外文文献翻译---台湾的绿色建筑节约用水评价措施

外文文献：Evaluating Water Conservation Measures For Green Building InTaiwanGreen 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 scientific quantification 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 researchin Taiwan and is a practical and applicable approach.Keywords: Green Building; Evaluation system; Water conservation; Building equipment1. IntroductionThe 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 critical 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 significant 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 concludedthat water savings are necessary not only for water conservation 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 2500mm. 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 demand for domestic water use in municipal areas, and the difficulties in building new reservoirs are also critical factors. Government departments are endeavoring to spread publicly the concept of water-conservation. While industry and commerce have made excellent progress in waterconservation, progress among the public has been extremely slow.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 evaluation system. In order to save water resources through building equipment design, this system prioritizes water conservation as one of its seven categories. This paper focuses on the water conservation measures for Green Building in Taiwan and a quantitative procedure for proving water-saving efficiency. The purpose of this work is not only aimed at saving water resources, but also at reducing the environmentalimpact on the earth.2. Water conservation indexThe 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 t he water-consumption quantity include the evaluation to the water-saving efficiency 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 indexAlthough Taiwan has plenty of rain, due to its large population, 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 i n citizens’ standards of living have led to a big increase in the amount of water needed in cities, as shown in Fig. 2, which, accompanied by the difficulty 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 350l per person per day, whereas in Germany it is about 145l per person per day, and in Singapore about 150l per person per day. These statistics reveal the need for Taiwanese people to save water.The promotion of better-designed facilities which facilitate water-saving will become anew trend among the public and designers, because of concerns for environmental 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 equipment to reduce the expenditure of water and thus save water resources.2.2. Methodology for efficient use of water resourcesSome construction considerations and building system designs for effective use of water resources are described below.2.2.1. Use water-conservation equipmentA research of household tap-water consumption revealed that the proportion of the water used in flushing toilets and in bathing, amounts to approximately 50% of the total household water consumption, as given in Table 1. Many construction designers have tended to use luxurious water facilities in housing, and much water has thus been wasted. The use of water-saving equipment to replace such facilities 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 different.A single shower uses around 70l of water, whereas a bath uses around 150l. Furthermore, current construction designs for housing in Taiwan tend to put two sets of bathtubs and toilets, and quite a few families 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 Taiwan now include new-style water taps, water-saving toilets, two-sectioned water closets, water-saving shower nozzles, and auto-sensor flushing 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 deviceThe 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 annual average rainfall in Taiwan is about2500 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 flows 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 flows 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 effective means of gathering rain. The water, after simple water-disposal processes, can be used for chores such as house cleaning, washing floors, air-conditioning or watering plants.2.2.3. Establishing the intermediate water systemIntermediate 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. Flushing the toilet consumes 35% of all water. If everyone were to use intermediate water to flush toilets, much water could be efficiently saved. Large-scale intermediate water system devices are suggested to be built up regularly with in 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 flushing 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 appropriate water-disposal procedures, improves the water quality to a certain level, so that finally it can be repeatedly 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 associated water-disposal devices, which are more expensive and have less economic benefits than the rain-utilization system. Except for the intermediate water-system set within a single building, if we build them withinlarge-scale communities or major construction development programs, then it is sure to save more water resources efficiently and positively for the whole country as well as improve the environmental situation.4. Method for assessing the recycling of rainSystems for recycling rain and intermediate water are not yet economic beneficial, because of the low water 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 rainwaterThe designer of a system for recycling rainwater must first 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 determined 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. Consequently, 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 the rainwater collection device and the volume of the storage tank. Thus, daily precipitation has been most commonly considered. Hourly precipitation could theoretically support a more accurate assessment. However, owing to the increasing number of parameters and calculation data increases, the complexity of the process and the calculation time, result in inefficiencies. Herein, daily precipitation is adoptedin assessing rainwater systems used in buildings [4,7].4.3. Case study and analysisFollowing the above procedure, a primary school building with a rainwater use system is taken as an example for simulation and to verify the assessment results. This building islocated in Taipei city, has a building area of 1260 m and a total floor area of 6960 m ; it is a multi-discipline teaching building. Roofing is estimated to cover 80% of the building area, and the rainwater collection area covers 1008 m .Rainwater is used as intermediate water for the restrooms, and the utilization condition is set at 20 m per day, whilethe out flow coefficient (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. The results indicate that increased storage tank volume reduces overflow and increases the utilization of rainwater. Given a 50 m storage tank, the quantity 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, the utilization rate is almost 100% and the overflow quantity approaches zero. Despite this result being favorable with respect to utilization, 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 floors high, and the roof area is small in comparison to the total floor area. The water consumption of the water closet per year, but the maximum rainwater approaches 7280 m collection is 2136 m per year. Thus, significant replenishment from tap water is required. This result also leads to a conclusion that high-rise buildings use rainwater systems less efficiently than other buildings. Lower buildings (e.g. less than three floors) have highly efficient rainwater utilization and thus little need for replenishment of water from the potable water system.The efficiency of rainwater storage tanks is assessed from the utilization rate of rainwater and the substitution rate of tap water. Differences in annual precipitation and rainfall distribution yield different results. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the results of the mentioned calculation procedure, to analyze differences in rainwater utilization and efficiency assessment. The simulation runs over a period often years, from 1985 to 1994, and includes storage tanks with four different volumes. When the volume of the rainwater tank is 50 m, 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 storage and the performance ofrainwater use systems in building 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 offer 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 “Sustainable Building” in Europe and “Green Building in North Ame rican 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 country. 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 environmental protection architecture in Taiwan.5.1. Principles of evaluationGreen Building is a general and systematic method of design to peruse sustainable building. This evaluation system is based on the following principles:(1) The evaluation index should accurately reflect environmental protection factors such as material, water, land and climate.(2) The evaluation index should involve standardized scientific quantification.(3) The evaluation index should not include too many evaluation indexes; some similar quality index should be combined.(4) The evaluation index should be approachable and consistent with real experience.(5) The evaluation index should not involve social scientific evaluation.(6) The evaluation index should be applicable to the sub-tropical climate of Taiwan.(7) The evaluation index should be applicable to the evaluation of community or congregateconstruction.(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’ impacts on the environment through the interaction of “Earth Resource Input” and “Waste Output”. Practically, the definition of Green Building in Taiwan is “Consume the least earth resource and create the least construction was te”.Internationally, each country has a different 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 government’s urgent construction environment protection policy. The “Green Building” logo is set to award Green Build ing 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].5.2. Water conservation measureThis paper focuses on water conservation index in green building evaluation system. Water conservation is a critical category of this evaluation system, and is considered in relation to saving water resources through building equipment design. This evaluation index contains standardized scientific quantification 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 applicable. Using water-saving equipment is the most effective way of saving water; using two-sectioned water-saving toilets and water-saving showering devices without a bathtub are especially effective. 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 Building project introduces water recycling system or a rainwater use system, the applicant should propose an appropriate calculation report to the relevant committee to verify its water-saving efficiency. This guideline actually appears to be areasonable target for performing Green Building policy in Taiwan.A new building can easily reach the above water conservation 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 construction projects should take the lead in using such water-saving devices, as an example to society.6. ConclusionThis paper introduces the Green Building program and proposes a water conservation index with standardized scientific quantification. This evaluation index contains standardized scientific quantification 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, qualified 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 environmental 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 represents a positive first step toward reducing environmental impact and promoting sustainable development.中文译文：台湾的绿色建筑节约用水评价措施在台湾绿色建筑评价是一个新的制度，在它的一个7个类别中，通过建筑设备设计节省水资源，使水资源保护置于优先地位。