The Namasia Mincyuan Elementary School campus, which was reconstructed as a green building by Delta following the devastation of Typhoon Morakot in southern Taiwan a decade ago, today has been certified as LEED Zero Energy at the "Carbon Neutrality and Empowering of Zero Energy Communities and Cities by 2060" Summit in Shenzhen by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The eco-friendly building, thus, becomes the first academic facility in Asia to hold the LEED Zero Energy certification. Since the launch of the Mincyuan Elementary School in Namasia more than 10 years ago, the student body has doubled, but its electricity intensity has declined enough to achieve net-zero energy consumption for three consecutive years thanks to Delta’s energy-saving solutions, which include an energy storage system to store excess solar energy during the day for night lighting and for the operations of IT equipment.
Wim Chang, CEO of the Delta Electronics Foundation, said, “On its 50th anniversary this year, Delta has launched a series of initiatives under the theme ‘Sustainable Conservation, Nurturing Life’. ‘Sustainable Conservation’ refers to the effort to enhance energy efficiency and savings while ‘Nurturing Life’ bears the meaning of protecting our environment. The certified Mincyuan Elementary School is one of our sustainable conservation initiatives. Delta has implemented passive energy-efficient designs for the campus in harmony with the local climate conditions, such as a solar PV power system to make the most out of the sufficient sunlight in the area, as well as an energy management system and energy storage equipment to integrate, store, and manage the green energy generated. The campus also serves as a shelter for the community during natural disasters.”
The Mincyuan Elementary School was reconstructed jointly by Delta and the Delta Electronics Foundation in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Designed and supervised by architect Ying-Chao Kuo and the Bio architecture Formosana, this school was certified with Taiwan's EEWH Diamond green building certification as well as with LEED Platinum for existing buildings. Based on the one-year data collected by this school from August 2020, the volume of renewable energy generated was 21,503 kWh, exceeding the total energy consumption of 21,323 kWh. With the relevant documentation, this school passed the rigorous review process by the USGBC and has become the first school to have obtained LEED Zero Energy certification in Asia. Furthermore, the disaster prevention green building designs of this school are an exemplary demonstration of climate change adaptation. Since the building was launched, this school has not only been used for educational purposes, but also has been utilized as a temporary shelter to accommodate 6,500 local residents during mudslide warning periods, thereby achieving the goal of becoming a viable community shelter during natural disasters.
As an example of mitigation and adaptation, this green campus building has been presented at side events of the UN Climate Change Conferences (COP) by the Delta Electronics Foundation and was showcased at the Grand Palais in Paris during COP21 where it received enthusiastic responses from international opinion leaders. At this year’s 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the Delta Electronics Foundation also presented this school as a representative case at a side event on net-zero transportation and architecture, to specifically echo the conference’s commitment to the 1.5°C climate goal.
Delta, guided by its corporate mission, "To provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow", leverages its core competencies in high-efficiency power electronics and system integration to enable substantial energy savings and reduction of CO2 emissions by its products, manufacturing facilities and green buildings. In terms of green buildings, Delta has built 29 green buildings since 2006 worldwide, including its own operation facilities, donated academic buildings, as well as two high-efficiency green data centers. Delta’s certified green buildings worldwide saved approximately 18.48 million kWh of electricity in 2020 alone, which is equivalent to a reduction of 11,685 tons of CO2 emissions. Moreover, Delta integrates next-generation technologies, including IoT, edge computing, and smart sensing to building’s equipment management, smart security, access control, smart lighting, energy management, and air quality monitoring to enable a smart building management platform capable of enhancing energy conservation and lower carbon footprint, in line with mankind’s current environmental goals.