Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379

www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv
Evaluating water conservation measures for Green Building in Taiwan
Cheng-Li Cheng

Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Received 7 November 2001; received in revised form 30 January 2002; accepted 6 February 2002
Abstract
Green Building evaluation is a new system in which water conservation is prioritized as one of its seven categories for saving
water resources through building equipment design in Taiwan. This paper introduces the Green Building program and proposes a water
conservation index with quantitative methodology and case study. This evaluation index involves standardized scientic quantication and
can be used in the pre-design stage to obtain the expected result. The measure of evaluation index is also based on the essential research
in Taiwan and is a practical and applicable approach. ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Green Building; Evaluation system; Water conservation; Building equipment
1. Introduction
The environment was an issue of deep global concern
throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Fresh water
shortages and pollution are becoming one of the most crit-
ical global problems. Many organizations and conferences
concerning water resource policy and issues have reached
the consensus that water shortages may cause war in the
21st century [1], if not a better solution. Actually, Taiwan is
already experiencing signicant discord over water supply.
Building new dams is no longer an acceptable solution to the
current water shortage problems, because of the consequent
environmental problems. Previous studies have concluded
that water savings are necessary not only for water conser-
vation but also for reducing energy consumption [2, 3].
Taiwan is located in the Asian monsoon area and has an
abundant supply of rainwater. Annual precipitation averages
around 2500 mm. However, water shortages have recently
been a critical problem during the dry season. The crucial,
central issue is the uneven distribution of torrential rain,
steep hillsides, and short rivers. Furthermore, the heavy de-
mand for domestic water use in municipal areas, and the dif-
culties in building new reservoirs are also critical factors.
Government departments are endeavoring to spread publicly
the concept of water-conservation. While industry and com-
merce have made excellent progress in water conservation,
progress among the public has been extremely slow.

Tel.: +886-2-2737-6510; fax: +886-2-2737-6721.

E-mail address: [email protected] (C.-L. Cheng).
Due to this global trend, the Architecture and Building
Research Institute (ABRI), Ministry of Interior in Taiwan,
proposed the Green Building concept and built the evalu-
ation system. In order to save water resources through build-
ing equipment design, this system prioritizes water conser-
vation as one of its seven categories. This paper focuses on
the water conservation measures for Green Building in Tai-
wan and a quantitative procedure for proving water-saving
eciency. The purpose of this work is not only aimed at sav-
ing water resources, but also at reducing the environmental
impact on the earth.
2. Water conservation index
The water conservation index is the ratio of the actual
quantity of water consumed in a building to the average
water-consumption in general. The index is also called, the
water saving rate. Evaluations of the water-consumption
quantity include the evaluation to the water-saving eciency
within kitchens, bathrooms and all water taps, as well as the
recycling of rain and the secondhand intermediate water.
2.1. Goal of using the water conservation index
Although Taiwan has plenty of rain, due to its large popu-
lation, the average rainfall for distribution to each individual
is poor compared to the world average as shown in Fig. 1.
Thus, Taiwan is reversely a country short of water. Yet, the
recent improvements in citizens standards of living have
0360-1323/03/$ - see front matter ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0360- 1323( 02) 00062- 8
370 C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379
Nomenclature
AR Adoption rate of water-saving equipment (di-
mensionless)
a
1
Rate of adoption of water closet (dimensionless)
a
2
Adoption rate of urinals or two-sectioned water
closet (dimensionless)
a
3
Adoption rate of saving water tap (dimension-
less)
a
4
Adoption rate of saving water bathtub or device
(dimensionless)
B Volume of water saving of bathtub (l)
C Special weighting for water recycling equipment
for reusing water or rain (dimensionless)
Q
1
Real ush volume of the water closet adapted in
evaluating project (l}esh)
Q
2
Real ush volume of urinals or two-sectioned wa-
ter closet adapted in evaluating project (l}esh)
Q
3
Actual ush volume of tap adapted in evaluating
project (l}esh)
R Primary adoption rate of water saving equipment
(dimensionless)
1
s
Water closet use (times}day)
1
u
Daily number of urinations per person (time)
1
w
Number of tap use daily (time)
W
c
Average water closet ush volume (l)
W
d
Primary demand of daily water use (l)
WR Actual Water-saving Rate (dimensionless)
W
t
Typical ush volume of tap adapted in evaluating
project (l}esh)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000
Australia
Indonesia
America
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan
Japan
Average
5 241
4 300
2 510
1 714
(mm/year) (m
3
/year.person)
YEARLY PRECIPITATION
PRECIPITATION DISTRIBUTION
FOR PER PERSON
Fig. 1. Partial comparison of rainwater resource in the world.
led to a big increase in the amount of water needed in cities,
as shown in Fig. 2, which, accompanied by the diculty
of obtaining new water resources, makes the water shortage
problem even worse. Due to the improper water facilities
designs in the past, the low water fee, and the usual practical
behavior of people when using water, Taiwanese people
have tended to use a large quantity of tap water. In 1990, the
average water-consumption quantity in Taiwan was 350 l
per person per day, whereas in Germany it is about 145 l per
person per day, and in Singapore about 150 l per person per
day. These statistics reveal the need for Taiwanese people
to save water.
The promotion of better-designed facilities which fa-
cilitate water-saving will become a new trend among the
public and designers, because of concerns for environ-
mental protection. The water conservation index was also
designed to encourage utilization of the rain, recycling of
water used in everyday life and use of water-saving equip-
ment to reduce the expenditure of water and thus save water
resources.
2.2. Methodology for ecient use of water resources
Some construction considerations and building system
designs for eective use of water resources are described
below.
2.2.1. Use water-conservation equipment
A research of household tap-water consumption revealed
that the proportion of the water used in ushing toilets and in
bathing, amounts to approximately 50% of the total house-
hold water consumption, as given in Table 1. Many con-
struction designers have tended to use luxurious water fa-
cilities in housing, and much water has thus been wasted.
The use of water-saving equipment to replace such facili-
ties is certain to save a large amount of water. For example,
the amounts of water used in taking a shower and having
a bath is quite dierent. A single shower uses around 70 l
of water, whereas a bath uses around 150 l. Furthermore,
current construction designs for housing in Taiwan tend to
put two sets of bathtubs and toilets, and quite a few fami-
C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379 371
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
74' 75' 76' 77' 78' 79' 80' 81' 82' 83' 84' 85' 86' 87' 88' 89' 90' 91' 92' 93' 94' 95' 96' 97' 98'
(year)
W
a
t
e
r

u
s
a
g
e
(
l
/
p
e
r
s
o
n
.
d
a
y
)
Taipei city
Taiwan area
Fig. 2. Trend of tap water consumption for dwellings in Taiwan.
Table 1
The distribution quantity and proportion of tap water for every day activities (unit: l}day}person)
Purpose Bath Cloth Light Toilet Kitchen Cleaning Others Total
Volume washing washing
Proportion (%) 20 24 12 16 20 4 4 100
Daily average 50 60 30 40 50 10 10 250
Daily maximum 75 80 40 55 70 15 15 350
lies have their own massage bathtubs. Such a situation can
be improved only by removing the tubs and replacing them
with shower nozzles, so that more water can be possibly
saved. The commonly used water-saving devices in Tai-
wan now include new-style water taps, water-saving toilets,
two-sectioned water closets, water-saving shower nozzles,
and auto-sensor ushing device systems, etc. Water-saving
devices can be used not only for housing, but also in other
kinds of buildings. Public buildings, in particular, should
take the lead in using water-saving devices.
2.2.2. Set up a rain-storage water supply device
The rain-storage water supply device stores rain using
natural landforms or man-made devices, and then uses
simple water-cleaning procedures to make it available for
use in houses. Rain can be used not only as a substitute
water supply, but also for re control. Its use also helps
to decrease the peak-time water load in cities. The an-
nual average rainfall in Taiwan is about 2500 mm, almost
triple better than the global average. However, due to
geographic limitations, we could not build enough water
storage devices, such as dams, to save all the rain. It is
quite a pity that annually about 80% of the rain in Taiwan
is wasted and ows directly into the sea, without being
saved and stored. The rain-storage water supply system is
used with a water-gathering system, water-disposal system,
water-storage system and water-supply system. First, the
water-gathering system gathers the rain. Then, the water
ows to the water-disposal system through pipes, before
being sent to the water-storage system. Finally, it is sent to
the users equipment through another set of pipes. Using the
drain on the roof of a building, leading to the underground
water-storage trough, is considered an eective means of
gathering rain. The water, after simple water-disposal pro-
cesses, can be used for chores such as house cleaning,
washing oors, air-conditioning or watering plants.
2.2.3. Establishing the intermediate water system
Intermediate water is that gathered from the rain in cities,
and includes the recycled waste-water which has already
been disposed of and can be used repeatedly only within a
certain range, but not for drinking or human contact. Flush-
ing the toilet consumes 35% of all water. If everyone were to
use intermediate water to ush toilets, much water could be
eciently saved. Large-scale intermediate water system de-
vices are suggested to be built up regularly within a big area.
Each intermediate water system device can gather, dispose
and recycle a certain quantity of waste-water from nearby
government buildings, schools, residences, hotels, and other
buildings. The obtained water can be used for ushing
toilets, washing cars, watering plants and cleaning the
street, or for garden use and to supplement the water of
rivers or lakes. A small-scale intermediate water system
gathers waste-water from everyday use, and then, through
372 C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379
appropriate water-disposal procedures, improves the water
quality to a certain level, so that nally it can be repeat-
edly used for non-drinking water. There are extensive ways
to use the intermediate water. It can be used for sanitary
purposes, public fountains, watering devices in gardens
and washing streets. In order to recycle highly polluted
waste-water, a higher cost is needed for setting up the as-
sociated water-disposal devices, which are more expensive
and have less economic benets than the rain-utilization
system. Except for the intermediate water-system set within
a single building, if we build them within large-scale com-
munities or major construction development programs,
then it is sure to save more water resources eciently and
positively for the whole country as well as improve the
environmental situation.
3. Water conservation index and basis
Present research into the utilization of water resources
mainly considers residential buildings, while data for other
kinds of buildings are comparatively few. Since daily wa-
ter consumption of the citizen is mainly from their private
dwellings, the indicator of utilizing water resources thus fo-
cuses on the actual water-saving quantity as far as residen-
tial buildings are concerned. Research that relates to other
kinds of buildings focuses on the adoption rate of simply
equipped water-saving equipment. Table 1 shows the aver-
age and maximum daily household water consumption of
each Taiwanese person, from which a standardized daily to-
tal water-consumption of 250 l per person per day is esti-
mated and set as the calculation base.
3.1. Calculation
The actual water-saving rate (WR) is calculated according
to Formula (1). Formula (3) shows that a qualied value of
WR should be 0.8. A building with a qualied WR is el-
igible to apply for the Green Building incentive payment.
According to Formula (2), the adoption rate of water-saving
equipment (AR) can be used to estimate the water-saving
conditions in other kinds of buildings, and the guideline is
shown in Formula (4). A qualied value of AR should be
higher than 0.8. Except the residential type of building, a
building with a qualied AR is eligible to apply for the
Green Building incentive payments.
The Formula of calculating the water resource index for
the residential buildings (The Actual Water-saving Rate;
WR) is as follows:
WR = (W
d
(1
s
(W
c
Q
1
)a
1
+1
u
(W
u
Q
2
)a
2
+1
w
(W
t
Q
3
)a
3
+Ba
4
)) W
d
C. (1)
The formula of calculating water resources index for other
kinds of buildings (the Adoption Rate of water-saving equip-
ment; AR) is as follows:
AR =R +C. (2)
Table 2
Required constant for the estimate method of evaluation
Required constant Value
Primary demand of daily water use (W
d
) 250 (l}person}day)
Daily water closet use times (1
s
) 1.0 (times)
Typical esh volume of water closet (W
c
) 13.0 (l}esh)
Daily urine times (1
u
) 3.57 (times)
Typical esh volume for urine (W
u
) 13.0 (l}esh)
Daily tap water use times (1
w
) 4.86 (times)
Typical esh volume of tap adapted 3.0 (l}esh)
in applying project (W
t
)
The standardized qualifying conditions are
WR = 0.8, (3)
AR = 0.8. (4)
For denition of the symbols in Formulae (1)(4), see the
nomenclature at the beginning, and Table 2 shows the con-
stant (W
d
, 1
s
, W
c
, 1
u
, W
u
, 1
w
, W
t
) required by the estimate
method of evaluation.
3.2. Calculation basis and regulations
The associated regulations for Formulae (1)(4) are as
follows:
(1) WR (actual Water-saving Rate) = 0.8 is calculated
according to the supposition that the average daily
water-consumption of each person is 200 l, based on
foreign references and experience. Most developed
countries control the average daily water-consumption
at well under 200 l. Accordingly, the provisional
water-consumption standard for Green Buildings
in Taiwan is suggested as 200 l for each person
per day.
(2) Factor 1
u
= 3.57 and 1
w
= 4.86 in Formula (1) are
calculated by the weighted averages method: the human
body must discharge feces once per day, urine thrice
per day during weekdays, and ve times per day on
Saturdays and Sundays, yielding an average of 3.57
times per person per day. The average frequency of
peoples washing hands within a single day is four times
per day during weekdays, and seven times per day on
Saturdays and Sundays, yielding an average of 4.86
times per person per day. Besides, due to the possibility
that the water-saving equipment of the same brand will
not be exactly used within one constructional project,
utility rate a
1
a
4
should be multiplied to reect on
truth.
(3) Water-consumption of W
d
=13 l per ush of the toilet,
is regarded as the base point consumption for calcu-
lating the water-conservation rate of the water-saving
toilet in Formula (1), and corresponds to the most pop-
ular type of toilet in existing buildings. In other words,
C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379 373
a water-saving toilet reduces the water-consumption
each ushing of feces to 9 l, saving 4 l. Further-
more, the two-sectioned water-saving toilet reduces
the water-consumption of ushing urine to 4.5 l,
saving over 8.5 l. The actual water-consumption
of the toilets should be determined according to
various water-consumption quantities and brand
specications.
(4) Water-consumption of W
t
= 3 l per time within 20 s
when using the common water-tap, is regarded as the
base point consumption in determining the water-saving
rate of the water-saving tap in Formula (1). The actual
water-consumption of a water-tap should be deter-
mined according to the various water-consumption
quantities noted in various brand specications. Herein,
1.5 l per time (50% of the general water-consumption)
is suggested for those passing the water-saving
proof but without noting the water-consumption
quantities.
(5) The determination of B, the water-saving quantity for
water-saving bathing devices in Formula (1), should
consider peoples various bathing habits; especially
those concerning water-consumption during shower or
bath. The water-consumption of a shower is about 70 l,
and that of a bath exceeds 150 l. Therefore, when cal-
culating B, 20 l should be added for a showering device
without a bathtub; while the value for common bathtubs
remains unchanged, and 20 l should be subtracted for
the massage bathtub (B=20). Furthermore, for bath-
rooms equipped with timer devices, shower nozzles
with low ow rates or some other kinds of water-saving
equipment, 10 l can be added to B for each device.
(6) The systems, which use rain or intermediate water,
require highly professional designs and the eects are
hardly be considered as the same. In order to respect
each professional design, a standardized formula for
calculating C is not suggested in this program. As
an applying project, the management of those build-
ings, which use such recycling systems, should report
on the recycling rate of the rain or the intermediate
water due to each device. The rain or intermediate
water can only be used for non-drinking water, and
therefore, C should not exceed the rate of the wa-
ter used for household chores (about 0.35) within a
building.
(7) Water-conservation equipment, such as water-saving
toilets, automatically stopping taps, auto-sensor ush-
ing devices, water-saving shower nozzles and bathtubs,
should get the water-saving proof of the Water Re-
sources Bureau, Ministry of Economic Aairs (MOEA)
of Taiwan; or, the proprietor should submit associ-
ated certicates. The number of water-saving devices
should be counted according to the structural drawing
of the building. Only the six devices mentioned above,
which have been announced by the MOEA, can be
counted.
3.3. The principles of the accepted standard
Water-consumption design for a building must follow the
principles below to reach the standard of the water-resource
index.
(1) Use of water-saving equipment is most eective.
Particularly eective ways are the two-sectioned
water-saving toilets and the water-saving showering
devices without a bathtub.
(2) The incentive payments for reaching the standard
can be easily gained by using water-saving toilets,
water-taps and showering devices throughout the con-
struction development.
(3) Despite its great water-saving eciency, the system
for recycling rain and intermediate water is not yet
economically benecial, due to the low water fee and
the expense of water-disposal equipment. However,
systems for recycling the rain are considered more eas-
ily adoptable than systems for recycling intermediate
water, and the method for assessing the recycling
of rain is proposed in the next chapter.
3.4. Case study example
References to all the associated devices, including shot
drawings, instructional charts, certicates of water-saving
quantity, and calculations of the index were all submitted for
cases to be considered here. If systems for recycling rain or
intermediate water are adopted, then detailed drawings and
water-saving rate reports should be submitted. Such refer-
ences are omitted in this case study.
Case 1: Brief explanation of the water-saving equipment.
(1) Construction base is located in Taipei city, and includes
a total of ve apartment blocks, each of ve stories;
each story has two residential units for a total of 50
units. Each unit has two toilets.
(2) Half of the construction project uses water-saving
equipment, including two-sectioned water-saving toi-
lets (water consumption when ushing feces is 9 l;
urine, 4.5 l) and water saving taps (1.2 l per use). Each
bathroom is equipped with a showering nozzle (no
bathtub), with a timer device (20 l of water is saved
for the showering device without the bathtub, and an
extra 10 l of water is saved using the timer device.)
The water-resource index is calculated as follows:
(1) Estimated general daily water-consumption is 250 l per
person.
(2) WR=(250((139)0.5+3.57(134.5)0.5+
4.86(31.2) 0.5+(10+20) 0.5)) 250=0.857
WR 0.8; therefore, Case 1 does not achieve the
water-resource index, and cannot receive the Green Build-
ing incentive payment.
374 C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379
Case 2: Brief explanation of the water-saving equipment.
(1) In the above case, water-saving equipment was used
only in half of the construction project. Calculation
data is as follows, if the whole project used such
water-saving equipment, then, WR = (250 ((13
9) 1.0 +3.57 (13 4.5) 1.0 +4.86 (3 1.2)
1.0 + (10 + 20) 1.0)) 250 = 0.714
(2) WR 0.8; therefore, Case 2 achieves the water-resource
index, and can receive the Green Building incentive
payment.
Case 3: If the project described in Case 2, could include
a system to recycle the rain, then the situation is as follows:
(1) The roof of the apartment can gather 625 m
2
of rain, and
the capacity of the water trough for saving the recycled
rain is 35 m
3
. Therefore, using the recycled water for
ushing toilets, cleaning and other uses (for example;
watering plants and washing cars), can save 30 l of
water per person per day.
(2) The ratio of the water-consumption quantity of the
recycled rainwater to the total water-consumption is
0.12 (C = 30 250 = 0.12).
(3) Then, the water-resource index is 0.594 (WR=0.714
0.12=0.594). As a result, Case 3 not only achieves the
incentive standard, but is also an exemplary of green
building design.
4. Method for assessing the recycling of rain
Systems for recycling rain and intermediate water are not
yet economic benecial, because of the lowwater fee and the
high cost of water-disposal equipment. However, systems
for recycling rain are considered more easily adoptable than
those for recycling intermediate water. Herein, a method for
assessing the recycling of rain is introduced to calculate the
ratio (C) of the water-consumption quantity of the recycled
rainwater to the total water-consumption.
4.1. Calculation basis of recycling rainwater
The designer of a system for recycling rainwater must rst
determine the quantity of rainwater and the demand, which
will determine the rainwater collection device area and the
storage tank volume. Rainwater quantity can actually be de-
termined by a simple equation involving precipitation and
collection device area. However, precipitation does not fall
evenly spread over all days and locations. In particular, rain
is usually concentrated in certain seasons and locations. Con-
sequently, the critical point of the evaluation is to estimate
and assess meteorological precipitation. Meteorological
records normally include yearly, monthly, daily and hourly
precipitation. Yearly and monthly precipitation is suitable
for rough estimates and initial assessment. However, such
approximation creates problems in determining the area of
Rainwater collection
Replenish of tap water
overflow
Water consumption
Fig. 3. Concept of inputs and outputs for rainwater utilization.
the rainwater collection device and the volume of the stor-
age tank. Thus, daily precipitation has been most commonly
considered. Hourly precipitation could theoretically support
a more accurate assessment. However, owing to the increas-
ing number of parameters and calculation data increases,
the complexity of the process and the calculation time, re-
sult in ineciencies. Herein, daily precipitation is adopted
in assessing rainwater systems used in buildings [4,7].
4.2. Evaluation of system for recycling rainwater
Initially, the quantity of rainwater collection and usage
must be known. A basic concept of input and output bal-
ance enables four parameters to be used to calculate the
rainwater use system. The two inputs are rainwater from
collection devices, and supplementary tap water systems,
while the outputs are consumption quantity for the user and
overow from storage devices. Fig. 3 presents this concept.
The location of the design object, for example in Taipei,
must be conrmed based on the daily precipitation database,
and the meteorological precipitation data for the simula-
tion or assessment are then used in calculating the utiliza-
tion of the rainwater. The area of the collection device must
next be decided, while the object character of water utiliza-
tion is used as the condition for simulation and assessment.
Table 3 presents the daily precipitation format of Taipei city,
as an example. The calculation [5] is as follows:
(1) The quantity collected (CRW) is determined from daily
precipitation (R
d
) and collection area (CA).
CRW(m
3
) = CA(m
2
) R
d
(mm}day) 10
3
( denotes the ow out coecient, governed by the
character of collection location, and this parameter is
usually between 0.85 and 0.95 for a typical roof.)
(2) The overow quantity (OFV) is determined from the
collection quantity (CRW), volumes of storage tanks
(SV) and quantity remaining in the storage tanks
(RSV).
If CRW+RSVSV (m
3
), then
OFV =CRW+RSVSV.
If CRW + RSV SV(m
3
), then OFV = 0.
C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379 375
Table 3
Daily precipitation in Taipei for 1992 (typical year) yearly precipitation 2386.90 mm}year
Date Jan. Feb. Mar. April May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
1 34.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 20.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 3.6 0.0 5.3 35.0 4.2 0.0 8.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 0.0 0.0 0.0 15.5 0.0 43.5 0.0 0.0 22.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
4 0.2 6.2 6.2 14.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 14.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
5 0.5 9.0 27.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 16.0 1.7 0.0 0.0
6 2.0 28.5 11.5 1.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
7 1.2 17.0 33.6 0.0 0.2 31.9 17.5 0.0 5.8 5.0 0.0 0.1
8 8.5 0.2 5.5 0.0 7.1 81.1 12.2 9.8 0.0 0.0 5.5 0.3
9 0.5 10.5 12.7 8.2 28.2 5.6 0.5 5.5 0.0 0.6 2.0 0.0
10 0.0 26.5 39.6 3.5 0.0 1.7 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0
11 1.0 57.5 21.1 72.9 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
12 0.0 27.0 0.0 11.6 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.0 0.1
13 0.2 18.7 0.0 1.7 0.0 88.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 17.3 2.7 0.0
14 2.2 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 15.5 0.0 19.0 10.4 0.5
15 0.0 47.8 0.0 0.0 41.5 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.1 8.4 10.8 13.8
16 0.0 12.5 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25.7 4.2 0.4
17 0.0 16.0 0.3 0.0 14.1 0.1 22.0 10.0 0.1 0.0 4.9 0.0
18 0.0 10.2 0.0 0.0 3.6 3.8 27.5 2.7 32.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
19 6.5 39.5 0.0 10.7 5.4 1.0 4.5 1.3 16.3 0.0 0.2 0.0
20 3.0 18.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 79.1 106.1 0.0 4.8 0.0
21 0.1 1.2 0.0 0.0 18.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 40.9 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 0.0 22.3 0.0 30.1 43.5 0.0 0.0 13.1 50.5 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 0.0 16.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 0.8 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
24 12.5 0.1 0.4 8.5 0.0 6.7 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
25 2.6 0.0 0.4 0.3 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0
26 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 4.4 0.0 21.5 9.1 0.0 0.4 0.7 0.0
27 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 4.4 0.0 27.1 0.0 0.0 4.8 0.0
28 0.0 0.0 4.5 0.0 0.0 7.5 0.0 34.4 0.0 0.2 1.2 18.4
29 0.0 0.0 6.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 47.1 0.0 0.5 12.9 4.0
30 0.0 3.0 4.2 10.9 3.1 0.0 42.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 31.8
31 12.7 1.6 16.6 0.0 29.5 0.0
Total 91.3 385.8 179.7 221.6 222.2 285.0 122.6 329.0 329.2 85.2 65.9 69.4
(3) The rst remaining quantity in storage tank (RSV

) fol-
lowing the above calculation is as follows:
If CRW + RSV SV, then RSV

= SV,
If CRW + RSV SV, then RSV

= CRW + RSV.
(4) The quantity of water replenished (CW) from the quan-
tity remaining in the storage tank (RSV

) and consump-
tion for user (UW) is determined thus:
If RSV

UW 0, then CW = (RSV

UW).
If RSV

UW 0, then CW = 0.
(5) The second remaining quantity in storage tank (RSV

)
after the above calculation is as follows:
If RSV

UW 0, then RSV

= 0,
If RSV

UW 0, then RSV

= RSV

UW.
(6) The second remaining quantity in the storage tank
(RSV

) is used as the initial data of RSV for the

next days data that add up all parameters and yearly
utilization by looping calculation.
(7) The above calculation can be used to obtain annual rain-
water utilization quantity (YRU), annual rainwater col-
lection quantity (YRC) and annual consumption quan-
tity (YTU).
YRU=2(UWCW), YRC=2CRW, YTU=2UW.
(8) Rainwater utilization rate (PRU%) and tap water sub-
stitution rate (PCW%) can be calculated as follows:
PRU(%) = YRU YRC 100,
PCW(%) =YRU YTC 100
The above procedure for calculating rainwater assessment
was carried out on a computer program, and the simulation
results were rapidly obtained. Fig. 4 illustrates the programs
owchart.
4.3. Case study and analysis
Following the above procedure, a primary school building
with a rainwater use system is taken as an example for sim-
ulation and to verify the assessment results. This building is
376 C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379
Fig. 4. Program owchart of rainwater utilization assessment.
located in Taipei city, has a building area of 1260 m
2
and a
total oor area of 6960 m
2
; it is a multi-discipline teaching
building. Roong is estimated to cover 80% of the build-
ing area, and the rainwater collection area covers 1008 m
2
.
Rainwater is used as intermediate water for the restrooms,
and the utilization condition is set at 20 m
3
per day, while
the out ow coecient (Y) is 0.9. A typical meteorological
precipitation in Taipei in 1992 was adopted as a database.
The rainwater storage tank was set to an initial condition
before the simulation procedure. Herein, four tank volumes
were considered in the simulations of rainwater utilization
15, 25, 50, 100 m
3
. The results indicate that increased stor-
age tank volume reduces overow and increases the utiliza-
tion of rainwater. Given a 50 m
3
storage tank, the quan-
tity of rainwater collection closely approaches the utilization
quantity of rainwater. Consequently, this condition obtains
a storage tank with a roughly adequate volume. When the
volume of the storage tank is 100 m
3
, the utilization rate
is almost 100% and the overow quantity approaches zero.
Despite this result being favorable with respect to utiliza-
tion, such a tank may occupy much space and negatively
impact building planning. Consequently, the design concept
must balance all these factors. The building in this case is six
oors high, and the roof area is small in comparison to the
total oor area. The water consumption of the water closet
approaches 7280 m
3
per year, but the maximum rainwater
collection is 2136 m
3
per year. Thus, signicant replenish-
ment from tap water is required. This result also leads to
a conclusion that high-rise buildings use rainwater systems
less eciently than other buildings. Lower buildings (e.g.
less than three oors) have highly ecient rainwater utiliza-
tion and thus little need for replenishment of water from the
potable water system.
The eciency of rainwater storage tanks is assessed from
the utilization rate of rainwater and the substitution rate of
tap water. Dierences in annual precipitation and rainfall
C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379 377
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
15 m
3
25 m
3
50 m
3
100 m
3
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994
year
Fig. 5. Rainwater utilization from 1985 to 1994 (case study).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
15 m
3
25 m
3
50 m
3
100 m
3
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994
year
Fig. 6. Rainwater utilization from 1985 to 1994 (case study).
distribution yield dierent results. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate
the results of the mentioned calculation procedure, to an-
alyze dierences in rainwater utilization and eciency as-
sessment. The simulation runs over a period of ten years,
from 1985 to 1994, and includes storage tanks with four dif-
ferent volumes. When the volume of the rainwater tank is
50 m
3
, the utilization rate of rainwater exceeds 80% with
about 25% substitution with tap water. Using this approach
and the assessment procedure, the volume of rainwater stor-
age and the performance of rainwater use systems in build-
ing design, can be determined.
In the formula of the water conservation index, C is a
special weighting for some water recycling equipment that
intermediates water or rain, and is calculated as the ratio
of the water-consumption quantity of the recycled rainwater
to the total water-consumption. Therefore, this assessment
procedure can also oer an approximate value of C for the
water conservation index.
5. Green building label and policy
Green Building is called Environmental Co-Habitual
Architecture in Japan, Ecological Building or Sustain-
able Building in Europe and Green Building in North
American countries. Many fashionable terms such as Green
consumption, Green living, Green illumination have
been broadly used. In Taiwan, currently, Green has been
used as a symbol of environmental protection in the coun-
try. The Construction Research Department of the Ministry
of the Interior of the Executive Yuan has decided to adopt
the term Green Building to signify ecological and envi-
ronmental protection architecture in Taiwan.
5.1. Principles of evaluation
Green Building is a general and systematic method of de-
sign to peruse sustainable building. This evaluation system
is based on the following principles:
(1) The evaluation index should accurately reect environ-
mental protection factors such as material, water, land
and climate.
(2) The evaluation index should involve standardized sci-
entic quantication.
(3) The evaluation index should not include too many eval-
uation indexes; some similar quality index should be
combined.
(4) The evaluation index should be approachable and con-
sistent with real experience.
(5) The evaluation index should not involve social scientic
evaluation.
(6) The evaluation index should be applicable to the
sub-tropical climate of Taiwan.
(7) The evaluation index should be applicable to the eval-
uation of community or congregate construction.
(8) The evaluation index should be usable in the pre-design
stage to yield the expected result.
According to these principles, the seven-index system
shown in Table 4 is the current Green Building evaluation
system used in Taiwan. The theory evaluates buildings im-
pacts on the environment through the interaction of Earth
Resource Input and Waste Output. Practically, the de-
nition of Green Building in Taiwan is Consume the least
earth resource and create the least construction waste.
Internationally, each country has a dierent way of
evaluating Green Building. This system provides only the
basic evaluation on Low environment impact. Higher
level issues such as biological diversity, health and comfort
and community consciousness will not be evaluated. This
system only provides a basic, practical and controllable
environmental protection tool for inclusion in the govern-
ments urgent construction environment protection policy.
The Green Building logo is set to award Green Building
design and encourage the government and private sector to
pay attention to Green Building development. Fig. 7 is the
logo of Green Building in Taiwan [6, 8].
378 C.-L. Cheng / Building and Environment 38 (2003) 369379
Table 4
Categories and indices for Green Building evaluation in Taiwan [4]
Climate Water Soil Energy Material Categories Evaluation indices and units

1. Green CO
2
absorption (CO
2
kg}m
2
)

2. Soil water content Water contentment of the site (dimensionless)

3. Water conservation Water usage (liter}person. day), adoption rate of water

saving equipment (dimensionless)

4. Energy conservation ENVLOAD, Req, PACS, energy saving techniques

5. CO
2
emission CO
2
emission of building materials (CO
2
kg}m
2
)

6. Waste reduction Waste of soil, construction, destroy (dimensionless)

7. Sewer and garbage Sewer plumbing, sanitary condition for garbage gathering
Fig. 7. The logo of Green Building Label in Taiwan.
5.2. Water conservation measure
This paper focuses on water conservation index in green
building evaluation system. Water conservation is a criti-
cal category of this evaluation system, and is considered in
relation to saving water resources through building equip-
ment design. This evaluation index contains standardized
scientic quantication and can be used in the pre-design
stage to obtain the desired result. The evaluation index is
also based on research in Taiwan and is practically applica-
ble. Using water-saving equipment is the most eective way
of saving water; using two-sectioned water-saving toilets
and water-saving showering devices without a bathtub are
especially eective. Various other types of water-recycling
equipment for reusing intermediate water and rain are also
evaluated. In particular, rainwater-use systems in building
designs are encouraged. When a candidate for a Green Build-
ing project introduces water recycling system or a rainwa-
ter use system, the applicant should propose an appropri-
ate calculation report to the relevant committee to verify its
water-saving eciency. This guideline actually appears to
be a reasonable target for performing Green Building policy
in Taiwan.
Anewbuilding can easily reach the above water conserva-
tion index. This evaluation system is designed to encourage
people to save more water, even in existing buildings. All
this amounts to saying that large-scale government construc-
tion projects should take the lead in using such water-saving
devices, as an example to society.
6. Conclusion
This paper introduces the Green Building program and
proposes a water conservation index with standardized sci-
entic quantication. This evaluation index contains stan-
dardized scientic quantication and can be used in the
pre-design stage to obtain the expected results. The measure
of evaluation index is also based on the essential research
on Taiwan and is a practical and applicable approach. The
actual water-saving rate (WR) for Green Building projects
should be 0.8, and the AR of the water-saving equipment
should be higher than 0.8. Thus, qualied Green Building
projects should achieve a water saving rate of over 20%.
For the sustainable policy, this program is aimed not only
at saving water resources, but also at reducing the environ-
mental impact on the earth.
The Green Building Label began to be implemented from
1st September 1999, and over twenty projects have already
been awarded the Green Building Label in Taiwan, while the
number of applications continues to increase. For a country
with limited resources and a high-density population like
Taiwan, the Green Building policy is important and rep-
resents a positive rst step toward reducing environmental
impact and promoting sustainable development.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Architecture & Build-
ing Research Institute of the Ministry of the Interior of Tai-
wan (ABRI) and the National Science Council of the Re-
public of China for nancially supporting this research un-
der Contract No. NSC89-2211-E-011-034.
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