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Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it has been finally selected as a 'Net-Zero City' to lead the transition to a carbon-neutral era.
On the 31st, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected and announced four sites for the 'Net-Zero City' project, with Nowon-gu being the only district selected in the metropolitan area. The Net-Zero City creation project is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to prepare a foundation for carbon neutrality implementation and dissemination centered on local communities and the private sector in anticipation of the transition to a carbon-neutral society.
The district is focusing on the building sector as a key area to differentiate itself from other leading cities as a Net-Zero City. According to the Ministry of Environment, 68.3% of greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, and the Korea Environment Corporation classifies metropolitan areas including Nowon-gu as 'energy-consuming' regions with high greenhouse gas emissions from buildings (commercial, residential, public institutions).
Accordingly, the district adopted a slogan that significantly reflects the promotion of carbon neutrality in the building sector, inspired by the characteristic that it has the highest proportion of aging housing over 30 years old among the 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, and applied for the leading city competition.
First, it established a 'Zero Energy Building Roadmap for Public Buildings' last year and is applying it step by step. All public buildings newly constructed or renovated by the district maximize energy efficiency using passive construction methods, aiming to implement mandatory Zero Energy Building (ZEB) standards earlier than the government roadmap.
According to the plan, from 2024, public buildings over 1,500㎡ will aim for grade 4, and by 2028, buildings over 1,500㎡ will target grade 3, advancing the government roadmap by 1 to 2 years. The standards have already been applied to major public building projects currently underway in the district, such as the Taereung Eoullim Center and Junggye 1-dong Community Center.
The ZEB roadmap will also be implemented for newly constructed private buildings. For buildings with a total floor area of 1,000㎡ or more and apartment complexes with 30 or more households, ZEB grade 5 will be mandatory from 2024, one year ahead of the national policy. From 2030, private buildings over 500㎡ will be required to meet grade 4 standards, one level higher than the national criteria. The district's largest development project, the 'Kwangwoon University Station Area Development Project,' is also being promoted by applying ZEB grade 5 for the first time in the private sector.
With redevelopment and reconstruction set to bring major changes to aging residential complexes, the district is preparing separate guidelines including incentives such as priority review of maintenance plans based on ZEB construction. The district’s pioneering plans to promote urban solar power distribution, introduce distributed power sources, and improve building energy efficiency in residential complexes and redevelopment areas are expected to spread through the restructuring of aging infrastructure in the metropolitan area in the future.
Additionally, the district is evaluated to have gained consensus on the potential for effective citizen participation activation along with infrastructure construction of a 'real-time data platform' and 'green infrastructure' at a competition for the first selected leading cities. Under the theme of 'Rebuild Together' in the current leading city promotion strategy, the district proposed citizen participation activation measures such as a carbon emission credit platform, citizen-participatory carbon forests, and profit-sharing SPCs.
Based on the project proposals from the four local governments including the district, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will establish a basic plan for creating Net-Zero Cities and plan to finalize the project scale and sign agreements by 2026 to fully promote the project by 2030.
To ensure the successful promotion of the leading city project, the district has already signed memorandums of understanding with institutions such as Seoul City, HDC Hyundai Development Company, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Hushipartners, Harit, Root Energy, and Communication Alternative Evaluation. According to a district official, these institutions form a cooperative system based on their expertise in each field and plan to attract cooperation from more private organizations in the future.
Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I feel a heavy responsibility as the only Net-Zero City selected in the metropolitan area,” and added, “We will showcase an urban carbon-neutral model equipped to respond to the climate crisis and lay the foundation for the spread of good policies.”
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