Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) 40-year-old headquarters in Taipei is the first eco-friendly building that is at least 100m tall in Taiwan, the company said on Friday, touting renovations from 2017 to 2020.
In 2017, Taipower installed active magnetic bearing compressors developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute for its air-conditioning system.
The compressors use 900 megawatt-hours less power per year than traditional compressors, whose gears are prone to friction, leading to loss of compressor momentum, Taipower said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Power Co
The company also installed precision cooling technologies for its server room and data centers, which together accounted for about 20 percent of the building’s power consumption due to the need for constant air conditioning to keep computers cool, it said.
The technology has halved the power use in its server rooms and data centers, it said, adding that compared with 2016, it has conserved 700MWh per year.
The upgrades in 2018 were recognized by the US Green Building Certification Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which gave the headquarters its platinum certification — its highest honor — for operations and maintenance of an existing building.
Last year, automated air-conditioning — which responds to temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels — was installed, Taipower engineer Chiu Yung-tang (邱泳棠) said.
The automated system has allowed the company to conserve 300MWh per year, Chiu said.
The building’s water recycling system captures rainwater and condensation from the air-conditioning system to water plants or flush toilets, Taipower said.
It refitted the restrooms with water-efficient toilets, which slashed water consumption by about 30 percent, it said, adding that the company this year began collecting water from its central kitchen.
The company has conserved up to 15,000 tonnes of water since 2018, enough for one of its water-efficient toilets to be flushed 2.52 million times, it said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS