I. Policy Anchoring: The Strict Constraints on the Development of Low-Carbon Building Materials Under the Dual-Carbon Goals

Low-carbon building materials, as the “key starting point” for carbon reduction in the construction industry, have now established a coordinated framework of national mandatory standards and local incentive policies, driving the building materials sector to shift from “high-carbon production” toward “low-carbon transformation.”

At the national level: The “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Raw Materials Industry” clearly states the need to “promote the low-carbon transformation of the building materials industry and develop new types of building materials such as low-carbon cementitious materials and low-carbon concrete.” The “General Code for Energy Conservation in Buildings and Utilization of Renewable Energy” mandates that the carbon emissions from building materials used in newly constructed buildings must decrease by more than 15% compared to 2019 levels. The “Catalog of Green Building Material Products (2024 Edition)” includes 12 product categories—such as low-carbon gypsum boards and solid-waste-based concrete—in the priority certification scope; certified products are eligible for preferential treatment in government procurement.

Local Implementation: Zhejiang provides subsidies ranging from 50 to 80 yuan per square meter for projects that use low-carbon building materials at a rate exceeding 60%. In 2023, the province’s overall adoption rate of low-carbon building materials reached 45%. Guangdong has introduced a “Low-Carbon Building Materials Recognition System,” under which cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen require government-invested projects to use green, low-carbon building materials in 100% of cases. Shandong offers tax breaks to building material enterprises with solid waste utilization rates exceeding 70%, and in 2023, it fostered 32 leading enterprises in the low-carbon building materials sector.

Financial Support: The National Development and Reform Commission has included low-carbon building material production projects in the Guidance Catalog for Green Industries, enabling these projects to benefit from special bonds and green credit support. Commercial banks are offering financing interest rate reductions of 10% to 20% for enterprises engaged in the production of low-carbon building materials.

II. Market Boom: A Scale Leap Driven by the Dual Forces of Policy and Demand

Driven by the dual forces of policy mandates and upgrading market demand, the low-carbon construction materials market is rapidly expanding, fostering a collaborative ecosystem that spans the entire industry chain.

Scale Data: According to statistics from the China National Building Materials Federation, China’s low-carbon building materials market reached 920 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year increase of 43%. The market is projected to surpass 1.8 trillion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 40%. By 2030, the market size is expected to reach 4.5 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 35% of the total building materials industry.

Industrial chain layout:

Upstream: Raw-material enterprises are driving low-carbon transformation. Hailuo Cement has launched low-carbon cement (with carbon emissions reduced by 30% compared to conventional products), and Wannianqing Cement has achieved an 85% utilization rate for solid waste. Bio-based material companies are rapidly emerging; for instance, Shengquan Group’s production capacity of corn-cob-based biomass boards has exceeded 5 million cubic meters.

Midstream: Leading enterprises such as North New Materials and Oriental Rainbow are spearheading the development of low-carbon products. North New Materials boasts an annual production capacity of 3 billion square meters for low-carbon gypsum boards, with carbon emissions only one-fifth of those from conventional gypsum boards. Solid-waste-based construction material companies are experiencing rapid growth; for instance, Beijing Jinyu Group sells over 20 million tons annually of concrete aggregates produced from steel slag and fly ash.

Downstream: Prefabricated and green buildings have become core application scenarios. In 2023, the adoption rate of low-carbon building materials in prefabricated buildings reached 78%, while in green buildings, the share exceeded 85%. Real estate developers such as Vanke and Poly have incorporated low-carbon building materials as mandatory standards in their supply chains; by 2024, Vanke’s newly built projects will feature low-carbon building materials in 90% of their construction. Leading large-scale projects—including those in the Xiong'an New Area, Beijing’s Sub-center, and venues for the Hangzhou Asian Games—have achieved 100% use of low-carbon building materials, driving large-scale adoption in the public building sector.

III. Core Values: A Triple Breakthrough in Carbon Reduction, Quality Improvement, and Resource Circulation

Compared to traditional high-carbon building materials, low-carbon building materials achieve multi-dimensional value enhancement through technological innovation, making them a core support for carbon neutrality in the construction industry.

1. Significant carbon reduction results at the source: Core products such as low-carbon cement and solid-waste-based concrete reduce carbon emissions by 20% to 50% compared to conventional building materials. The use of low-carbon building materials in 100 million square meters of construction could cut carbon emissions by approximately 12 million tons—equivalent to reducing the consumption of 20 million tons of standard coal, accounting for more than 40% of the total lifecycle carbon emissions from buildings.

2. Dual Enhancement in Performance and Quality: The new low-carbon building materials comprehensively outperform traditional products in terms of strength, durability, thermal insulation, and other key indicators. For example, the compressive strength of low-carbon ceramsite concrete has increased by 30%, and its thermal insulation performance has improved by 25%. Bio-based panels have nearly zero formaldehyde emissions, and the rate of indoor air quality meeting standards has risen to 99%.

3. Upgrading Resource Recycling: Low-carbon building materials make extensive use of industrial solid wastes (such as steel slag, fly ash, and construction waste) as well as agricultural and forestry residues. In 2023, the industry’s utilization of solid wastes reached 1.2 billion tons, accounting for 38% of the total industrial solid waste utilization, thereby promoting a circular model of “resources—products—waste—renewable resources.”

4. Full-Cycle Economic Benefits: Although the initial procurement cost of some low-carbon building materials is 5% to 15% higher than that of conventional products, through energy savings and reduced consumption (e.g., thermal insulation materials can cut air-conditioning energy use by 15% to 20%) and extended building lifespans (low-carbon anti-corrosion coatings can extend building maintenance cycles by 5 to 8 years), the total lifecycle costs can be reduced by 10% to 15%. For commercial buildings, the investment payback period is approximately 5 to 7 years.

IV. Development Bottlenecks: The Triple Constraints of Technology, Cost, and Ecology

Despite the promising market outlook, the low-carbon construction materials industry still faces phased challenges that hinder large-scale adoption.

Uneven technological maturity: The stability of some advanced low-carbon building materials (such as carbon dioxide mineralized concrete) remains to be verified, and their large-scale production processes are still immature. Bio-based building materials lack sufficient water resistance and fire retardancy, limiting their application in humid environments.

High costs remain a persistent challenge: R&D investment in new low-carbon building materials is substantial, and the cost of upgrading production equipment is high. Some products—such as special mortars based on solid waste—carry prices that are 20% to 30% higher than those of conventional products, resulting in insufficient acceptance among small- and medium-sized property developers and in county-level markets.

The standard system is incomplete: There is no unified methodology for calculating the carbon emissions of low-carbon building materials, and carbon footprint data for products from different companies lack comparability. Moreover, some products lack uniform quality acceptance standards, leading to a situation in the market where “pseudo-low-carbon” products are mixed in with genuine ones.

Weak industrial chain collaboration: Information barriers exist across the upstream raw material supply, midstream production and processing, and downstream application design stages. Designers lack sufficient understanding of the performance characteristics of low-carbon building materials, resulting in poor product compatibility. Moreover, a recycling and reuse system has yet to be established, with the resource recovery rate for discarded low-carbon building materials standing at only 18%.

V. Future Trends: Technological Innovation and Ecological Collaboration Lead High-Quality Development

With technological advancements and policy improvements, low-carbon building materials will evolve toward “high efficiency, low cost, and full-cycle sustainability,” becoming a core pillar supporting carbon neutrality in the construction industry.

1. Technological innovations break through bottlenecks: Technologies such as carbon dioxide capture and utilization (CCU), bio-based synthesis, and efficient activation of solid waste continue to be upgraded. By 2026, low-carbon cement’s carbon emissions are expected to drop by another 20%, and the water resistance of bio-based building materials will reach the level of conventional building materials. 3D-printed low-carbon building materials enable personalized production and reduce construction waste by more than 30%.

2. Cost Reduction through Scale Production: Leading companies are reducing costs by expanding production capacity and optimizing technology; it is expected that by 2025, mainstream low-carbon building materials will achieve “price parity” with conventional building materials. The cost of utilizing construction waste as building materials continues to decline, and the prices of some products will even fall below those of traditional building materials.

3. Policy Intensification and Mandatory Promotion: Local governments will gradually increase the mandatory proportion of low-carbon building materials used in new constructions, with the goal of achieving 100% use of low-carbon building materials in newly built urban buildings by 2027. Carbon emission accounting will be incorporated into the mandatory labeling of construction materials, thereby promoting market transparency.

4. Cross-sector integration and scenario expansion: Low-carbon building materials are deeply integrated with smart construction and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), developing multifunctional composite building materials that combine power generation, thermal insulation, and low-carbon features. Age-friendly renovations and energy-efficient upgrades of existing buildings are emerging as new application scenarios, driving growth in niche sectors such as low-carbon coatings and energy-efficient doors and windows.

5. Perfecting the circular economy system: Establish a full-lifecycle traceability system for building materials, and promote a closed-loop approach to construction waste management—“reduction—resource recovery—reuse.” Cultivate specialized building material recycling enterprises; by 2030, the resource recovery rate of low-carbon building materials after disposal is expected to rise to over 50%.