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A constructed wetland-pond system consisting of two freewater-surface-flow (FWS) wetland cells, a scenic pond, and a slag filter in series was used for reclamation of septic tank effluent from a campus building. The results show that FWS wetlands effectively removed major pollutants under a hydraulic loading rate between 2.1 and 4.2 cm/d, with average efficiencies ranging from 74 to 78% for total suspended solids, 73 to 88% for 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, 42 to 49% for total nitrogen, 34 to 70% for total phosphorous, 64 to 79% for total coliforms, and 90 to 99.9% for Escherichia coli. After passing through the scenic pond and slag filter, the reclaimed water was used for landscape irrigation. There were a variety of ornamental plants and aquatic animals established in the second FWS cell and scenic pond with good water quality, thus enhancing landscape and ecology amenity in campuses. Water Environ. Res., 78, 2369Res., 78, (2006.

A large amount of research has been published in Taiwan on the reduction of the urban temperature for different strategies. The most important strategy for reducing ambient temperature is increasing green space in city. For analyzing the effect of the vegetation on the thermal environment, this paper collects temperature data from one green roof and one normal roof which are belong to a same office building to analyze the thermal influence of vegetation. The result of this research shows that in summer the maximum cool effect of green roof was -1.60 oC and -0.26 oC in average. Therefore, it can also provide useful data to governments for calculating the environmental benefit if they carry out a green roof policy in mitigating heat island effect in the future.

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In order to accommodate the global climate change, the idea of constructing zero-carbon green buildings has become the main stream and highest standard in building design in many countries. Located in subtropical zone, Taiwan features hot and humid weather in summer. The high usage of air conditioning is the main challenge to design zero-carbon green buildings in Taiwan. However, the temperature in the middle and high mountain areas decreases as altitude increases and makes it possible to create a living environment without using air conditioning in the summer. This project analyzed weather data in the middle and high mountain areas of Taiwan. The degree hour method and weather research and forecast model were used to evaluate the demand of air conditioning in the summer based on outside air temperature. The results showed that the low air conditioning load areas are above 1000 m elevation. This project then simulated energy consumption of a two-floor building near the Sun Moon Lake, an area of low air conditioning load, to explore the feasibility of zero-carbon green buildings in Taiwan. Based on the life style of a four-member family, a simulation process was conducted to estimate energy consumption of various appliances and different life habits. This study showed that the energy consumption in the buildings can be reduced up to 70% by using three major design strategies. These strategies include selection of a low air conditioning load location, using high energy efficient appliances, and application of energy conserving habits. Followed by renewable energy evaluation, it is possible to put zero-carbon green building into practice in Taiwan.