In the building industry, decreasing the CO2 emission not only is an important environmental issue but also an international responsibility in the future. This research analyzed building life cycle CO2 emission and used a building life cycle CO2 emission index (LCCO2). LCCO2 allows us to compare the impacts of different building designs to the environment and finds out the most efficient CO2 reduction strategy. A low floor house life cycle simulation showed that most CO2 emission in the life cycle comes from the daily use stage. Therefore, energy preservation in the daily life is the most important strategy to reduce CO2 emission in a building. Compared with the RC house, the light weight steel house uses more eco-friendly building materials and heat preservation materials. Therefore, the LCCO2 of the light weight steel house is reduced 31.34%. The research also showed that proper increase in the life span of the building also decreases CO2 emission. The light weight steel house is more eco-friendly than the RC house in the buildings life cycle.
In order to accommodate the global climate change, the idea of constructing zero-carbon green buildings has become the main stream and highest standard in building design in many countries. Located in subtropical zone, Taiwan features hot and humid weather in summer. The high usage of air conditioning is the main challenge to design zero-carbon green buildings in Taiwan. However, the temperature in the middle and high mountain areas decreases as altitude increases and makes it possible to create a living environment without using air conditioning in the summer. This project analyzed weather data in the middle and high mountain areas of Taiwan. The degree hour method and weather research and forecast model were used to evaluate the demand of air conditioning in the summer based on outside air temperature. The results showed that the low air conditioning load areas are above 1000 m elevation. This project then simulated energy consumption of a two-floor building near the Sun Moon Lake, an area of low air conditioning load, to explore the feasibility of zero-carbon green buildings in Taiwan. Based on the life style of a four-member family, a simulation process was conducted to estimate energy consumption of various appliances and different life habits. This study showed that the energy consumption in the buildings can be reduced up to 70% by using three major design strategies. These strategies include selection of a low air conditioning load location, using high energy efficient appliances, and application of energy conserving habits. Followed by renewable energy evaluation, it is possible to put zero-carbon green building into practice in Taiwan.
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