President Moon Jae-in inspects a model zero-energy apartment complex, called the Nowon Energy Zero Houses, in Nowon-gu District, Seoul, on Dec. 7.
By Yoon Sojung
Photos Hyoja-dong Studio
President Moon Jae-in has expressed his will to expand the number of energy self-supplying households across the country, emphasizing the national policy shift toward clean energy.
President Moon visited the Nowon Energy Zero Houses, Korea’s first zero-energy apartment complex, in Nowon-gu District, Seoul. He said that more energy self-supplying communities and apartment buildings should be built in order to successfully carry out the government’s new energy policies, to better respond to climate change and to increase the use of renewable energy.
President Moon said, “Energy-zero housing presents energy self-supplying structures that can sensationally save energy and produce any required energy by themselves. If such housing is provided to those in need, it would be a great model of housing welfare.”
President Moon Jae-in and government officials pose for a photo in front of the zero-energy apartment complex, the Nowon Energy Zero Houses, in Nowon-gu District, Seoul, on Dec. 7.
Built this past October, the Nowon Energy Zero Houses development is Korea’s first zero-energy apartment complex, and is the outcome of an energy self-sufficient housing R&D project. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been running the project since 2013.
Various energy saving and insulation technologies have been used in the construction of this apartment complex, which can save energy costs of up to 61 percent of those faced by comparable regular apartments.
Each of the apartment units can produce energy for cooling, heating, hot water, lighting and ventilation, thanks to renewable energy technologies such as solar energy panels and geothermal heat pumps, without using fossil fuel.
By 2025, the land ministry aims to be able to construct zero-energy apartment units that can save up to 100 percent of the required energy used by a comparable regular home today, up from today's level of only 60 percent.
Located in Nowon-gu District, the Nowon Energy Zero Houses complex is the first zero-energy housing complex in Korea. A total of 121 families, including newlyweds and seniors, have moved in there.