The latest developments in Southeast Asia

The core of the recent policies in Southeast Asia is to drive smart city construction through digital transformation, and to formalize regulations on energy conservation and environmental protection. 

Ⅰ.Digitalization and intelligenceization have become the core strategies of the region: The 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting held in Hanoi adopted the "Hanoi Digital Cooperation Declaration", clearly recognizing artificial intelligence as a key new type of infrastructure, and approved the "ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2026-2030", aiming to build seamless, intelligent and inclusive digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, the ASEAN Smart City Network launched the "ASEAN Smart City Action Plan 2026–2035", focusing on goals such as administrative digitalization and balanced regional development. 

Ⅱ.Vietnam leads the implementation of specific regulations: The policy developments in Vietnam have been particularly frequent, providing clear signals to the market: 

⑴.Energy-saving mandatory upgrade: Starting from January 1, 2026, the mandatory energy efficiency labeling system for building materials such as glass, insulation materials, cement, and bricks will be officially implemented. This will prompt investors and designers to pay more attention to the long-term energy-saving performance of materials during the design stage. 

⑵.Digitalization of infrastructure: The Ministry of Construction of Vietnam has launched a national construction activity database and multiple specialized digital platforms, aiming to establish a unified digital infrastructure from the central to local levels, to serve the construction of smart cities and digital governments. 

⑶.Industrial green transformation: Policies are driving the transformation of building materials production towards a green and low-carbon model. Large enterprises have begun to invest in low-carbon cement and energy-saving production lines, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in their factories.

Current developments in Europe and America

In Europe and the United States, especially within the European Union, policies have entered a stage of strict quantitative implementation and intelligent integration. 

Ⅰ.The EU Building Energy Efficiency Directive (EPBD) constitutes the core of the law: This approved directive has set a legally binding roadmap for reducing emissions in the EU's building sector. 

⑴.Compulsory energy-saving renovation: Each member state is required to formulate a national plan to renovate 16% of the least energy-efficient residential buildings by 2030, and 26% of the least energy-efficient non-residential buildings (including public buildings) by 2033. New public buildings must meet the "zero emissions" standard by 2028. 

⑵.Integrating with intelligence deeply: As part of the instructions, the intelligent building readiness indicators will be mandatory in member states such as France from 2026, aiming to enhance the intelligent energy management capabilities of buildings. 

Ⅱ.Finland showcases cutting-edge compliance model: Starting from 2026, Finland will require all new buildings to submit carbon emission statements based on the Building Information Modeling (BIM) system. At the same time, Finland is piloting automated building compliance reviews based on the BIM model (including accessibility, safety, etc.), which represents the digital frontier direction of future building approval and management.