Evaluating Water Conservation Measures For Green Building In Taiwan.doc

外文文献：　 Evaluating Water Conservation Measures For Green Building In Taiwan Green Building evaluation is a new system in which water conservation is prioritized as one of its seven categories for saving water resources through building equipment design in Taiwan. This paper introduces the Green Building program and proposes a water conservation index with quantitative methodology and case study. This evaluation index involves standardized scientific quantification and can be used in the pre-design stage to obtain the expected result. The measure of evaluation index is also based on the essential research in Taiwan and is a practical and applicable approach. Keywords: Green Building; Evaluation system; Water conservation; Building equipment 1. Introduction The environment was an issue of deep global concern throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Fresh water shortages and pollution are becoming one of the most critical global problems. Many organizations and conferences concerning water resource policy and issues have reached the consensus that water shortages may cause war in the 21st century[1],if not a better solution .Actually, Taiwan is already experiencing significant discord over water supply. Building new dams is no longer an acceptable solution to the current water shortage problems, because of the consequent environmental problems. Previous studies have concluded that water savings are necessary not only for water conservation but also for reducing energy consumption [2,3]. Taiwan is located in the Asian monsoon area and has an abundant supply of rainwater. Annual precipitation averages around 2500mm. However, water shortages have recently been a critical problem during the dry season. The crucial, central issue is the uneven distribution of torrential rain, steep hillsides, and short rivers. Furthermore, the heavy demand for domestic water use in municipal areas, and the difficulties in building new reservoirs are also critical factors. Govern