Vietnam Looking at Green

Experts suggest construction should go ‘green'

17 December 2010 - It is high time for Vietnam to focus on development of green buildings, an academic and architect told a seminar in HCM City on Dec. 16.


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 percent then from the current 30 percent.

"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 percent of the world's energy and generates 30 percent of carbon emissions. {continued}