Ha Noi, 9-11/12/2020 - The Ministry of Construction of Viet Nam and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) co-organize the Viet Nam Green Building Week 2020. The event is supported by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and other agencies and institution.

The event and is expected to be participated by nearly 1000 delegates from ministries and provincial authorities; national and international organizations, experts; construction project owners and operators; construction consulting entities, manufacturers, importers and exporters distributors of energy-saving and environment-friendly products, building materials, equipment and technologies; research institutions, universities and other related stakeholders.

The objective of Viet Nam Green Building Week is to create a forum for ideas sharing,  information and experiences exchanges on policy development; new technologies, products, equipment, building materials to develop green and energy efficient buildings; promoting urban development projects towards reducing GHG emissions and environmental impacts for better living environment. This event also demonstrates efforts and actions of Viet Nam to promote energy saving, resources efficiency and environmental protection in the construction sector that contributes to the implementation of Viet Nam’s international commitments on climate change and sustainable development. Green Building Week 2020 will be the start that lay the ground for an annual event of the construction sector.  

The Vietnamese Government commits to the targets by 2030 of 9% of greenhouse gas emission compared to the business as usual and up to 27% with international support based on the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).  The construction sector has implement this commitment through policies including:  the Resolution 55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 of the Politburo on the Orientation of the National Energy Development Strategy of Viet Nam to 2030, with a vision to 2045 and Resolution 140/NQ-CP dated October 2, 2020 of the Government promulgating the Action Plan to implement the Resolution 55-NQ/TW that set the specific tasks for energy saving and efficiency in construction sector; the revised Law on Construction (2020), the Viet Nam Energy Efficiency Programme 2019-2030, and the Construction materials development strategy of Vietnam in a period of 2021 – 2030, vision to 2050. The development of green and energy efficient buildings is therefore an inevitable trend and solution.

In fact, in recent years, building developers and construction enterprises have made significant changes towards supplying more energy-efficient and environment- friendly projects to the market. UNDP’s demonstration projects on application of energy efficient solutions in new and existing buildings has resulted in potential energy savings between 25% - 67% per building, at an incremental cost of about 0% - 3% of the total investment cost per building and the maximum payback period of 05 years. However, according to Viet Nam Green Building Council (VGBC), by the end of 2019, the total number of certified green buildings in Viet Nam has just stayed at 150 – a relatively sparse figure compared to other Southeast - Asian countries. The organization of the annual Viet Nam Green Building Week is therefore expected to raise the awareness of stakeholders in promoting green and energy efficient projects.  

Viet Nam Green Week Building 2020 is scheduled to take place in 3 days from December 9 to December 11 2020 that consists of the following activities: 04 technical seminars, 01 field trip to a green building, 01 policy dialogue session, 01 plenary session, 01 exhibition of buildings, materials, equipment and technologies to demonstrate the transformation of construction market towards the green, environmentally friendly and energy efficient construction for national and international enterprises. The event focuses on key areas including market overview, policy development, master planning, design, operation of green and energy efficient buildings. Speakers and experts will be representatives from national agencies, ministries, national and international experts in construction, policy implementation, design consultancy, construction and investment in green and energy efficient buildings, suppliers for technology solutions, equipment and building materials towards green and sustainable development.  

Technical Session 01: “Green cities and green buildings” that will provide an overview of current state of green cities and green buildings in Viet Nam; including legal and policy background, market data, efforts on developing technical tools and typical green cities and green buildings in Viet Nam.

Technical Session 02: “Green and energy efficient building materials” that will focus on current situation and orientation to develop green building materials in Viet Nam, criteria for energy efficient, green products, issues of production and use of green products.

Technical Session 03: “Green financing mechanism” that will discuss activities to support real estate business to access green financing mechanism from international organizations, technical and financial tools; policies to encourage green and non-finance mechanism.

Technical Session 04: “Energy efficient equipment and technologies” that will emphasize energy consumption of equipment in buildings; energy efficient equipment, technology and solutions for construction works.

Policy Dialogue Session that will cover policies on green cities, green and energy efficient buildings among MOC, related ministries and other construction stakeholders such as management agencies, investors, professional associations, financial institutions, green building certification systems who have been making a great effort to transform Viet Nam into a greener, more environmentally responsible construction market. The session will share the opportunities, challenges and specific and effective policy orientations to create momentum for the development of green construction market in Viet Nam.

The plenary session in the afternoon of December 11 will summarize the results achieved in previous days, and provide directions and actions for development of green cities and energy efficient buildings. In addition, the plenary session will also acknowledge  the  the commendable efforts of (i) building owners/ investors in the development and operation of green/ energy efficient buildings through handover of LOTUS, EDGE and EECB certificates and (ii) students who have won the “Green Architecture for Vietnamese Students” award.

For further details please contact:
Huong Nguyen – Head of Communications Department – Ministry of Construction. Mob: 0982660832. Email: thongtintruyenthongbxd@gmail.com
Phan Hương Giang, CCE Media & Communications Analyst, UNDP. Mob: 0948466688 Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org