VGBC Bulletin – December 2, 2009

1. Events: Green Drinks; Vietnam-France Forum on “Energy and Sustainable Development”

Green Drinks

Green Drinks was launched in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. VGBC Director Yannick Millet attended the Green Drinks Hanoi (at Goethe Institute), along with representatives from Green Space Property, ICEM International Center for Environmental Management, First Climate, Global Compact Network and many other organizations. The topics addressed discussed the role of Vietnam in a changing environment, the effects of climate change on Vietnam in the case of HCMC.

Ho Chi Minh City Green Drinks was launched on September 29, Simon Christy (Green Vietnam) was the organizer of the event held at the QD Bar. Speakers included Ralf Mattheius speaking about perceptions about sustainability in Vietnam and Dr. Le Thanh Sang spoke about climate change challenges for the Mekong Delta. Melissa Merryweather, VGBC Southern Regional Coordinator, attended this event. Green Drink's second event in HCMC took place on November 24 featuring Professor Volker Martin speaking about the Megacities project; there also had an open forum asking "what do we want from the green drinks events" with lively feedback from the group.

Green Drinks was an opportunity for both the private and public sector to come and share information and experience to assist all agents, find solutions to provide Vietnam with a greener sustainable future.

Vietnam-France Forum on “Energy and Sustainable Development”

VGBC Director Yannick Millet attended the 8^th Vietnam-France Economic and Finance Forum with the theme: “Energy and Sustainable Development” on November 17-18 in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province. The forum focused on prominent issues such as the impact of energy policy on CO2 emissions, power generation, energy efficiency and economic growth, as well as on policies regarding finance management and mobilization for the energy industry.

France is ready to share its experiences with Vietnam and offer help in the fields of nuclear energy, the study of the new technology of capturing CO2, the development of compact cities to reduce the waste of energy, the production of more biomass energy from farm waste, the selection of the right models for urban and traffic development, as effective resources for sustainable development. 

2. VGBC Welcomes New LOTUS Rating Tool Manager from France

VGBC is very pleased to welcome Mr. Mateusz Bogdan as a new LOTUS Rating Tool Manager. Mateusz Bogdan, is a French student, 4th year Civil Engineering major at the « Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan », France. His school trains students to be engineers as well as teachers and researchers, but also has a good background in every other aspect of construction. He is currently in Hanoi to teach Civil Engineering (material strength, structural analysis) at the University of Transport and Communication, for one year. Therefore he wanted to contribute in his own way to the VGBC project. He will be in charge of the development and edition of the LOTUS rating tool. VGBC is proud to have him on this important task and wishes him the greatest success.

3. HOK Wins  2009 MIPIM Green Building Award

HOK International (Asia/Pacific) Ltd’s Vrindavan Tech Village (VTV) in Bangalore, India, won the 2009 MIPIM Asia Awards in the Green Buildings category at the MIPIM Conference held in Hong Kong from November 18-20. The MIPIM Asia Awards, designed to recognize outstanding real estate projects in the Asia-Pacific region for their innovative, technical, environmental and architectural qualities. 

Environmental sustainability is reached through planned energy, water and waste management integrated with architectural and landscape solutions.

VGBC would like to congratulate HOK (VGBC Founding Member) for their great success.

4. Vietnam News: First Recycling Plant to be Built in Hanoi; HCM City -- Clean Metropolitan City by 2050

First Recycling Plant to be Built in Hanoi

The first recycling plant has been proposed to be built in Nam Son Commune, Soc Son District, Hanoi. The plant will be run under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) program, with the Advanced International Joint Stock Company as the project’s investor.  

The plant will be able to recycle half of the solid waste daily generated in Hanoi and turn 2,000 tonnes of rubbish a day into 500 tonnes of compost and some building materials. The recycling plants will reduce the pressure of existing landfill sites and rubbish will no longer be just waste, but a valuable resource. Construction waste such as cement, sand and brick, will be compressed and used as construction materials in dams, dykes or as road foundation.

HCM City – Clean Metropolitan City by 2050

Ho Chi Minh City will turn into one of the world’s major metropolitan cities by 2050, according to the development plans for co-operation between HCM City Institute for Development Studies and Germany’s Infrastructure and Transportation Systems Consultancy Group (ITS). According to the ITS Director, while Vietnam’s current urbanization ratio is rather low, it is growing fast, and might be well above 60% in 2050.

The plan includes a network of clean fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas to replace fossil fuels as well as investments in green, recycled and clean energy. Public transport will be developed with a subway rail system and limits on private transport means will be imposed to minimize emissions. There will be a focus on construction and improvement of ring and main trunk roads connecting harbors, airports, urban areas and industrial zones, while harbors inside urban areas will be moved further out.

Furthermore, drainage system and flood control will be a major focus as HCM City is among the  5 cities with the highest population that is vulnerable to climate change-related flooding.

5. Featured Resources: The Green Building Market and Impact Report 2009; A Post-Occupancy Study of LEED Projects in Illinois Report

The recent Green Building Market and Impact Report (GBMIR) explores the impact that LEED-certified buildings have already had on energy, water, waste and employee productivity, as well as impacts projected for the next 20 years.

• The current annual CO2 savings from energy efficiency and renewable energy from LEED buildings are 2.9 million tons. This figure is expected to increase to 130 and 320 million tons annually by 2020 and 2030 respectively.
• Total water savings reached 15 billion gallons and is expected to reach 1.3 trillion gallons by 2030.
• To date, more than 60% of construction and demolition waste (25 million tons) has been recovered from LEED projects.
• The employee productivity benefits from LEED buildings to date range from $230 to $450 million.

The Regional Green Building Case Study Project: a Post-Occupancy Study of LEED Projects in Illinois report from the USGBC’s Chicago Chapter provides detailed post-occupancy performance data of 25 LEED® certified projects in Illinois. However, there are some issues for consideration. Extrapolating the results from this data set to represent the performance of all LEED projects in Illinois, or all LEED projects in general, is not valid. It is also quite likely that the performance of these same projects will change over time due to occupancy, operations, maintenance, and systems changes. According to the study “Sustainability does not stop with building design and construction. While a building may be designed to be sustainable, it is often ongoing operational issues that affect the amount of energy, water, and other resources it consumes. Accordingly, ongoing performance evaluation is a key component of long-term sustainability”.