The Green Building concept is very popular worldwide. The adverse impact of construction on the environment significantly promotes the development of the green building concept worldwide. Green buildings are generally termed as environmentally friendly buildings. Therefore, over the past several decades, there have been many green building rating tools developed by institutions to evaluate these buildings. However, a majority of the green buildings certified with these rating tools are assessed primarily on their design and construction. The life-cycle of a green building extends beyond these initial phases, with its full benefits becoming more apparent during the operational stages of the building. However, there is a clear lack of green building projects obtaining green certificates that evaluate the operational stages of the building. Therefore, this research aims to identify the barriers preventing the certification of green buildings in their operational stages. Initially, commonly used international green building rating tools were identified and analysed on the evaluation criteria. Following this analysis, Chinese standards on green building evaluation were also discussed in detail. Furthermore, a case study building with three-star certification for the operational stage was incorporated into the analysis. This case study building was analysed with the Chinese standards, namely Chinese evaluation standard green building (ESGB) 2014, along with other international standards such as the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design Leadership (LEED), the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and Green Star. Structured interviews were also carried out to identify the barriers, while measures to overcome these barriers were also discussed. The inconsistency of government regulations, the inability of the market to protect developers' interests, and the inability to meet technical requirements were identified as the three main barriers. •Majority of green buildings are certified during the design stage.•Green building certification within the operational stage is to a significant minimum.•Identifying barriers to certify green buildings in operational stage is essential.•Inability of the market to protect developers' interests is one of the main barriers.