Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

During a press conference following the city administration meeting on June 29, Mayor Hau Lung-bin announced that Taipei will implement energy saving and carbon reduction measures for industries and commerce on a citywide basis starting July 1. He also unveiled the “Healthy Temperature Certificate”.
According to the law, commercial buildings – malls, department stores, hotels, public venues – have to tune down their air conditioning, maintaining an average indoor temperature at (or above) 26 degrees Celsius. The new measure seeks to prevent the waste of electricity and keep temperature within the range of thermal comfort. Taipei City is the first city in the nation to institute concrete regulations on conserving energy.
Hau pointed out that the top-500 electricity users account for 38 percent of the city’s total power consumption. According to statistics, if all of these users could cut their combined energy consumption by 1 percent, there will be enough electricity to supply 7,000 households for an entire year. Therefore, the city government believes that the energy-saving campaign should start with reducing industrial and commercial electricity consumption.
Strict enforcement of the measure will begin in 2011; between July and December this year, there will be a grace period for promoting the new bylaw to local businesses and shops.
Representatives from 13 companies – including Taipei Financial Center Corporation (Taipei 101), Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and Pacific SOGO Company – also attended the press conference, showing their support for the policy.