the creation of new green buildings with a total area to exceed 50 million square meters by the end of 2015.

The new guidelines of the thirteenth 5-year plan introduces a new building energy efficiency design criterion which stipulates that residential building energy savings needs to increase by 75% and public building savings need to increase by 65%. In the twelfth 5-year plan, 40% more transformable buildings are to be reconstructed more efficiently. By the end of 2015, more than 50% of newly built buildings must utilize renewable energy.

In order to achieve these goals, Shandong Province will further support green building, focusing on green ecological urban area construction, energy saving reconstruction of buildings and heating supply systems, renewable energy sources applied in building construction and development of green building material. Municipal finance will reward green building projects and provincial model green ecological areas with cash incentives.