It is high time for Viet Nam to focus on development of green buildings, an academic and architect told a seminar in HCM City yesterday.
Professor Nguyen Huu Dung explained that the country was in the process of becoming industrialised by 2020 and its rapid rate of urbanisation would mean the population in cities would rise to around 45 per cent from the current 30 per cent.
“The construction and real-estate industries need to develop greener alternatives for the current architectural models that require large investments and energy supply but increase pollution,” he told around 200 delegates representing property developers and design and consulting firms.
Many projects overlook the climatic conditions and neglect energy efficiency while choosing construction materials.
The World Green Building Council has said that the construction sector consumes around 40 per cent of the world’s energy and generates 30 per cent of carbon emissions.
Green architecture refers to building designs that will conserve resources, including energy, land, water, and construction materials, limit pollution, protect the environment, help safeguard the health of consumers and communities, use space logically and efficiently, and ensure a harmonious relationship between human and nature.
Philippe Perruchot, general director of Vina Megastar Land and a consultant in LEED —Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, (an internationally recognised green building certification system) said green buildings also help improve the corporate image, asset value, risk mitigation and management, worker productivity, and social benefit.
Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA), said the city has several projects such as the Phu My Hung New Urban Area and Kenton complex project in District 7 that satisfy green building standards with their low construction density and large green and water spaces.
Vietnamese construction regulations on effective energy use in construction released in 2005 is set to be amended early next year to suit the evolving conditions.
