Living green, renewing life.

A gathering of officials, scholars, and construction firms is aiming to showcase environmentally-friendly building and demolition methods.

It’s an issue often overlooked as construction projects have hidden emissions.

The carbon embedded in materials combined with carbon from energy use makes up a building’s total carbon emissions.

Globally, this accounts for 37% of total emissions.

27% comes from energy use and 10% comes from building materials.

Precast construction means most components are manufactured in a factory first and assembled at construction sites.

It’s faster and uses less electricity and fewer resources.

Since 2022, Taiwan has been rating green buildings, helping homebuyers identify energy-efficient homes and save on electricity bills, all part of the country’s push towards net-zero buildings by 2050.

It’s a system that countries like Singapore and Germany have been using for years, and there are incentives for builders to go green.

If during the planning stage of urban renewal or redevelopment of old and unsafe buildings a project gets a “Green Building” label or a “Smart Building” certification, it’s eligible for different levels of development bonuses.

But as old buildings go up for renewal and houses destroyed in disaster-hit areas have to be taken down, there’s an opportunity to repurpose key parts like glass and steel.

Some firms have already begun sorting rubble to be reused, but there are added costs.

Why do we still do it if it’s so costly and time-consuming?

If we don’t do it in the initial stage, we’re avoiding the problem.

When we hand the mixed waste down to the end of the supply chain, those firms can barely sort it.

REPORTER:  

Officials in Taipei hope by making green building standards more transparent, more potential home buyers will choose them, not only to reduce waste in the country, but also to ensure Taiwan’s cities become more sustainable.

Leon Lien and Irene Lin in Taipei for TaiwanPlus.