Given that global warming continues to affect our living environment, and to support this year’s Earth Day theme of climate action, the EPA cooperated with the Society of Wilderness (SOW) to hold an event tour in May. The tour, titled “the Earth Day Extra Episode – Building Greening and Cooling Achievement Promotion”, invited the public to take climate action in their daily lives. 

To raise carbon consciousness and mobilize people in Taiwan to improve the environments surrounding their homes, the EPA has been carrying out the Low Carbon and Sustainable Homeland Rating Promotion Program since 2015. A total of 4,374 boroughs have participated in the program, among which 881 have been certified (including bronze and silver certificates). The program allows communities to design and implement carbon reduction measures based on local conditions. Among the 881 boroughs that received certificates from the program, 382 have adopted multi-level greening measures such as green roofs, green walls and hedges to mitigate heat. These green structures not only reduce heating of buildings through shading, thermal insulation and evapotranspiration, they also help regulate the microclimate by stimulating air circulation. According to the Green Roof Manual published by the Architecture and Building Research Institute of the Ministry of the Interior, these types of measures can reduce indoor temperature by 3~5℃, leading to saving 18~30% of air-conditioning energy consumption.

Data show that 69 buildings from boroughs certified with a silver rating save on average four times more energy per year than conventional buildings. In these boroughs, the use of vegetation plays an important role for heat reduction and energy conservation. Therefore, to further promote building greening, during May the EPA cooperated with the SOW to hold a series of events in five of the selected low-carbon boroughs with silver rating. 

The SOW is a domestic organization that is knowledgeable and experienced in different environmental issues, and the EPA has been working with it by holding classes on climate change. The events in May were designed in honor of Earth Day, and the EPA invited professional speakers from the SOW to make simple but effective explanations on heat mitigation for buildings through greening approaches. The events also featured visits to low-carbon facilities and DIY activities to let participants fully experience the beauty of greenery.

Excerpt from Environmental Policy Monthly, 23 (5)