Headquarters of Viettel Group in Hanoi. Vietnam should have a strategy to promote the development of green buildings, a vital part of achieving the country's environmental goals. (Photo: kinhtedothi.vn)The energy used by high-rise buildings in Vietnam accounts for around 35-40 percentof the country’s total energy consumption.
A survey by real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) showed thataround 40 percent of gas emissions came from real estate.
According to the Vietnam Green Building Council, there are about 200 greenbuildings across the country.
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021 (COP26), Vietnamcommitted to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
To achieve the environmental goals, Vietnam needs to develop more energy-savingbuildings that are high quality to reduce the negative impact on theenvironment, and save maintenance and repair costs and future energy use.
According to CWK, the urban ecosystem development, including buildings,landscapes, resources, infrastructure, and air, should follow standards.
The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria could be considered afocus of the urban planning, CWK said, adding that ESG sets out specificstandards related to business performance in the real estate market.
Although some said that paying more attention to the environment might limitthe pace of development, the on-track urban action was a worthy trade-off. Thisalso creates opportunities for developers, owners and residents to developstrategies for building a habitable zone, CWK said.
Singapore is a typical example of effective, sustainable planning with theintroduction of the scoring system Green Mark for all real estate projects from2005, according to CWK, adding that more than 49 percent of buildings inSingapore met the government’s green standards.
Other green building rating systems currently applied in Vietnam are LOTUS andLEED.
Buildings with green certificates were Deutsches Haus, Friendship Tower,President’s Place, Phu My Hung Tower and Saigon Centre 2 in Ho Chi Minh Cityand Techcombank Tower, Capital Place and Landcaster Luminarie in Hanoi.
According to Pham Van Tan from the Hanoi University of Science and Technology,construction costs of energy-saving buildings could be around 10-30 percenthigher, but these buildings could help reduce 20 percent of the energy cost.
He said that energy-efficient buildings would help reduce operating costs,bring socio-economic benefits, promote sustainable urban development, and easeenvironmental impacts.
CWK said that industrial real estate would also need to go green, urgingdevelopers to pay attention to reducing emissions and protecting theenvironment, coupled with other factors which had impacts on the community inthe building, such as green spaces, parks, and libraries and rooms for kids.
Trang Bui, general director of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, said that greenbuildings could be considered an investment for the future, adding that realestate associated with environmental, social and governance values was aninevitable trend.
According to Hoang Manh Nguyen from the Green Urban Science and TechnologyInstitute, it was necessary to develop a strategy for green buildingdevelopment with a focus on minimising inputs (raw materials) and outputs(waste) and increasing the re-use of materials./.
VNA
