Nguyen Cong Thinh, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Construction’s Department of Science, Technology and Environment.
What is your assessment of green building in Vietnam?
A number of international organizations and professional associations, such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Vietnam Association of Architects, Vietnam Construction Environment Association (VCEA) and Vietnam Real Estate Association (VNREA) have been carrying out activities to facilitate green building and urban development. The Hanoi Architectural University and the National University of Civil Engineering are training and providing human resources for green urban development and research. Sustainable, green building has become a strategic target of the construction industry, and businesses are encouraged to invest in it.
Why are many businesses unwilling to develop green buildings?
Many businesses are not willing to develop green buildings because of the high investment costs, their limited knowledge of green buildings and inadequate green building standards in Vietnam.
The state has just encouraged but has not required businesses and other organizations to develop green buildings. Difficulties obstructing green building in Vietnam include high investment cost, lack of cost norms for project formulation, consultancy, design and quality evaluation of public investment projects, the community’s modest awareness of green projects, and lack of requirements for green building development.
What are the solutions to these problems?
The Ministry of Construction is considering a proposal to relevant authorities to issue economic and technical norms for green and energy efficient projects to ease problems related to state-funded green project development.
The ministry is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other relevant ministries and sectors to develop preferential policies for green and energy efficient projects, and facilitate the training of green project investors, consultants, designers and state managers. To provide access to capital resources for green and energy efficient projects, those engaging in this field should be able to take out loans at preferential interest rates.
| According to experience in other countries, green projects cost three to eight percent more than conventional ones, but the costs of energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and wastewater treatment of green projects are 15-30, 30-35 and 50-70 percent lower than those of conventional projects, respectively. Green projects contribute to the preservation of natural resources, are environmentally friendly and beneficial to users’ health, inexpensive and sustainable. |
