Lanyang Campus received a Green Building label from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) on 12/22 last year in a ceremony that was held at the Taipei International Trade Center, during which Lee Yi-Yang, the Minister of MOI, presented the label and awards to Dr. Lin Jyh-horng, the Director of LC. You Hsien-the, the architect of LC was also awarded with a silver rating for his contributions to green buildings. On top of that, TKU was given a silver rating for its overall efforts in promoting environmental sound concepts at universities campuses. TKU is the only university that won this year’s (the 5th) award among the 7 winners.

Dr. Clement Chang, the Founder of TKU, is the man behind greener campuses. He insisted that LC had to follow benchmarks set by MOI for green buildings when it was still at the blueprint stage in 2000. 7 years later, with winning the certificate, he is more adamant about having both Tamsui and Taipei campuses to become environmental friendly in any future remodeling project. Although the government has not specified that universities have to be built on the principle of green buildings, Dr. Chang believes that as global citizens, it is everyone’s responsibility to live in a sustainable way, and as an educator, he wants his campuses to be an example of “we practice what we believe in.” His determination is reflected in the efforts LC put in to win this certificate, as LC surpassed the minimum requirements of 4 benchmarks set by MOI, and earned high evaluation in every benchmark it passed.

The Green Building Award was inaugurated in 2003 by the Architecture and Building Research Institute of MOI to promote environmentally sound buildings in Taiwan. This kind of promotion hopes to raise the awareness among the general public about living a “greener” life through thoughtful interactions with nature. You Hsien-the, the architect of LC, is particular proud of the achievement of LC as it won these honors after stringent and at times harsh review by MOI. “It would not have won these awards, had it not been the undivided dedication TKU invested in. TKU is right on the pulse of the most urgent issue the world is facing today,” he said. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )