EEWH is the

green building Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...

certification system in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. EEWH comprises nine indicators that fall into four categories -

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

, energy saving, waste reduction and health - hence the name EEWH. The system was launched in 1999. Since 2003, the indicators have been foliage; water soil content (infiltration and retention); energy savings (for the

building envelope A building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building including the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noiseSyed, Asif. ''Advanced building technologies for sustainability''. Hoboke ...

, lighting and

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

); emissions reduction; construction waste reduction;

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Populati ...

; garbage and sewage improvements;

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

; and indoor environmental quality. EEWH has five levels: certified, bronze, silver, gold, and diamond. As of May 2008, one building (

Beitou Public Library Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch () is a public library in Beitou Park, located within Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is Taiwan's first green library. History The library was opened in November 2006. Architecture It is a two-storey bui ...

) had been rated diamond level, and one gold. EEWH is not equivalent to LEED (

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

Green Building Rating System) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency) in Japan, and HQE in France.

See also