Author(s)

Chou-Yen Wu, Shih-Fang Lo^*

Center for Green Economy, Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research, Taipei city.

Buildings consume vast amounts of resources and energy contributing to climate change. Some countries have developed green building certification systems. Compared to other developed areas, Taiwan lags behind in green building construction and in response created its own certification for sub-tropical countries called Ecology, Energy Saving, Waste Reduction, and Health (EEWH). But what economic factors truly drive green building construction and quality? Our study sample analyzes 1355 Taiwan green building cases from 2000 to June 2018 to determine the influence of various economic, structural, and policy factors. Results suggest that while public ownership led to more green building certifications, private ownership led to a higher environment rating. Proper incentives are needed to further increase the ratings of public buildings and to expand the construction of highly rated private buildings, especially for small and medium sized buildings.

Green Buildings, EEWH, Empirical Study, Regressions, Certification

Wu, C. and Lo, S. (2018) What Makes a Greener Building? Lessons from Taiwan. Journal of Environmental Protection, 9, 957-972. doi: 10.4236/jep.2018.99060.