How can the policy combination promote the development of green buildings? ---Analysis based on stage perspective

The development of green buildings (GBs) relies on the incentives and penalty provided by government policies. Firstly, different development stages of GBs are identified in this study, and an evolutionary game approach is used to explore the stage characteristics and behavioral strategies of key stakeholders at different stages. Thereafter, considering the multidimensional synergistic effects of government incentive and penalty policies at different stages, this study investigates how to set and match incentive and penalty combinations at different development stages of GBs. Research indicates that the "incentive and penalty combinations" in policies is a core element for the benign development of the GBs. In the preliminary stage, the level of green technology innovation significantly influences the direction of the system. The "light incentive and light penalty" policy of government is preferable as it can guide developers and consumers to understand GBs, thus opening up the green building market. In the growth stage, the maturity of green technology plays a significant role. The "heavy incentive and heavy penalty" policy of government is effective, which helps developers compensate for construction costs, actively develop GBs, and effectively avoid deviant behavior. Meanwhile, consumers also change their purchasing preferences based on the benefits of GBs. In the mature stage, the role of industry associations becomes more prominent after the government withdraws from the market. The supervision strategy of "strong supervision and light penalty" effectively manages the green building market. Consumers continue to trust the quality of GBs from developers, and the synergy among the government, developers, and consumers collectively promotes the maturity of the green building market.