This file photo shows Seoul Station crowded with travelers on Feb. 14, 2021, the final day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Korea National Railway, a railroad management company in South Korea, announced on Wednesday that it had formulated a roadmap to make all of the nation’s train stations compatible with the requirements of zero energy building certification by 2025.
A zero energy building saves energy by using high insulation and high efficiency facilities, while minimizing energy consumption by using renewable energy such as solar power and geothermal heat.
Under the roadmap, the threshold floor area for the train stations subject to zero energy certification will be upgraded from the current limit of over 1,000 square meters to over 500 square meters from 2023 and every train station regardless of the size of floor area will be subject to the certification requirement from 2025.
The required zero energy grade level will be upgraded from the current fifth grade to higher than fourth grade from 2023 and higher than third grade from 2025.
In addition, the Korea National Railway will also come up with a specific plan for facility upgrades, including the expansion of the application of high efficiency insulating materials and the establishment of waiting rooms heated using geothermal sources at train stations.
Efforts will also be made to expand the installation of hydrogen and electric car charging stations within at train stations, as well as to reduce carbon emissions through the use of solar power generated on site.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
