Taipei 101, the world’s tallest office building and tallest “green” skyscraper, launched the nation’s first “green” lease initiative yesterday in a bid to get its biggest tenants to commit to environmental protection.
Taipei 101 was recognized earlier this year by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a globally recognized green building ranking system of the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
Its management said it hopes to encourage cooperation with its tenants in environmental efforts.
As part of these efforts, a “green” lease was signed with the building’s largest tenant, KPMG, the local affiliate of KPMG International Cooperative.
Under the terms of the 10-year lease, KPMG will use various methods to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, electricity, waste and water use, although it is under no obligation to actually do so.
The company has been asked to collect rainwater to water its office plants, to sort kitchen waste and to request cleaning contractors use environmentally friendly cleansing products.
“Before, it was mainly a one-way effort,” said Cathy Yang (楊文琪), vice president of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), which owns the building.
“Now we want participation from our tenants to make the green operation of Taipei 101 sustainable,” she said.
However, Yang admitted that the lease — designed by the corporation with reference to USGBC guidelines — falls short of setting measurable goals and is not legally binding.
“We are not going to kick out our tenants because they fail to cut down their waste,” Yang said.
Taipei Financial Center Corp sees the “green” lease as a tool for raising “corporate social responsibility,” she said, adding that it hopes to sign more such leases.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RSS