MARKET PULSE: As US politics become increasingly difficult, Australians in the sustainability field are starting to think about the possibilities of business with our neighbours in Asia. With that in mind, it’s interesting to note the growing appetite for energy efficiency and green buildings, evidenced by a memorandum of understanding between CBRE Vietnam and Vietnam Sustainability Social Enterprise (VSSE).
In 2024, the number of green-certified buildings in Vietnam had reached 163, doubling from the previous year, reported Net Zero VN.
Vietnam now has a cumulative total of 559 green-certified buildings, covering a total floor area of 13.6 million square meters. This figure far exceeds the original targets set for green buildings, 80 by 2025 and 160 by 2030.
The statistics were reported in the Vietnam Green Building Market Overview 2024 report released earlier last month by the EDGE certification system and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank.
Experts told the publication, that although Vietnam started the pursuit of green buildings later than other countries in the region, it has made significant progress, with the number of green projects increasing sharply in recent years.
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VSSE manages the operations of the Energy Efficiency Network Vietnam (EEN-Vietnam), an industry collaboration founded in 2017 to support improvements to the nation’s buildings in alignment with the broader net zero goals of the Paris Accord.
EEN-Vietnam and CBRE have already been collaborating on the ZEBHub project, which aims to demonstrate the viability of zero energy buildings in the market, according to Vietnam Investment Review.
Phase 1 of the project comprised an energy audit of Horison Tower in Hanoi and the development of an energy efficiency plan. The next phase will involve undertaking work to implement measures that will improve the performance of the commercial office building and comfort for occupants.
Under the new MOU, the partners will work on three major priorities for the Vietnam market, including developing online training resources to enhance capability in energy efficiency across the property value chain.
An assessment and consulting program for pilot buildings will also be developed.
Lack of standards an issue
According to a report last month by the chair of the Vietnam Green Building Council, Phan Thu Hang, Vietnam still lacks a coherent national approach to benchmarking and managing operational emissions from energy use in the nation’s buildings.
It’s not in the construction code – which accounts only for carbon in the upfront carbon value chain – and it is a “grey area” in terms of which government department has effective oversight.
“There is a need to shift from a prescriptive to performance-based building code,” she said.
That involves energy use intensity and using data sources including building energy bills to establish baselines for different building typologies.
“Performance-based code can connect various stakeholders across the value chain and support compliance through specific standards and calculation tools. A performance-based building code also supports the data collection needed to build the national baseline for different building types by tracking and comparing various performances.
“The government can lead the adoption by piloting energy efficient green government buildings to serve as case studies.”