Green and Smart Take the Lead: The Interior Decoration Materials Industry Usher in Structural Upgrading

With the accelerated transformation of building industrialization, the upgrading of consumer demand towards quality, and the steady advancement of the “dual carbon” goals, China’s interior decoration materials industry is undergoing profound changes. Traditional material categories are being upgraded at a fast pace, with green and eco-friendly, prefabricated, and intelligent functional materials becoming the market mainstream. The industry is shifting from a single product supply to a comprehensive solution of “materials + craftsmanship + scenarios”. The activation of the stock market and technological innovation are jointly driving the industry into a new stage of structural upgrading.

Green development has become the core underlying logic of interior decoration materials, and the continuous improvement of environmental protection standards has become an industry consensus. Currently, the demand for green building materials such as low-VOCs coatings, formaldehyde-free boards and low-carbon adhesives is expanding steadily, and the penetration rate of materials meeting high-level environmental certification standards has risen sharply in both home and commercial decoration markets. On the raw material side, renewable or high-performance eco-friendly base materials such as bamboo-wood fiber, calcium silicate boards and honeycomb aluminum panels are widely used, reducing carbon emissions in production and use from the source. Meanwhile, the environmental friendliness of materials is no longer limited to the zero release of harmful substances; the concept of low carbon throughout the whole life cycle has become a new trend. Materials with high recyclability, disassembly and circulation rates have gradually become the focus of market selection, which not only conform to the policy requirements for green buildings but also meet consumers’ demand for a healthy living environment.

Prefabricated decoration materials have become an important starting point for the industrialization transformation of the industry by virtue of their high efficiency and standardization advantages, penetrating from the commercial decoration scene to the home decoration market step by step. Compared with traditional decoration materials, prefabricated materials adopt a dry construction mode of factory prefabrication and on-site modular assembly, which not only shortens the average decoration period by more than 40% but also greatly reduces noise, dust pollution and construction waste during construction, conforming to the environmental protection and efficiency requirements of modern decoration. At present, the technologies of prefabricated wall panels, raised floors, integrated suspended ceilings and other products are becoming increasingly mature, and their performance in sound insulation, fire resistance, antibacterial and other aspects is continuously optimized. The sound insulation effect of some integrated wall panels can reach 57dB, and the antibacterial rate of special panels for operating rooms is even as high as 99.9%. In the stock market such as the renovation of old residential communities and the partial renovation of kitchens and bathrooms, the convenience and adaptability of prefabricated materials are prominent. The disassembly and assembly of a single module only takes a few hours, and the later maintenance cost is greatly reduced, making it an important carrier to activate the demand for stock decoration.

The integration of intelligence and functionality has broken the traditional application boundaries of interior decoration materials, driving their development towards scenario-based and customized directions. Nowadays, decoration materials no longer only undertake the functions of aesthetics and basic use, but are deeply integrated with intelligent systems and scenario demands, giving birth to multi-functional composite materials with antibacterial, fireproof, energy-saving and sound insulation properties. Radiation-proof wall panels for medical spaces, detachable partition walls for office scenarios, and energy-saving and thermal insulation boards for home environments have all achieved performance customization for different scenarios. At the same time, the integration of intelligent elements has endowed decoration materials with more interactive attributes, such as inductive intelligent wall surfaces and energy-saving decorative surfaces that can adjust temperature, meeting consumers’ pursuit of personalized and intelligent living experience. In addition, the customization capability of materials is constantly improving. Through flexible production lines, personalized design of decorative textures and size specifications can be realized, taking into account both standardized production and personalized needs.

The restructure of consumer demand and precise policy support have provided dual impetus for the upgrading of the interior decoration materials industry. On the one hand, post-90s and post-00s have become the mainstream consumer groups. Their demand for health and environmental protection, personalized design and one-stop whole-house decoration has driven the industry to transform from the “single product sales” model to the “overall design + material supporting” model, with the penetration rate of overall design rising steadily. On the other hand, national policies are exerting efforts from both supply and demand sides, clearly proposing to increase the proportion of green building materials used in newly built buildings. Many regions have launched special subsidies for green building materials and aging-friendly decoration materials. Policies such as urban renewal and the renovation of old residential communities have provided broad application scenarios for prefabricated and functional materials.

At present, competition in the interior decoration materials industry has shifted from price competition to value competition. Small and medium-sized enterprises lacking innovation capabilities and failing to meet environmental protection standards are being phased out at an accelerated pace, while enterprises with technological R&D, supply chain integration and scenario adaptation capabilities are gradually occupying a dominant position in the market. In the future, with the in-depth integration of digital technology and material R&D, BIM technology, digital twins and other technologies will further optimize the material production and construction processes. A more integrated system of green, prefabricated and intelligent decoration materials will be improved, injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of the building decoration industry.