The four main tasks of the project include: “facilitating the operation across the low carbon communities and discovering the unique characters for each community”; “enhancing the cooperation among the agencies to strengthen the energy efficiency in residential and commercial sector”; “integrating external resource to build up a low-carbon green shopping district”; and “accelerating the construction of low carbon society through multi-propaganda approach”. A summary of the project was shown as followed:
Since 2010, Environmental Protection Administration of R.O.C. (Taiwan) has been implementing the low-carbon sustainable community program with village administrative as a unit for gradually building a low carbon living society. Counseling total of 114 low-carbon demonstrative communities which were chosen from all of the country and duplicates their successful experiences to the neighboring villages then gradually establishes a regional low-carbon living area.
Based on the different city zoning plan and types of industry, communities were divided into urban (40, 35.1%) communities and rural (74, 64.9%) communities. Through 6 key directions and 102 items to measure the degree of low carbon living, the low-carbon outcomes from those communities that participated in the certification scheme were examined and awarded. Until 2018, there were 63 communities (55%) awarded bronze certification, and 26 communities (23%) awarded silver certification. Among them, only 16% rural communities awarded silver certification, but bronze certification is more than 50% in both rural and urban communities. In 2018, there were 5 communities which continuously accept the coaching from the counseling team to renew their certifications and affect the promotion to construct a low carbon sustainable community. After so many years of hard effort, most of those low carbon communities already have equipped with the basic low-carbon knowledge, and the bronze certification is the initial goal for the community to participate in low-carbon construction scheme. Analyzing and reviewing the low-carbon behavior with the bronze certification’s communities may be used as a reference for formulating the future definition of low-carbon community operations.
We estimated the average carbon reduction benefits of unit low-carbon measure by integrating the consequent of demonstration communities over the year. The low-carbon measures include using energy-saving lamps and eco-greening that average unit carbon reduction is 11,951 kgCO2e and 600 kgCO2e respectively. If 547 and 684 communities among the 7,760 villages will implement these two low-carbon measures respectively, the total amount of 6,947 tCO2e can be reduced.
This project provided an intensive instruction to 3 communities to expand low-carbon area in their neighboring villages. For example: Taipei Jingdong Village gradually becomes into a low-carbon adaption community based on construction the system of rainwater recovery; Yilan Ximen Village succeeded in replacing the energy-saving lamps in the public areas, and continuously promoted it in temples to make people live an energy-saving life from local beliefs; Kaohsiung Wenxian Village to form a miniature low-carbon farming life circle through construct biochar stove, enzyme barrels, and earthworm symbiosis with vegetables. In addition, we also assist communities to apply for subsidies to accelerate the replacement rate of energy-saving lamps, and the estimated total annual carbon reduction through those three places can reach to 36.6 tCO2e.
In view of the technical expertise, we organized a consultation team which providing timely technical consultation about low-carbon measures and energy-saving. In addition to emphasizing the inclusion of low-carbon elements in localization, as well as in construct measures and develop living practices. In 2018, the first time to cooperation with Chunghwa Telecom’s Environmental Protection and Energy Saving Service team which implemented energy-saving counseling of 20 multi-family dwelling, and provided power, air-conditioning, lighting and other energy-saving recommendations for improvement. The Public Television Service Foundation also held training to Miaoli Gangqian Village and recorded with film for propaganda. Two above cases not only fulfill corporate social responsibility, but also make resources achieve maximum benefits.
The influence of low-carbon demonstration communities is not only extended to their neighboring area, but also may construct a shopping district. In 2018, we promoted the interaction between communities and shopping district, and cooperated with enterprises, NGOs and central ministry. Additionally, we integrated 10 resources from central ministries, 58 subsidies plans, and the energy-saving equipment subsidies by the county and municipal governments. A total of over 50 communities were also transferred its achievements to promote benefits through strengthening the public-private partnership.
In order to promote low-carbon energy conservation in residential and commercial sector, it expanded to the shopping district by means of the experience from low-carbon community construction. According to the types of shopping district, the effectiveness of demonstration and partition selection, the shopping district of Taoyuan Zhongping, Taichung Yi-Zhong, Chiayi Singang, Pingtung Liouciou, Yilan Luodong were selected as the demonstrations for shopping district. A start-up session and training courses were hold in conjunction with community volunteers by visiting a local shopping district development association or other concerned groups. Such tools as illuminometer, simple lighting checklists, energy-saving checklists and so on were used to examine the electricity usage patterns (lighting, air conditioning and refrigeration) and behavior of store. It also provided information on energy-saving brochures and subsidies for energy saving equipment, so as to enhance the incentives for store to replace energy-saving equipment. Total of 550 stores energy-saving inventory were completed, the energy-consuming equipments in stores were lighting and air-conditioning, followed by refrigeration equipment. Most of the stores have been replaced by energy-saving lamps. The most of stores have not installed air-conditioning leakage prevention devices because of small store area.
Three self-executing major strategies to energy-saving in store, namely, lighting replacement, moderate lighting, and proper lighting of signboards were emphasized. The whole store carries out "lighting replacement", which means by using LED lamps replacing traditional lamps, the average annual energy conservation about 800 kWh; the "moderate lighting" of storefronts to reduce the number of 1/3 lamps, the annual energy conservation about 240 kWh; the “proper lighting of signboards” reduces lighting by 1 hours per day, and the annual energy conservation about 30 kWh. If the store executes above three energy-saving strategies, the annual total energy conservation up to 1,070 kWh, and the total carbon reduction is 593 kgCO2e. It is estimated that 550 stores of energy-saving propaganda in shopping district will respond to the annual carbon reduction of 326 tCO2e.
In addition, we assist the shopping district to develop low-carbon characteristics in the localization, so as to enhance the low-carbon consensus in community and shopping district. The Zhongping shopping district in Taoyuan is characterized by the apparel industry, transforming the old recycling clothes as an environmentally friendly shopping bags, it may help community gradually towards energy conservation without plastic bags. The Liouciou shopping district in Pingtung initiates “a plastic free low-carbon island” as its main symbol, then set up 10 water dispensers to reduce the consumption of bottled water. The Chiayi Singang shopping district reduces the use time of temple lanterns for 1 hour. The Taichung Yi-Zhong shopping district is in cooperation with the municipal government to transform of the shopping district with three main aims, namely, plastic reduction, low carbon and fresh air. Finally, the Yilan Luodong shopping district worked together with the Yilan Environmental Protection Bureau to transform the stalls in traditional market, which comprehensively assisted it to switch to LED lamps. The annual carbon reduction might reach 30 tCO2e.
4 training courses were conducted to introduce the appropriate lighting inspection form for the project, and lead the participants to conduct moderate lighting measurement operations in the field to deepen the energy-saving benefits of lighting. Specifically understand the moderate lighting situation in the service industry, catering industry and wholesale and retail industry, we found that the service industry generally meets the illumination standard, while the catering industry generally has low illumination, while the retail industry is more prone to excessive illumination in some display areas. A total of more than 200 community volunteers were trained to promote store energy conservation in the invisible and long-term role of the observers in the field, so that the shopping district could be gradually oriented towards a low-carbon and energy-saving business model.
This project increases the visibility of low-carbon sustainable development through multi-diverse ways, including making moderate lighting and energy-saving lamps brochures that can combined with training courses to provide participants use, repairing carbon-reducing double bear dolls to provide various creative activities for the EPA, maintaining low-carbon demonstration community zone of Low Carbon Sustainable Information System to share community achievements and energy-saving cases, and using Facebook fans group to promote Internet community.
In addition, there held a field trip to focus on experience learning and figure out the benefit of low-carbon implementation. In order to show the spirit of cross sector promotion of the residential and commercial, we will conduct a press conference on the demonstration project of the Liouciou plastic free low-carbon island in combination with low carbon and plastic free issues. Continuously promote low-carbon sustainability concepts, raise public awareness of low-carbon sustainable community, and encourage communities that have not promoted low-carbon sustainability to join low-carbon initiatives.
