3-Star - Green Building Rating

System

CHINA

Current green building scenario- China

Because of rapid urbanization in China, the building
market is booming: by 2020, builders are expected to
construct 215 billion square feet (20 billion square
meters) of new construction in the country.
According to Baidu, the most popular online search
engine in the Mandarin language, the volume of
searches with green building as a keyword has
increased substantially in the last few years
China now has more than 80 million
square feet of LEED-certified buildings,
many of which were certified in 2011.
3-Star is grew at 191 percent in 2011

Definition of Green Building in China

Chinas Three-Star certification program is an
integral part of the national Green Building
Evaluation Standard (GBES), which defines green
buildings as
buildings that save a maximum amount of
resources (including energy, land, water,
and materials), protect the environment,
reduce
pollution,
provide
healthy,
comfortable and efficient space for people,
and
exist
harmoniously
with
nature
throughout their lifecycle.
Various

green

building

rating

systems

in

3-Star Rating System

3-star system is run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MOHURD)
The China three-Star program is a national standard but offers
provincial flexibility. Some provincial-level authorities in China have
enacted provincial GBES as adapted versions of the national GBES.
(Provincial Flexibility)
MOHURD
central
office in
(Green Building
MOHURD
central
office GBES
in Beijing,
China
Beijing
Evaluation Standards)

is the only3-Star
agency
authorized to grant Three-Star status to buildings,
(Authorized Agency)
(Standard document)
(Rating System)
whereas local offices are authorized to certify One- and Two-Star
buildings.
Chinese Three-Star Green Building Certification program, which
started in 2006, has seen significant growth. Experts estimate

Government Initiative
12th five year plan of China includes
policies to implement the National Green
Building Action plan and also defines some
benefits for owners to go green which were
announce at World Green Building Event in
Toronto
Among building owners, the strongest
motivations
for going for 3-Star rating are:
1. Energy cost savings
2. An award of 1/3 of the cost premium to
achieve a rating
3. Property Tax Halved
4. Rating is a Prerequisite for Land Auction

Procedure to Apply
Projects apply online through
the Green Building Label
Management Office Website
1st Stage:
Design documents
and design calculations
2nd Stage: One year post
occupancy and
an on site inspection.
Review
process
is
more
consultative
and
more
subjective than LEED, since the
assessment
process
involves
evaluation
by
Expert
and
Professional Reviewers

Evaluation and Grade Classification

The evaluation index system of a green building
shall consist of the six indexes:
1. Land saving and outdoor environment
2. Energy saving and energy utilization
3. Water saving and water resource utilization
4. Material saving and material resource utilization
5. Indoor environment quality
6. Operating management
Each
index
shall
include
control
items
(prerequisites), general items and preference
items
A green building shall meet the requirements of all

Item Requirement for Grade Classification of Green Building

(Residential Building)

Item Requirement for Grade Classification of Green Building (Public Building)

Residential Building

1. Land Saving and Outdoor Environment.

Control Item
1) The construction of a site shall not damage a local cultural relic, water system, moor, fundamental farmland, forest
or any other protected area.
2) The selected site of a building shall be free from such a threat as a flood, landslide or radon-containing soil, and
within the safe range of the building site, there shall be no such a dangerous source as an electromagnetic radiation
danger, fire, explosion or poisonous substance.
3) Per-capita residence-used land index: For a low-rise building, it shall not be greater than 43m2, for a multi-story one, not greater
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

than 28m2, for a medium-rise one, not greater than 24m2, and for a high-rise one, not greater than 15m2.
The architectural layout of a residential quarter shall meet the requirements for indoor and outdoor sunshine, day lighting and ventilation, and the requirement for day
lighting concerning a residential building described in the existing national standard.
Indigenous plants adapted to a local climate and soil condition shall be grown, and the plants shall be those having little care, strong weather resistance, few diseases and insect
pests, and no harm to the human body.
The green space rate in a residential quarter shall not be less than 30%, and the per-capita public green space area, not less than 1m2.
There shall be no pollution source exceeding a discharging standard within a residential quarter.
During the process of construction, concrete measures for environmental protection shall be drawn up and implemented to control constructioncaused air pollution, soil
contamination, noise, water contamination, light pollution and the influences on the surrounding areas of the construction site.

Residential Building

1. Land Saving and Outdoor Environment.

General Item
1) Public service facilities shall be constructed concurrently for a residential quarter,
and a multifunctional building shall be reasonably used so as to be shared by its
surrounding areas.
2) An old building that is still usable shall be made full use of.
3) The ambient noise in a residential quarter shall accord with the stipulations in the
existing national standard.
4) The daily average heat island intensity of a residential quarter shall not be higher
than 1.5.
5) The wind environment in a residential quarter shall be beneficial to the snugness for
walking outdoors in winter and to the natural ventilation in a transit season and
in summer.
6) According to local climatic conditions and the characteristics of plant natural distribution,
many varieties of plants shall be grown to form a multiple plant community with a
combination of trees, bushes and grass, and there shall not be less than 3 trees
per 100m2 of green space.
7) The site selection and the entrance arrangement of a residential quarter shall facilitate a
resident making full use of public transport networks. The walking distance between
an entrance of the quarter and a public transport station shall not be greater than 500

Residential Building

1. Land Saving and Outdoor Environment.

Preference Item
1) Underground spaces shall be reasonably developed and utilized.
2) An abandoned site shall be reasonably used for construction. A polluted abandoned site
shall be treated.

Public Building

1. Land Saving and Outdoor Environment.

Control Item
1) The construction of a site shall not damage a local cultural relic, natural water system,
moor, fundamental farmland, forest or any other protected area.
2) The selected site of a building shall be free from such a threat as a flood, landslide
or ammonia-containing soil, and within the safe range of the building site, there shall be
no such a dangerous source as an electromagnetic radiation danger, fire, explosion or
poisonous substance.
3) *No light pollution shall be brought to a surrounding building, and the sunshine
requirements from a surrounding residential building shall not be affected.
4) There shall be no pollution source exceeding a discharging standard within a site.
5) During the process of construction, concrete measures for environmental protection shall be
drawn up and implemented to control constructioncaused pollution and the influences
on the surrounding areas of the construction site.

Public Building

1. Land Saving and Outdoor Environment.

General Item
1) *The ambient noise of a site shall accord with the existing national standard.
2) The wind speed on a pedestrian zone around a building shall be less than 5 m/s, not
affecting the snugness for outdoor activities, or building ventilation.
3) *Such a method as roof greening or perpendicular greening shall be reasonably used.
4) Indigenous plants adapted to local climatic and soil conditions shall be selected as
greening species, and multiple greening comprising trees and bushes shall be used.
5) The transport organization of a site shall be reasonable, with the walking distance for
arriving at a public transport station not exceeding 500m.
6) *Underground spaces shall be reasonably developed and utilized.

Preference Item
7) An abandoned site shall be used reasonably for construction. A
polluted abandoned site shall be treated to relevant standards.
8)*An old building that is still usable shall be made full use of
and be included into a planned project.
9)*The area ratio of outdoor permeable ground shall be greater

Residential Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization.

Control Item
1) HVAC designs of a residential quarter shall accord with the stipulations in the energy
saving standards for a residential building approved or put on record by the State.
2) A residential building with a central heating or air-conditioning system shall be equipped
with room temperature regulating and heat quantity metering facilities.

Residential Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization.

General Item
1) The shape, orientation, distance between buildings and window-wall area ratio of a
building shall be reasonably designed by using the natural conditions of the site so as to
provide the building with good sunshine, ventilation and day lighting, and sun shading
facilities shall be provided as required.
2) Highly efficient energy-consuming devices or system shall be used.
3) When a central air-conditioning system is used, the efficiency ratio of a selected water
chilling unit shall be higher by one grade than the relevant specified value described in
the existing national standard.
4) For the illumination of a public space, highly efficient light sources and lighting fixtures
shall be used. An area with natural lighting shall be equipped with photoelectric
control.
5) A residential building with a central heating or air-conditioning system shall be
equipped with an energy recovering system*.
6) Renewable energy resources such as solar energy and geothermal energy shall be made
full use of according to local climatic and natural resource conditions. The renewable
energy resource proportion of the total energy consumption of a building shall be
greater than 5%.
* As Energy consumption involves converting one energy system to another so, Energy

Residential Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization.

Preference Item
1) The heating or air-conditioning energy consumption shall not be higher than 80 % of
the specified value for the energy saving of a building approved or put on record by the State.
2) The renewable energy resource proportion of the total energy consumption of a building
should not be less than 10%.

Public Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization

Control Item
1) HVAC designs of a building shall accord with the stipulations in the energy saving
standards for a residential building approved or put on record by the State.
2) The energy efficiency ratio of a chilling and heating source set for a air-conditioning or
heating system shall accord with the stipulations of Articles in the existing national
standard.
3) An electric boiler or electric water heater shall not be used as the heat source of a
heating or air-conditioning system.
4) The illumination power density value for each room or site shall not be higher than the
specified current value described in the existing national standard.
5) The energy consumption for each part of a newly-constructed public building, chill-heat
source, transmission-distribution system or lighting system shall be independently
measured.

Public Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization

General Item
1) An architectural site planning design shall be beneficial to the sunshine in winter and
the aversion of the dominant wind direction in winter, and to the natural ventilation in
summer. .
2) The opening area of the external windows of a building shall not be less than 30% of
the total area of the external windows.
3) The air-tightness of an external window of a building shall not be lower than the requirement
stipulated in the existing national standard.
4) Chill-heat-storage techniques shall be used reasonably.
5) Exhaust wind shall be used to pre-heat or pre-chill fresh wind so as to reduce fresh
wind load.
6) For an conditioning system, the measures for realizing all-fresh-wind operation or adjustable
fresh wind ratio shall be taken.
7) When a building is subject to partial cooling or heat load and only a part of its spaces is
used, effective measures shall be taken to save the energy consumption of the ventilating
and air-conditioning system.
8) The unit wind-volume power consumption of a wind machine for a ventilating and airconditioning system shall conform to the stipulations in the existing national standard.
9) Residual heat or waste heat shall be utilized to provide steam or domestic hot water for a

Public Building

2. Energy Saving and Energy Utilization

Preference Item
1) The total energy consumption for a building shall be lower than 80% of the specified
value stipulated in the energy saving standards approved or put on record by the State.
2) According to local climatic and natural resource conditions, reusable energy resources
such as solar energy and geothermal energy shall be made full use of. The hot water
amount produced from renewable energy shall not be less than 10% of the hot water
consumption for domestic use in a building, or the power generation amount produced
from renewable energy shall not be less than 2% the power consumption in a building.

Residential Building

3. Water Saving and Water Resource Utilization

Control Item
1) During the phase of schemes and planning, a scheme for water system planning shall be
formulated so as to overall plan and comprehensively utilize various water resources.
2) Effective measures shall be taken to avoid pipe network leakage.
3) Water saving apparatuses and appliances shall be used with the water saving rate
being not less than 8%.
4) The water for a landscape shall not be from a municipal water supply or a self-contained
underground water well.
5) When a non-traditional water source is used, safeguard measures for water-use safety
shall be taken so as not to produce bad effects on human health and the ambient
environment.

Residential Building
3. Water Saving and Water Resource Utilization
General Item
1) The runoff path for ground and roof rain water shall be planned reasonably so as to
diminish ground runoff, and various permeation measures shall be taken to increase
rain seepage amount.
2) A non-traditional water source such as resurgent or rain water shall be used as
nondrinking water for irrigating plants or washing a car.
3) An efficient and water saving irrigation method such as spray irrigation or micro
irrigation shall be used for irrigating plants.
4) When resurgent water is used as non-drinking water, a priority shall be given to utilizing
resurgent water from a nearby concentrated resurgent water works, but if there is no
such a works, other sources and treatment techniques of resurgent water shall be selected
reasonably by making technical and economic comparisons.
5) The utilization rate of non-traditional water sources shall not be less than 10 %.

Preference Item
a) The utilization rate of non-traditional water sources shall not be less

Public Building
3. Water Saving and Water Resource Utilization
Control Item
1) During the phase of schemes and planning, a scheme for water system planning
shall be formulated so as to overall plan and comprehensively utilize various water
resources.
2) Reasonable and perfect water supply and drainage system shall be established.
3) Effective measures shall be taken to avoid pipe network leakage.
4) A sanitary ware in a building shall be a water saving one.
5) When a non-traditional water source is used, safeguard measures for water-use
safety shall be taken so as not to produce bad effects on human health and the
ambient environment.

Public Building
3. Water Saving and Water Resource Utilization
General Item
1) The schemes for storing, treating and utilizing rain water shall be determined by
making technical and economical comparisons.
2) A non-traditional water source such as resurgent or rain water shall be used as
nondrinking water for irrigating plants or washing a car.
3) An efficient and water saving irrigation method such as spray irrigation or micro
irrigation shall be used for irrigating plants.
4) When resurgent water is used as non-drinking water, a priority shall be given to utilizing
resurgent water from a nearby concentrated resurgent water works, but if there is no
such a works, other sources and treatment techniques of resurgent water shall be selected
reasonably by making technical and economic comparisons.
5) Water measuring meters shall be provided according to uses.
6) For an office building or supermarket building, the utilization rate for non-traditional
water sources shall not be less than 20%, while for a hotel building, not less than 15%.

Preference Item
7)For an office building or supermarket building, the utilization

Residential Building

4. Material Saving and Material Resource Utilization

Control Item
1) The harmful matter content in a building material shall accord with the requirements in the
existing national standard.
2) Architectural form factors shall be succinct and shall not have many ornamental
components..

Residential Building
4. Material Saving and Material Resource Utilization
General Item
1) The weight of the building materials produced within 500 km of a construction site shall
make up more than 70% of the total weight of the materials.
2) Ready-mixed concrete shall be used as cast-in-place concrete.
3) High-performance concrete and high-strength steel shall be used reasonably as
building structural materials.
4) Solid waste produced during the construction of a building, the dismantlement of a old
building or the clearance of a site shall be classified, and the reusable or recyclable
materials among the waste shall be recovered and reutilized.
5) The recyclable serviceability of a material shall be considered for use when a material is
selected during architectural design. Under the circumstances of ensuring safety and
not polluting the environment, the weight of the used recyclable materials shall make up
more than 10 % of the total weight of the used building materials.
6) The integration of design and construction shall be involved for civil and decorating
engineering, and an existing building unit or facility shall not be damaged or dismantled.
7) Under the condition of ensuring performance, the consumption of the building materials
made of waste shall make up not less than 30 % of the consumption of the same
kinds of building materials.

Preference Item

Public Building
4. Material Saving and Material Resource Utilization
Control Item
1) The harmful matter content in a building material shall accord with the requirements in the
existing national standard.
2) Architectural form factors shall be succinct and shall not have many ornamental
components.

General Item
3)The weight of the building materials produced within 500km of a
construction site shall make up more than 60% of the total weight
of the materials.
4)Ready-mixed concrete shall be used as cast-in-place concrete.
5)High-performance concrete and high-strength steel shall be used
reasonably as building structural materials.
6)Solid waste produced during the construction of a building, the
dismantlement of an old building or the clearance of a site shall be
classified, and the renewable and recyclable materials among
the waste shall be recovered and reutilized.

Public Building
4. Material Saving and Material Resource Utilization
General Item
7) Inside an office or supermarket building, flexible partitions shall be used to reduce the
material waste and trash from
re-decoration.
8) Under the condition of ensuring performance, the consumption of the building materials
made of waste shall make up not less than 30 % of the consumption of the same kinds
of building materials.

Preference Item
9)An architectural structural system that consumes a small
amount of resources and has little effect on the environment shall be
adopted.
10)The utilization rate for reusable building materials shall be
greater than 5%.

Residential Building

5. Indoor Environment Quality

Control Item
1) At least one living space for each apartment shall When there are 4 or more than 4 living
spaces, at least two shall meet sunshine standard requirements.
2) A bedroom, living room, study or kitchen shall be equipped with an external window or
windows, and the coefficient of lighting for a room shall not be lower than the stipulations in
the existing national standard.
3) Effective sound insulation and noise reduction measures for a building enclosure shall
be taken.
4) If a living space can be ventilated naturally, for a region hot in summer and warm in winter
or hot in summer and cold in winter, its ventilation opening area shall not be less than 8%
of the floor area of the room, and for another region, the area shall not be less than 5%.
5) The concentration of indoor air pollutants such as free formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia,
radon and TVOC shall accord with the stipulations in the existing national standard.

Residential Building

5. Indoor Environment Quality

General Item
1) A window of a living space shall overlook a good visual field and avoid the sight
interference from another living space. When an apartment is provided with 2 or more
toilets, at least one shall be equipped with an external window.
2) There shall be no frost on the inner surface of a roof, ground, external wall or external
window under the conditions of designed indoor temperature and humidity.
3) Under the condition of natural ventilation, the maximum temperature of the inner surface of
a room roof, east external wall or west external wall shall meet the requirements of
the existing national standard.
4) For an apartment with a heating or air-conditioning system (unit), a user shall regulate
room temperature as required while the system or unit is running.
5) Adjustable external sun-shading devices shall be used to prevent solar radiation in
summer from entering a room through window glass.
6) A ventilating device, air interchanger or indoor air quality monitoring device shall be
installed.

Preference Item
7)Functional materials which can store energy, regulate humidity

Public Building

5. Indoor Environment Quality

Control Item
1) For a central air-conditioning building, such parameters as room temperature, humidity and
wind speed shall accord with the designing and calculating requirements of the existing
national standard.
2) The inside and surface of a building enclosure structure shall be free from frost and
mildew.
3) For a building with central air conditioning, the fresh wind amount shall accord with the
design requirements of existing national standard.
4) The concentration of indoor air pollutants such as free formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia,
radon and TVOC shall accord with the stipulations in the existing national standard. The indoor
background noise in a hotel or office building shall conform to Grade 2 requirements for
the indoor allowable noise standards., while the indoor background noise level shall
meet the relevant requirements of national standards
5) The indoor illumination intensity, uniform glare value, general coloration index, etc. of a
building shall meet the relevant requirements of the existing national standard.

Public Building

5. Indoor Environment Quality

General Item
1) The measures promoting natural ventilation shall be included in architectural and structural
designs.
2) Air-conditioning terminals with easy regulation and the function of raising human snugness
shall be used indoors.
3) The sound insulation performance of a enclosure structure component of a hotel building
shall meet Grade 1 requirements of the existing national standard.
4) The layout of architectural plane and the arrangement of space functions for building shall
be reasonable so as to reduce the noise interference from a neighboring space and the
indoor influence from outside noise.
5) The indoor coefficient of lighting for more than 75% of the main-functional spaces in an
office or hotel building shall meet the requirements in the existing national standard.
6) An entrance or main activity spaces of building shall be provided with obstacle-free
facilities.

Preference Item
7)Adjustable external sunshades shall be used for improving indoor

6. Operation Management
Public Buildings
Control Item

1) A system for saving resources such as energy, water, etc. and for managing
greening shall be worked out and implemented.
2) No non-standard waste gas or water shall be discharged during the process of a building
operation. .
3) Waste shall be collected and treated in a classifying way, with no secondary pollution.

General Item
4)The construction of a building shall coordinate the balance of
earthwork and the construction of roads.
5)A property management department shall pass the authentication of
the environment management system.
6)The arrangement of equipment or pipes shall facilitate
maintenance, renovation and replacement.
7)An air-conditioning and ventilating system shall be checked
and cleaned periodically according to the national Standard.
8)An architectural intelligent system shall be positioned
reasonably, with perfect functions of information network.

Residential Buildings

Control Item

1) A management system for energy saving, water saving, material saving and greening shall
be worked out and implemented.
2) The water, electricity and fuel gas for each apartment shall be measured and charged for.
3) A trash control system shall be worked out to effectively control trash transport, collect waste in a
classifying way, and prevent the disorderly dumpling of trash and secondary contamination.
4) Sealed trash cans shall be provided, rigorous cleaning measures shall be taken and domestic trash
General Item
shall be stored in bags.
1) A trash station or closet shall be equipped with flushing and draining facilities. Stored trash shall be carried
away in time in order not to pollute the environment or shed odor.
2) An intelligent system shall be positioned correctly and meet the basic configuring requirements for a
technically advanced, practical, reliable and safety subsystem, a managing and equipment monitoring
subsystem and information network subsystem.
3) Pollution-free pest control techniques shall be used to standardize the utilization of chemicals such as
insecticide, herbicide, chemical fertilizer and pesticide and to effectively avoid the harm to soil and
underground water.
4) The survival rate for grown and transplanted trees or bushes shall be greater than 90%, with
good growing state.
5) A property management department shall pass the authentication of the environment management
system.
6) The collection rate of classified trash (the proportion of the residents practicing collection of classified
trash among all the residents) shall be greater than 90%.
7) The arrangement of equipment and pipes shall facilitate maintenance, renovation and replacement.

Preference Item

Comparison between 3-Star system and other Rating

Systems in the world:

Similarities between ThreeStar System and LEED

1. Both
are
credit
based
systems rather than command
and control systems. This gives
the developer maximum leeway
over what credits they wish to
pursue. Chinas system does
have more prerequisites (32
in residential, 26 in public
buildings) than LEED.
2. The categories are almost
the same, other than the
Three
Star's
additional
operations and management
category.
3. The rating categories are
very similar: 1-, 2- and 3-

Dissimilarities between ThreeStar System and LEED

1. One complaint about LEED is that
many credits are based on energy
savings predicted by energy
modeling, rather than actual
certified energy savings.
The Three Star System
remedies this by basing results
on hard data, and collection of
this data may be an
important first step toward
better measurement of
building energy use in China.
2. The LEED Core and Shell
system allows developers to
submit their design and achieve

Comparison between Three-Star System and Building

Environment Assessment Method - Hong Kong (HK-BEAM)
Similarities
1. Both are credit based systems rather
than command and control systems.
2. The categories are almost the same,
other than BEAM's Innovation and
Performance Enhancement category
and Credits
Three-Stars
Operations
Thre
Credits
BEAM
Management
category.
eRating
Resident
Public
New
Existin
Buildin
gs
(Total
185)

Star
Rati
ng

ial
Building
s
(Total 49)

Building
s
(Total 57)

18

22

83

One
Star
Two
Star

27

35

Three
Star

35

46

g
Buildin
gs
(Total
208)

Bronze
(40%)

74

Silver (55%)

102

114

Gold (65%)

120

135

Platinum
(75%)

139

156

Dissimilarities
1. BEAM has two standards, one
for New Buildings and the other
for Existing Buildings. While the
Three Star rating system has the
same evaluation criteria for all
buildings.
2. BEAM has a 4-point scale
measurement
points system
(Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum),
while Three Star has a 3-point
rating system (1-star, 2-star and
3-star).
3. In BEAM, an assessment for a
new building is not finalized
until a building is completed,