Sina Finance's ESG Rating Center offers 14 ESG services, including information, reports, training, and consulting, to assist listed companies in promoting ESG concepts and enhancing their sustainable development performance. Click to view the [ESG Rating Center Service Handbook]. Against the backdrop of the establishment of the ESG Committee by the China Engineering Construction Standardization Association, ESG standard development has officially entered a new phase. How can the core principles of "quality housing"—"safety, comfort, green, and smart"—be translated into actionable practical guidelines through ESG standards? Furthermore, how will ESG standards drive the construction industry's transition from an "option for leading companies" to a "mandatory requirement for the entire industry"? To explore these pressing industry questions, we spoke with Professor Wang Yuanfeng, Chief Scientist of the ESG Committee and Director of the Carbon Neutrality Technology and Strategy Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University, to uncover the underlying logic and practical pathways for ESG to empower high-quality development in the construction sector.
ESG provides a mature methodology that effectively translates the abstract core requirements of "quality housing"—safety, comfort, green, and smart—into quantifiable, evaluable, and manageable solutions. Professor Wang Yuanfeng emphasized that the core value of ESG lies in transforming vague quality aspirations into clear, critical indicators that span the entire lifecycle of a building, from construction to use. In the dimension of safety, while traditional housing safety focuses on conventional risks like seismic resistance, ESG's materiality assessment methodology brings heightened attention to safety hazards arising from climate change. Incidents such as housing damage from floods and waterlogging, or issues like wall detachment and roof collapse due to strong winds and typhoons, are becoming increasingly common. Professor Wang highlighted that international standards like the ISSB's S2 (Climate-related) and China's domestic "Enterprise Sustainability Disclosure Standards – Basic Standards (Trial)" provide quantitative metrics for physical and transition policy risks related to climate, offering mature experience that can directly support and make safety protections for "quality housing" more targeted.
The upgrade in the green dimension is even more pronounced. Moving beyond the singular focus on carbon emission calculations of the past, ESG adheres to frameworks like the TCFD, requiring companies not only to clarify Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon emission data but also to establish clear long-term strategies for carbon peaking and neutrality. Professor Wang indicated that the concept of "green" now extends far beyond simple carbon reduction to encompass broader aspects like biodiversity protection, all of which have corresponding quantifiable indicators. ESG thus elevates green building from a matter of applying individual technologies to a systematic practice of sustainable development. In the social (S) and governance (G) dimensions, ESG's quantitative indicators similarly empower the comfort and smart features of "quality housing." For instance, mature methods for supply chain ESG management can effectively guarantee the quality of building materials and supporting services, providing a foundational support system for residential comfort and smart experiences, thereby ensuring quality assurance throughout the entire supply chain.
The implementation of ESG standards in the construction industry is not an overnight process; it requires coordinated efforts from enterprises, the industry itself, financial institutions, and the government. Professor Wang Yuanfeng believes that achieving the transition of ESG standards from an "option for leading companies" to a "mandatory requirement for the entire industry supply chain" necessitates building a multi-dimensional promotion system. At the enterprise level, the core objective is to make ESG a "tangible tool" for corporate development. The committee plans to collaborate with leading construction firms and central state-owned enterprises to explore ESG practices in typical projects, disseminate successful experiences within companies, and even stimulate internal motivation through activities like "ESG competitions," allowing firms to tangibly perceive the quality improvements and development opportunities that ESG implementation brings.
At the industry level, the key lies in establishing certification and promotion mechanisms. The committee will summarize ESG practice cases from exemplary projects and work with qualified certification bodies to conduct project-level ESG certifications, providing authoritative endorsement for corporate sustainability practices. Concurrently, by partnering with media, outstanding cases will be compiled into publications or promoted through special features to create a demonstration effect within the industry. Furthermore, think tank reports based on practical experience will serve as references for the government when formulating relevant support policies. Financial support acts as a crucial lever for engaging the entire industry. The committee plans to cooperate with financial institutions to provide support such as green finance and transition finance to companies with excellent ESG ratings, enabling them to reap tangible economic returns on their ESG investments and thereby stimulating participation across the sector.
Professor Wang stressed that this is a systematic project requiring coordinated guarantees across policies, land, fiscal measures, and finance to ultimately ensure the stable and reliable realization of "quality housing" standards. Only by forming a comprehensive, chain-wide support system can ESG standards truly take root in the construction industry.
The "smart" and "green" core of "quality housing" fundamentally relies on the innovation and application of new technologies. Professor Wang Yuanfeng proposed the core concepts of "ESG+T" (where technology empowers ESG, making corporate sustainability more dynamic) and "ESG × New Quality Productive Forces" (opening new horizons for enterprise development), emphasizing that the deep integration of ESG and technology is key to high-quality development in construction. Professor Wang stated that excelling in ESG is inseparable from the support of renewable energy and digital-intelligent technologies, while the new industries, business formats, and momentum brought by new quality productive forces can have a disruptive impact on ESG. "Quality housing" must not only address traditional issues like odors, cracking, and sound insulation but also drive a building revolution through energy and technological revolutions, creating living spaces that represent the future.
To achieve this goal, a systematic technological support framework is needed. The Carbon Neutrality Technology and Strategy Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University, where Professor Wang is based, has already collaborated with relevant institutions to adopt NASA's Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessment method, categorizing energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies into 9 levels for evaluation and vigorously promoting those with high maturity. Building on this, the committee plans to create a "Quality Housing Technology Portfolio," classifying technologies from the four dimensions of safety, comfort, green, and smart—or the three ESG pillars—and conducting comprehensive evaluations based on technological maturity, green performance, and advancement.
Leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence, these classifications and evaluations can be transformed into targeted systemic solutions. Professor Wang explained that as different stakeholders are involved at each stage of a building's lifecycle—from design and construction to operation and demolition—their needs vary. By precisely matching technological requirements to different stages and stakeholders, practical technical guidance can be provided to material suppliers, design units, owners, and others, while also driving innovation breakthroughs in new quality productive forces like zero-carbon building materials, smart operation and maintenance, and energy self-sufficiency within the construction sector. This shifts ESG from a mere post-hoc evaluation tool to an active engine for innovation-driven development.
ESG emphasizes quantitative disclosure, while the ultimate goal of "quality housing" is human well-being; aspects like "comfort," which involve humanistic care, are often difficult to measure entirely with numbers. Balancing hard metrics with soft requirements, and avoiding an over-reliance on indicators alone, is a critical challenge that must be addressed during the ESG standard-setting process. Professor Wang noted that this issue is crucial as it concerns whether ESG standards can genuinely serve the people's aspiration for a better life. Measuring building comfort requires balancing technical indicators with humanistic needs, focusing on both the present and the future.
From a present-day perspective, comfort must be realized through specific technical indicators, such as quantifiable design and construction standards for ceiling height, lighting, sound insulation, odor control, and durability, while also paying attention to the needs of specific groups and cultural characteristics. Professor Wang emphasized that as the focus shifts from "whether housing is available" to "how good the housing is," it is necessary to conduct in-depth research into the public's genuine needs for comfort and translate these needs into actionable S (Social) indicators within the ESG framework. Considerations for age-friendly, disability-friendly, and child-friendly design, as well as cultural adaptability across different regions, should all be incorporated into the comfort evaluation system.
Looking towards the future, the technological revolution opens up new possibilities for comfort. Digital-intelligent technologies are driving continuous iterations in smart homes: voice-controlled curtains and lights facilitate life for the elderly; remote adjustment of air conditioning temperatures and smart management of grocery shopping enhance convenience; and smart cameras strengthen home security. These new scenarios are reshaping perceptions of comfort. Professor Wang believes that the comfort standards of the future need to fully incorporate the achievements of technological progress, exploring solutions that were previously unimaginable. The new quality productive forces in construction bring not just technological upgrades but a revolution in well-being.
In Professor Wang's view, the key to balance lies in "using quantitative indicators as the foundation, with humanistic care as the soul." ESG standards must use scientific quantification to ensure a baseline quality for "quality housing" while leaving ample room for humanistic关怀 and technological innovation. This approach ensures the standards are both rigidly reliable and imbued with warmth, truly achieving the core objective that "houses are for living in, and more importantly, for living a happy life in."
The implementation of ESG standards is injecting systematic and scientific momentum into the development of "quality housing," while also charting a new path for the high-quality transformation of the construction industry. From abstract concepts to quantitative indicators, from corporate pilots to industry-wide promotion, and from technology application to the cultivation of new quality productive forces, ESG is reshaping the developmental logic of the construction sector. As Professor Wang Yuanfeng stated, "quality housing" is an inevitable requirement of the era's development, and ESG is a key tool for achieving this goal. With concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders, and as ESG standards continue to be refined and implemented, more safe, comfortable, green, and smart "quality houses" will become accessible to countless households, continuously enhancing the residential well-being of the people.
Introduction to Sina Finance's ESG Rating Center Sina Finance's ESG Rating Center is the first Chinese-language platform aggregating professional ESG information and ratings. It is dedicated to promoting and advocating for sustainable development, responsible investment, and the values of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), disseminating corporate ESG practices and exemplary cases, advancing the development of ESG in China, and facilitating the establishment of Chinese ESG assessment standards and the enhancement of corporate ratings.
Leveraging the ESG Rating Center, Sina Finance has launched several innovative ESG indices, providing more options for investors focused on corporate ESG performance. Simultaneously, Sina Finance has established the China ESG Leadership Organization Forum, collaborating with leading Chinese ESG companies and partners to promote the establishment of an ESG evaluation standard system suited to China's contemporary characteristics through ESG principles, and to foster the development of ESG investing in China's asset management industry.
