The Ministry of Environment is to establish an alliance to propose heat response plans by the end of next month amid global climate change.
High temperatures are the most tangible signs of climate change for the public, and to help people adapt to a warmer environment, the ministry is setting up the High Temperature Response Alliance, Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Hsu Hsu-cheng (徐旭誠) said on Saturday.
The effort would be focused on protecting high-risk groups, such as agricultural workers and others who work outdoors, from heat hazards, he said.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Labor Affairs Department
The ministry would also collaborate with local governments to create “cool maps” of comfortable outdoor activity sites for the public and would help shape a heat-response industrial chain, he said.
More than 70 percent of the heat transferred into buildings in Taiwan results from solar heat passing through glass doors or windows, while only about 20 percent is conducted through walls, National Cheng Kung University architecture professor Lin Tzu-ping (林子平) said.
Therefore, installing outdoor sun-shading structures is the most effective method to prevent solar heat from entering buildings, Lin said.
Indoor heat-blocking measures would be the second-best approach, such as using window blinds or covering glass doors or windows with thermal insulation film, he said.
Regarding electricity use, residential and commercial properties accounted for about 22 percent of total power consumption, he said.
While newly constructed buildings are required to meet energy efficiency standards, Taiwan lacks an effective energy-saving scheme for existing buildings, Lin said.
The Ministry of the Interior should follow the example of the Netherlands and mandate the disclosure of buildings’ energy efficiency ratings in profiles of housing for rent or sale, he said.
“Just as we would consider fuel consumption when buying a vehicle, we should also consider a building’s power consumption before renting or buying it,” Lin said, adding that tax deductions or other incentives could encourage landlords or building owners to disclose energy efficiency ratings.
Boosting buildings’ heat-blocking efficacy to reduce indoor temperatures can reduce power consumption and carbon emissions, Department of Comprehensive Planning Director Hung Shu-sing (洪淑幸) said.
While the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are responsible for promoting building energy conservation for the residential and commercial sector, the enviro`nment ministry would plan budgets to subsidize heat insulation projects for existing housing, Hung said.
The replacement of traditional windows with heat-blocking units and the enhancement of roof heat insulation at schools would be prioritized, with subsidy details to be discussed, she added.
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A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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