Taoyuan City wants to use green buildings to cool the city, which is good news for residents and the environment, but it will increase costs for developers.

• The city government plans to promote "green symbiotic buildings," requiring new buildings to extend greenery from the ground to walls and aerial platforms.
• The three major measures are green platforms, multi-layer platforms and living walls, which can provide shade, spaces for rest, cooling, energy savings and carbon sequestration.
• Living walls can reduce heat on a building's outer shell, cut air-conditioning electricity use, and also ease the urban heat island effect.
• Developers must submit a maintenance plan at the planning stage, and pay a feedback fee and a deposit, to ensure the greenery is maintained over the long term.

Outlook: The relevant regulations are being submitted to the Ministry of the Interior for approval this month, with the goal of officially taking effect on January 1 next year — an important step in Taoyuan's progress toward net zero by 2050.