To implement the work arrangements outlined in the 2024 Government Work Report regarding "enhancing the capability for carbon emission statistics and accounting, and establishing a carbon footprint management system," and to fulfill the requirements of documents such as the "Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Green Building Materials Industry" (MIIT Joint Original [2023] No. 261) and the "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System" (NDRC, MEP, MOF [2023] No. 1529), the initiative to actively and prudently promote dual-carbon work in the building materials industry, the China Building Materials Federation organized and initiated the Building Materials Carbon Labeling and EPD project. This initiative aims to establish a public service platform for building materials EPD, focusing on the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of building materials. With the construction of the building materials life cycle assessment standard system and industry database as the core, the project aims to create a credible, comparable, and usable carbon labeling and EPD system to meet market demands and drive the industry's green and low-carbon transformation.

On March 15, 2024, the Expert Seminar and First Working Meeting on the Carbon and EPD project for building materials were held in Beijing. Chen Guoqing, Executive Vice President of the China Building Materials Federation, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

Wu Qingtao, Special Vice President of the China Building Materials Federation and Secretary General of the Green and Low Carbon Building Materials Branch; Sun Xingshou, Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary General; Zhou Liwei, Deputy Secretary General and member of the National Carbon Emission Management Standardization Technical Committee; and Shi Hongwei, Deputy Secretary General, were in attendance. Representatives from industry associations such as the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, China Building Decoration Materials Association, China Building Energy Conservation Association, China Concrete and Cement Products Association, China National Accreditation Committee for Conformity Assessment, and Green Building Materials Product Certification Technical Committee were present. Additionally, representatives from building materials enterprises including China National Building Materials Group, Anhui Conch Cement Group, Beijing BBMG Group, Huaxin Cement Co., Ltd., China Resources Building Materials Technology Holdings Co., Ltd., China Southern Glass Holdings Limited, China Carbon (Anhui) Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., and many other companies and international organizations participated in this meeting. The meeting was co-chaired by Wu Qingtao and Sun Xingshou.

In his address, Chen Guoqing emphasized that organizing and implementing the Building Materials Carbon Labeling and EPD project is a concrete measure for the building materials industry to implement the relevant deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council regarding dual-carbon work. It is also a significant action in line with the industry development goal of "superior products and advanced industry, for the benefit of mankind" . The China Building Materials Federation's organization of the Building Materials Carbon Labeling and EPD project aims to coordinate relevant resources, unify accounting rules for carbon labeling evaluation, strengthen industry consensus, activate the full life-cycle data potential of building materials products, promote effective cross-industry and cross-regional flow of carbon information, and facilitate the integration of the Chinese building materials industry into the global climate change action framework, thereby gaining proactive control over the industry's green development. He expressed the hope that building materials enterprises, third-party institutions, downstream application vendors, and others would actively participate, provide good services around building materials carbon labeling, strengthen adoption and application, and collaborate to promote the green and low-carbon development of the building materials industry and its upstream and downstream industries.

Sun Xingshou and Zhou Liwei respectively introduced the background and work plan of carbon labeling and EPD projects for building materials. The attending representatives had a heated discussion on hot topics such as project work plan, construction of building materials life cycle assessment standard system, and database construction.

It is reported that the Carbon Labeling and EPD project for building materials will be promoted in three phases. In 2024, a trial operation will be launched with the carbon footprint label for building materials and the graded carbon reduction label for key products as the pilot, and the development and construction of accounting models and databases for bulk building materials such as cement, concrete, and ceramic tiles will be completed simultaneously. In 2025, Environmental Labeling for Building Materials (EPD) will be launched, and by the end of the 14th Five Year Plan, carbon and environmental labels for no less than 300 products will be released cumulatively. In 2026, carbon neutrality labels will be launched, while achieving interoperability and mutual recognition between building materials environmental factors and international mainstream databases.

It is reported that as a comprehensive organization in China's building materials industry, the China Building Materials Federation is a member of the National Carbon Emission Statistics and Accounting Working Group and the National Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Standardization Overall Group. It is entrusted by relevant government departments to undertake carbon emission statistics and accounting, climate change response statistical investigations, and industry standardization centralized management in the building materials industry. It will rely on a large number of building materials enterprises, connect upstream and downstream industries, coordinate resources from all parties, and focus on promoting the smooth implementation of carbon and environmental labeling projects in the building materials industry.