We propose novel functional equations for the BPS partition functions of 6d (1, 0) SCFTs, which can be regarded as an elliptic version of Göttsche-Nakajima-Yoshioka's K-theoretic blowup equations. From the viewpoint of geometric engineering, these are the generalized blowup equations for refined topological strings on certain local elliptic CalabiYau threefolds. We derive recursion formulas for elliptic genera of self-dual strings on the tensor branch from these functional equations and in this way obtain a universal approach for determining refined BPS invariants. As examples, we study in detail the minimal 6d SCFTs with SU(3) and SO(8) gauge symmetry. In companion papers, we will study the elliptic blowup equations for all other non-Higgsable clusters.