1. Green buildings refer to construction technology that minimizes the consumption of resources and energy as well as waste production during the building’s life cycle, from the production of building materials to planning and design, construction, use, management, and demolition. Green buildings have nine indicators: greening volume, water resources, base water retention, biodiversity, daily energy saving, CO2 reduction, waste reduction, improvement of sewage and waste treatment, and an indoor environment.

2. In 2001, the Executive Yuan launched the “Green Building Promotion Program” and decided that from January 1, 2002, all new public buildings funded–or at least half-funded–by the Central government and with a construction cost of more than NT$50 million should first obtain a Green Building Candidate Certificate before applying for a construction license. Moreover, the buildings must meet the daily energy saving and water resource requirements. According to the comprehensive design of urban planning, new buildings should meet the requirements of greening volume and base water retention. Given that school buildings tend to have many users, they should also meet the requirement of improved sewage and waste treatment. The aforementioned five indicators are the foundational requirements that the University ensures when constructing new buildings. Depending on conditions, other requirements are also considered.

3. NCUE has actively abided by the government’s green building policy, and all new buildings constructed since 2003 have been planned and designed according to the government’s green building requirements. For example, the Main Teaching Building of Jinde Campus obtained a Green Building Candidate Certificate in 2006. Thereafter, other new buildings also obtained Green Building Labels, including the Teaching Building of the Baoshan Campus, Wang Jin-pyng Activity Center, and Dormitory 10 of the Baoshan Campus. Details are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. List of certified green buildings in NCUE