China has been one of the biggest energy consumers in the world, while buildings in China take up over 30% of the total energy consumptions. As conventional energies like coal, oil and gas are drying up, building energy conservation and emission reduction appear to be increasingly crucial for the sustainable development of China. Chinese government has been extensively promoting the development of green building since 2004. Many researches have been carried out in this field but the overall review is insufficient. This paper aims to give a detailed review of green building development in China, and find out the defects and risks. Data of the demonstration projects of renewable energy application in building is collected and analyzed. Related policies and researches are reviewed. It can be concluded that the major defects lie in the policy shortage, technology deficiency, and market immaturity. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.