BACKGROUND
This roundtable session focused on the transition of construction materials, using steel as a primary example, and brought together property developers, steel suppliers, contractors, and financiers in Hong Kong. Expert speakers shared industry research on the green material market and practical progress in construction projects. Participants then engaged in table discussions examining barriers to adopting low-carbon building materials and identifying necessary changes in industry practice, supply chain, and policy levels to accelerate material transition at scale. These discussions helped iterate our theory of change for green building material transitions.
KEY FINDINGS
THE CHALLENGE
Fragmented Standards Ecosystem: Over 150 low-carbon steel definitions exist globally alongside 50+ green financing taxonomies, preventing any single solution from achieving the economies of scale necessary for cost-competitive materials.
Misaligned Decision Timing: Material decisions occur at the tender stage rather than design stage, leaving insufficient time for sustainable sourcing and systematically favoring readily available conventional materials. In Hong Kong, approving new building materials can take 1-2 years across multiple departments, creating uncertainty that projects cannot afford.
Supply-Demand Information Gap: Steel companies lack visibility into real estate development pipelines while developers cannot access green steel production capacity and delivery timelines. This mutual opacity prevents the long-term commitments necessary for scaling production and reducing costs.
POTENTIAL SYSTEMS INTERVENTION
The roundtable identified three coordinated intervention points to address these systemic barriers simultaneously rather than in isolation.
Standardization: Create common procurement language and specifications across stakeholders to reduce transaction costs and enable economies of scale.
Coordination: Establish early-stage coordination mechanisms between developers, contractors, and suppliers to align material decisions with design timelines.
Transparency: Build demand-supply pipeline visibility systems enabling informed planning and investment decisions across the value chain.
TARGETED OUTCOMES
Process Change: Early and standardized specification becomes industry norm, creating a selfreinforcing adoption cycle that reduces friction and uncertainty.
Supply Chain Change: Suppliers gain confidence to plan production runs and justify green
capital expenditure upgrades based on visible demand signal.
Cost Change: Economies of scale systematically reduce green premiums and transaction costs, making sustainable materials increasingly cost-competitive
NEXT STEPS
System-level change requires coordinated action across construction project processes, supply-demand market mechanisms, and policy incentive structures. The following action items emerged from roundtable discussions:
- Steel suppliers share production capacity forecasts and green product availability
- Developers provide project pipeline data showing indicative material volumes and procurement schedules
- Convene multi-stakeholder group (developer, contractor, supplier, standard/reg body) to draft unified low-carbon material specification template
- Identify pilot projects willing to test early material specification protocols
- Policy review on low-carbon material approval process bottlenecks and explore regulatory incentives