Tainan, Taiwan, January 12th, 2011—The Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center (Magic School of Green Technology), the first zero-carbon building in Taiwan, was inaugurated on January 12th, 2011 at National Cheng Kung University's (NCKU) Li-Hsing Campus in Tainan, Taiwan. The new research center will soon acquire the highest green building certificates from Taiwan's Ecology, Energy Saving, Waste Reduction and Health (EEWH) rating system and the U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system,.
Consisting of three levels above ground one level underground and occupying a total floor area of 4,800m², the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center will serve as NCKU's international conference center and exhibit technologies achieved through green building research. The research center utilizes the most economical and efficient green building technologies such as energy-conservation, renewable energy, waste reduction, water recycling and nano photo-catalysts.
"Even though National Cheng Kung University has many innovative teaching research buildings, the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center, which was endowed mostly by Chairman Bruce Cheng of Delta Electronics, has a unique significance. It not only symbolizes an enterprise‘s concern for the global ecology and contribution to human well-being, it also signifies the beginning of NCKU's march towards a greener era," said President Michael Ming-Chiao Lai of National Cheng Kung University in his opening address.
NCKY has had many successful achievements in alternative energy research. According to the academic rankings of the internationally renowned publishing company Elsevier, NCKU ranks 19th globally in research papers for Alternative Energy—the only Taiwanese institution ranked among the global top 25.
Acting in concert with the inauguration of the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center, the entire faculty and student body at NCKU have been promoting activities with eco-friendly themes for green living that will fulfill the expectations of Chairman Bruce Cheng.
Delta Electronics' Founder and Chairman, Bruce Cheng, expressed, "Mr. Y.S. Sun devoted and sacrificed his life to our nation. He is an outstanding role model for our next generation, which is why we have named this green building after him. To honor his spirit, Delta Electronics and National Cheng Kung University have taken practical action to construct an energy-saving and zero-carbon building that addresses the issue of global warming."
Chairman Bruce Cheng also revealed his sincere gratitude to NCKU President Michael Ming-Chiao Lai, "Four years ago, when President Lai assumed the position of the President of National Cheng Kung University, he fully supported the construction of this green building, especially reserving wooded land at the University that supports the building in reaching zero-carbon emissions."
Chairman Bruce Cheng emphasized, "The Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center, which employs LED energy-saving light bulbs and solar panels produced by Delta Electronics and related enterprises, embodies Delta Electronics' mission to provide innovative, clean and efficient energy solutions for a better tomorrow. It will also be Taiwan's most energy-efficient teaching building."
The Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center has rewritten the history of world architecture research. Four top university professors leading twelve master and doctoral students participated in this experiment to construct this never-seen-before green building.
According to a precise analysis done by the Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University, the building's annual Energy Usage Intensity (EUI) is expected to be 43kWh/(m².yr)—much lower than the 125kWh/( m².yr) of regular office buildings—and its energy-saving ratio will be 65%.
Generally, the EUI of office buildings in Taiwan ranges from 241kWh (m².yr) on higher floors and 169kWh/(m².yr) on the low floors. Even small business offices with no elevator have an EUI of 97kWh/m².yr.
Internationally, the EUI of office buildings in England, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and China are approximately 404kWh/(m².a), 390kWh/(m².a), 304kWh/(m².a), 217kWh/(m².a) and 111.2kWh/(m².a), respectively.
The cost of the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center, which was NT$87,000 per 36 square feet, is the result of 13 different green building design methods, including 5 natural ventilation energy-saving methods, 2 equipment reduction methods, and 5 equipment energy-saving technologies and renewable energy technologies.
Among the 13 methods, the most exciting is the natural buoyancy ventilation technology of the international conference hall which allows 300 people to stay cool in summer and warm in winter without turning on the air conditioning.
The air conditioning systems of modern buildings can easily cause condensation, mildew, accumulated dust and bacteria as well as pneumonia, but the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center has completely overcome these problems, guaranteeing the healthiest air quality by using antibacterial and environmentally-friendly steel donated by an enterprise.
For instance, the toilets in the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center have adopted the UB-FINE water reduction system of zero power and hand-free access. This is one of the most unique and environmentally-friendly designs that can prevent bacteria and cross infections from spreading.
The two hundred tons of serpentine jade cement that is used as stone material for the international conference halls, has high degrees of alkaline, magnetic fields and hydroxyl radicals, which can purify air and stimulate cells, benefiting human health.
The Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center, aka the Magic School of Green Technology, got its inspiration from Noah's Ark, echoing the internationally renowned book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded," by American journalist Thomas Friedman. The book states that the world needs a million Noahs and a million Arks to save species and protect biodiversity.
The exterior look of the green building is like a spaceship in Star Wars, having a leaf-like solar panel on the roof of the spaceship, ventilation towers that look like marine command modules with chimneys, as well as railings, handrails and balconies.
The roof of the spaceship looks like Napoleon's hat, forming a deep sunshade which can block most of the direct solar radiation from coming indoors, thus reducing the air conditioning's power consumption. The roof garden with Crassulaceae drought-tolerant plants shows vividly the strong contrast between the natural ecology and modern technology.
The inauguration ceremony of the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center was held on January 12th, 2011 in the Conference Hall on the second floor of the green building. In attendance were Gunter Pauli, founder of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative, President Akihisa Iida from OM Solar, Japan, Director An-Gang Hu of the Center for China Study at Tsinghua University, Beijing, as well as national green architecture scholars and architects.
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