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New Taipei City launched the Energy-Saving E-House program in 2022, marking Taiwan’s first housing energy-saving initiative to actively engage private stakeholders from the real estate sector alongside local communities.
The program aims to gradually improve the energy efficiency of existing residential buildings by promoting energy efficiency disclosure, integrating technical support and subsidies, and encouraging both community-level and household-level energysaving behavior.
By partnering with 15 real estate agencies, the program highlights energy-efficient communities on public housing platforms, enhancing market transparency and supporting informed consumer choice of energy-efficient housing.
Under E-House program, communities are assessed based on the energy usage density of their communal facilities and assigned energy efficiency grades ranging from three to six stars. Community management committees may submit electricity meter numbers for communal facilities and building permit information for evaluation. Higher star ratings indicate better overall energy performance.
For communities achieving six-star certification, overall energy savings may reach up to 50%, based on reduced energy use in communal facilities and a 40% reduction in household energy consumption.
To support participation, the program provides one-stop guidance and financial assistance. Through the Energy-Saving Clinic, professional consultants conduct onsite assessments and propose targeted energy-saving improvement plans. Communities may also engage Low-Carbon Community Planners to integrate lowcarbon practices into daily life and apply for Low-Carbon Community Renovation Subsidies to fund initiatives, equipment upgrades, and smart energy systems.
To strengthen household-level energy management, New Taipei City has promoted Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) since 2018. However, in-home installation requirements have limited large-scale adoption.
To address this challenge, the city integrated Taiwan Power Company’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) smart meter data with non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) technology developed by the Institute for Information Industry, creating the Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper system.
Using a single electricity meter, the system provides households with daily electricity tracking, energy journals, and practical energy management tools. By visualizing consumption patterns, residents can identify abnormal electricity use, address equipment issues, and adjust usage timing in real time, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption.
The "Energy-Saving E-House" initiative promotes energy efficiency grading and retrofitting measures. At the same time, the “Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper" system enhances monitoring by disclosing household energy usage patterns to encourage sustained energy-saving behaviors. Furthermore, New Taipei City has partnered with property developers to integrate the Energy-Saving E-Housekeeper into new construction projects from the outset, addressing the challenges of installing energy management systems in older communities.
In the future, the city plans to implement zero-carbon electricity strategies, guiding all buildings toward the ultimate goal of net-zero emissions. Looking ahead, New Taipei City plans to collaborate with financial institutions and insurance companies to introduce green finance mechanisms, guiding both existing and new buildings toward becoming near-zero-energy buildings and ultimately achieving citywide net-zero emissions.