Ingeniousity.net

I was sitting in a restaurant with a friend one day, shivering as I usually do in the summer because of the insane airconditioning. It was warm and humid outside, and we couldn't see out because water was condensing on the outside of the windows - a clear indication that huge amounts of heat were passing through the glass.

 

Single-pane windows. No double glazing! It may sound incredible, but on an island with no energy resources (other than the sun) buildings are not insulated at all. They're built from plain concrete, tiled to ensure that they meet the local minimum ugliness specification, and that's it. Everywhere you go, you hear airconditioners frantically trying to keep buildings uncomfortably cold on the inside, while nothing is done to prevent heat from leaking in. Insane!

 

The problem is short-term thinking. Nobody will spend the money to insulate their building, even if it offers a payback in the long-term. Partly this is because energy is subsidised by the government, but that's changing and maybe attitudes will have to be adjusted.

 

In any case, if you can offer a finance deal so that the cost is paid over time, and offset against decreased electricity bills, then it might be more attractive. But windows are not the whole story.

 

The walls also leak thermal energy like crazy, and the answer to that conundrum can easily be found in Germany. Following the reunification, a big industry developed around the retrofitting of insulation to Soviet-era buildings. It's called Vollwärmeschutz.

 

Basically, you glue thick insulation tiles to the ouside of a building, put a protective skim over them, and paint. This has the additional benefit of beautifying ugly old buildings too. It would probably have to be a government initiative for something like this to succed, but it's probably cheaper in the long run than paying for people to waste electricity like they do.

 

Jaiyo, Ma Ying-jeou! This is just the sort of thing you need to get your presidency off to a good start.