Applied SBTOOL to the Research on Performance Evaluation of Green Buildings in Southern Taiwan - A Case Study of the Residential Building Designed for Pingtung County Self-Government Ordinance for Green Buildings

Abstract

The global climate change and the lack of environmental resources, the issue of sustainable development have been emphasized by global. In response to the development of a sustainable environment, in recent years, ‘green buildings’ have sprung up in large numbers, and the aspect of architectural technology are constantly making breakthroughs and innovations. Whether it is a library, a school building, or even a residential office building, it emphasizes to make a step towards ‘green’. The Pingtung County Government has established the Pingtung County Self-Government Ordinance for Green Buildings in 2016 to regulate the new constructions’ designs in a certain scale must according to thermal insulation, energy conservation, health, and sustainability. This study is to explore the applicability of SBTOOL to green buildings in southern Taiwan, accordingly choosing new-built residential cases in Pingtung County. Pingtung County is located in the south of the Tropic of Cancer. The local climate is hot and enough sunshine, there are many typhoons and rainstorms in summer. The residential planning is according to the ‘Self-Government Ordinance for Green Buildings’ of the Pingtung County Government. Both cases are designed by different construction companies and are the traditional southern Taiwan street house style. The planning concept also considers the current aging of the population in Taiwan and barrier-free environment design. After the evaluation, the scores obtained are between Acceptable Practice and Good Practice, only the barrier-free environment and universal design cannot clearly include in the assessment. On the whole, it is applicable to evaluate the ‘Green Building Residential Case in Pingtung’ by SBTOOL. This study hopes to make the residential cases whose designs are conforming to the Pingtung County Self-Government Ordinance for Green Buildings can provide a reference for the architectural design of the similar climatic environment and geographical features in the global, through the evaluations and analyses of SBTOOL.