Lanyang Campus (LC) received an award from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for its ecological-sound design late last year after more than one year of stringent review, making it a model for future “green” buildings on campuses.
The ecological friendly concept underlying LC had been conceived way before Tamkang started the construction of the campus in 2000. Dr. Clement Chang, the Founder of Tamkang, instructed specifically that the architecture of LC had to follow the 9 indices set by the MOI for a Green Building. They are 1. Biodiversity 2. Greening, 3. Soil Water Content, 4. Daily Energy Saving, 5. CO2 Emission Reduction, 6. Waste Reduction, 7. Indoor Environment, 8. Waste Resource, 9. Sewage & Garbage Improvement. So, it applied for the Green Building Certificate Candidacy, and in October, 2007, it was informed to have passed the assessment by meeting 6 of the 9 indicators.
The design of LC basically follows environmentally friendly concepts such as energy conservation, natural resources usage, and waste reduction, so as to minimize disruptions to the surrounding ecology. For instance, it reuses its waste water by installing special pipes and filter center so that it can reuse this water for other purposes. The 6 indices LC fulfilled are numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9.
This award highlights the uniqueness of LC, which is run on an Oxbridge model that aims to instill a futuristic and global vision in the students. Part of this vision students should have is the deep understanding of environmental issues the world is facing today; therefore, despite the high cost, LC was constructed with such a conviction that education plays a key role in fostering awareness and ideas of environmental sound thinking. Living and learning in LC, students will be transformed from observers to active participants to take necessary steps to save our earth. Dr. Flora Chang, the President of TKU, reiterates repeatedly that in the coming years, the university as a whole will take on such issues earnestly in both theories and practices. There will be more courses about ecology in the core curriculum and related disciplines will increase research in this matter, too. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )
