The winning of the Green Building certificate of Lanyang Campus is an affirmation of TKU dedication to bringing a healthy and balanced ecology into university campuses, setting a good example of combining educational concepts with practices, according to Dr. Kao Po-Yuan, the Vice President for Administrative Affairs. TKU will continue to make the university a place of energy conservation and ecological sustainability. It will also, Dr. Kao added, ensure students’ active participation in the betterment of global environment and social development.
Dr. Kao pointed out that although Tamsui Campus has not won the Green Building certificate, it has practiced several important concepts of green buildings. For example, the Chueh Sheng Memorial Library uses as much natural light as possible, and the Foreign Languages and Literatures Building is equipped with water saving toilet system, energy efficient air-conditioning system, and censor-controlled taps. He believes that the spirit of green buildings such as conserving energy and optimizing resources should be incorporated in all future buildings on campuses. He urges students to practice this spirit as well by using as little air-conditioning as possible, and turn off artificial lights when there is enough natural light.
As for campus greening design, Dr. Kao emphasizes that it is not purely based on aesthetical and horticultural reasons, it also considers biodiversity, planting as many different types of trees as possible. It should serve educational purposes, too. TKU, he says, will offer environmental related courses in the core curriculum so that students can understand their responsibility in maintaining a balanced ecology on and off campus. He plans to have students “adopt” various trees on campus, emulating what National Taiwan University, which is known for its wide variety of exotic plants, do with their students. He is convinced that first rate universities cultivate first rate students. With ecological sound campuses such as those of TKU’s, the university can create students who are ecological savvy and learn to live with nature in a sustainable way. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )
