How New Taipei City’s E-House Program is pioneering nearly zero-carbon communities through public-private collaboration
*This blog was written by the Low Carbon Community Development Center, Environmental Protection Department, New Taipei City Government, in collaboration with Yisheng Yang, ICLEI Kaohsiung Capacity Center
A typical dense landscape in New Taipei City, mostly consisting of residential communities in condominium
New Taipei City is the largest city on the island of Taiwan, with a population of over 4 million and the highest number of business registrations. The residential and commercial sectors (or building sector) account for 40% of the city’s total GHG emissions, with the residential sector alone representing 40% of the city’s total electricity consumption.
As of 2024, more than half of New Taipei City’s residential buildings are over 30 years old. This makes reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy efficiency in existing buildings and built communities pivotal to achieving the city’s goals of a 30% carbon reduction by 2030 (with 2005 as the baseline year) and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
In 2022, New Taipei City unveiled the 2050 Net-Zero Roadmap and Climate Action White Paper, raising its carbon reduction goals from low-carbon to zero-carbon. To realize these ambitions, the City Government has taken the lead by implementing measures in public buildings while actively fostering partnerships with the private sector and local communities. In the past, households and communities were encouraged to save energy by replacing home appliances and public equipment. By adopting smarter strategies, New Taipei City seeks to enhance energy conservation and efficiency in existing residential buildings. Within this context, the City launched the “Energy-Saving E-House” project in 2022, the region’s first-ever housing energy-saving initiative engaging private stakeholders from the real estate sector and local communities.
The project emphasizes energy efficiency disclosure and offers an integrated energy-saving service, encompassing energy efficiency grading, diagnostic assessments, and community renovation subsidies. The goal is to gradually improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, thereby effectively reducing residential greenhouse gas emissions.
Analysis of case studies from New Taipei City’s Low-Carbon Community Renovation and Energy-Saving Clinic diagnostics reveals that 25% of building energy consumption comes from communal facilities, while households account for 75% in one typical residential condominium.
As a result, the Energy-Saving E-House program first evaluates the energy usage density of communal facilities and assigns energy efficiency grades to buildings, ranging from three to six stars. The higher the star rating, the more energy-efficient the community or the building is. Communities can submit the electricity meter numbers for their facilities and building permit numbers to allow the Environmental Protection Bureau to assess energy consumption levels and issue a star certification to those meeting specific efficiency standards. For six-star-certified buildings (public facility EUI < 7) with households reducing energy usage by 40%, overall energy savings can reach up to 50%.
Overview of the Zero Carbon Community Scheme in New Taipei City
The Energy-Saving E-House program also encourages communities to adopt low-carbon renovations, promote energy-saving behaviors, and disclose energy efficiency data. Partnering with 15 real estate agencies, the program highlights energy-efficient communities on public housing platforms, enabling prospective buyers or renters to understand the electricity efficiency of communal facilities and make informed decisions. This transparency promotes consumer choice of energy-efficient houses in the market.
The program offers one-stop guidance and subsidies to further assist residential communities in strengthening energy-saving measures. Community Management Committees can apply for the “Energy-Saving Clinic,” where professional consultants provide on-site assessments and propose energy-saving improvement plans. Communities can also engage “Low-Carbon Community Planners” to integrate low-carbon living practices into their daily lives and use “Low-Carbon Community Renovation Subsidies” to fund these initiatives. By improving behavior, upgrading equipment, and leveraging smart energy systems, communities can progressively reduce energy consumption in communal facilities and achieve higher star certifications.
Energy data empowering household energy savings
Since 2018, the New Taipei City Government has taken the lead in introducing Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) in private homes to enhance energy usage transparency. Through the HEMS platform, residents can monitor real-time electricity usage of household appliances using a smartphone or computer. This information enables households to adjust their energy consumption habits, thereby reducing unnecessary electricity costs. However, the installation of HEMS requires in-home setup, making large-scale adoption challenging.
To overcome this, New Taipei City integrated Taiwan Power Company’s smart meter (AMI) big data with the Institute for Information Industry’s non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) technology. Using communities in New Taipei as pilot sites, the city developed the Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper, a smart energy management system.
This system requires only a single meter to measure total electricity usage and provides energy-saving services to private residences within communities. These services include daily electricity usage tracking, a household energy journal, and energy management tools. By visualizing energy consumption patterns, the system enables users to identify and address abnormal consumption (e.g., equipment malfunction) or adjust usage timing in real time. This approach enhances energy-saving efforts and improves overall efficiency.
The main functions of the “Energy-saving E-Housekeeper” system
In older communities, installing energy management systems often requires approval from resident committees, which can lead to additional costs and extended negotiations. To address this, New Taipei City adopted a public-private partnership model, collaborating with property developers to integrate the Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper into new construction projects. By incorporating smart energy management tools from the outset, the city ensures that new buildings are equipped to monitor and optimize electricity usage effectively, fostering energy-saving practices and paving the way for achieving zero-carbon buildings citywide.
New Taipei City’s approach to achieving net-zero buildings is centered on three strategies: energy-saving monitoring, energy-efficient retrofitting, and zero-carbon electricity. The Energy-Saving E-House initiative promotes energy efficiency grading and retrofitting measures. At the same time, the Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper system enhances monitoring by disclosing household energy usage patterns to encourage sustained energy-saving behaviors. In the future, the city plans to implement zero-carbon electricity strategies, guiding all buildings toward the ultimate goal of net-zero emissions.
Looking ahead, New Taipei City also plans to collaborate with financial institutions and insurance companies to introduce green finance. These efforts aim to guide both existing and new buildings toward becoming near-zero-energy buildings.
Interested in more details about the E-house and E-Housekeeper program, please visit https://lowcarbon.epd.ntpc.gov.tw/lowcarbon/ or contact iclei-kaohsiung@iclei.org and ad9147@ntpc.gov.tw
