Taipei 101 navigates a smarter, greener energy management path

2016/07/21

Taipei 101, the tallest green-certified building in the world, recently concluded a memorandum of understanding on adopting a cloud-based energy management platform with Siemens Ltd., Taiwan, putting the landmark structure on the path toward becoming one of the smartest and greenest of its kind in the world.

Under the memorandum, Taipei 101 will use Siemens Navigator to monitor its energy supply, demand and system performance, as well as produce advanced analytical reports based on building-generated data. This is expected to optimize efficiency, save costs and assist in the development of sustainable energy management strategies.

Chou Te-yu, chairman of Taipei 101 management firm Taipei Financial Center Corp., said July 13 that innovative technologies such as navigator help create a more comfortable, safer and energy-friendly environment for tenants and visitors. “We aim to make Taipei 101 the global benchmark when it comes to efficient energy management and reducing impact on the environment.”

Echoing Chou’s remarks, Eugene Chien—chairman of Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy—said upgrading building energy management is critical if Taiwan is to play its part in keeping a global temperature rise this century below 2 C and driving efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, a main aim of the agreement reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris last December.

“Taipei 101 garners global attention, and any move slashing greenhouse gasses sends a strong message to the world that Taiwan is making meaningful contributions to tackling climate change.”

According to Erdal Elver, president and CEO of Siemens Ltd., Taiwan, his firm is a proud partner of Taipei 101 and is committed to taking their cooperative relationship to the next level. “We have been one of the key solution providers for Taipei 101 since its planning stage and look forward to helping the building reach its energy sustainability goals,” he said.

Taipei 101’s green certification was assessed by U.S. Green Building Council in its 2011 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ranking. This year, it achieved the highest score in the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Version 4 certification.

The government is committed to capping the carbon emissions of Taiwan’s five major economic sectors—agriculture, commercial, energy, industrial, residential, transportation—at 251.04 million tons this year. Cutting annual output to the average of 2012 to 2014 levels is in line with the goals set out in Taiwan’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act of July 2015.

It also follows the roadmap to achieving the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, under which greenhouse gasses are to drop to 214 million tons by 2030. This is 20 percent lower than the 2005 level, and will bring the national total in 2050 to half that of 2005.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=246377&ctNode=2194&mp=9)