Seoul City to expand green buildings to curtail greenhouse gas emissions

Seoul City Hall / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The Seoul Metropolitan Government revised building design regulations to expand environmentally friendly structures, dubbed "green buildings," to better curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

According to city officials, Monday, the revision came as follow-up measures after Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced plans in 2022 to build up the city's climate change resilience and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Buildings in the capital contribute to 70.7 percent of the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Revised on Dec. 14, new design regulations include strengthening standards for energy efficiency grading and introducing a mandatory installation ratio for renewable energy.

The new rules also provide specific installation plans for solar power generation facilities on buildings, deleting a clause uniformly mandating the installation. The clause has faced criticism for causing indiscriminate construction of the related facilities and spoiling the landscape of the city.

The city’s regulations for green buildings were first introduced in August 2007 and have consistently been revised since. The last revision was made in 2019.

The latest standards took effect starting the New Year for buildings applying for construction and extension permits. The target buildings are those with the total floor area of 500 square meters or more.

“Despite the challenging circumstances of the climate crisis and a downturn in the construction industry, we will make efforts to reduce building greenhouse gas emissions,” an official from the city government said.

“We will actively work towards introducing environmentally friendly buildings in line with the focus on the 2050 carbon neutrality goal.”