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Following market reforms in 1986 Vietnam has transformed from a poor closed economy to a low middle income economy. Like other developing countries, economic growth has placed significant pressure on both infrastructure and environment, particularly the pressure of increasing housing demand, energy consumption, and waste and pollution management. In response to the development challenges and the green movement globally, the government has initiated actions to promote green building to promote more sustainable development. However, green building adoption in Vietnam is still criticised as being slow and lacking governmental support. This paper proposes that promoting green building could solve three inter-connected challenges hindering sustainable development, and provides a comparative review of progress.
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Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 320
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
1877-7058 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016
doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.02.053
ScienceDirect
Sustainable Development of Civil, Urban and Transportation Engineering Conference
A Review on Green Building in Vietnam
Hong-Trang Nguyen
a,
*
, Matthew Gray
a
a
Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
Abstract
Following market reforms in 1986 Vietnam has transformed from a poor closed economy to a low middle income economy. Like
other developing countries, economic growth has placed significant pressure on both infrastructure and environment, particularly
the pressure of increasing housing demand, energy consumption, and waste and pollution management. In response to the
d
evelopment challenges and the green movement globally, the government has initiated actions to promote green building to
promote more sustainable development. However, green building adoption in Vietnam is still criticised as being slow and lacking
governmental support. This paper proposes that promoting green building could solve three inter-connected challenges hindering
sustain
able development, and provides a comparative review of progress.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016.
Keywords: green building; Vietnam; sustainable development; climate change
1. Introduction
Vietnam is a developing country located in South East Asia
. The country has a total mainland of 330,966.9km2,
which stretches from North to South along the Gulf of Tonkin with 3,260km of coastline, and consists of two typical
topographies, “small but very productive areas, such as the Mekong- and Red River deltas and large areas of less
produ
ctive, mountainous terrain” [1-3].
The one-party Communist state went through a political and economic reform in 1986 [4], achieved a fast and
re
markable development, and became one of the success stories in the world in terms of both economic growth and
pov
erty reduction [5, 6]. Since then, the country has transformed f
rom a poor closed economy to a low middle
income economy with 1755 US dollars per capita in 2012 [The World Bank 2014, as cited in 6], and maintained a
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-449-796-958.
E-mail address: ho
ngtrang.nguyen@.hdr.qut.edu.au
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of CUTE 2016
314 Hong-Trang Nguyen and Matthew Gray / Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 – 320
growth rate at approximately 7.3% per year between 1995 and 2008 [7].
However, the economic growth has significantly increased pressure on both the inf
rastructure and environment,
particularly pressure of increasing demand for buildings, energy consumption, and waste and pollution management.
The green movement in the world has placed green building in a high priority as it is able to meet the building
demand while mitigating the negative impacts of construction industry. Following the movement to deal with its
own development problems, Vietnam necessitates green building in its pathway to sustainability.
2. Inter-connected challenges Vietnam is facing on its pathw
ay of development
2.1. Overgrowing population and urbanisation leading to increasing demand for buildings
Since the 1986 reforms, urbanisation has accelerated and its population begun to grow, corresponding with the
econ
omic development. Like other countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, the country has also experienced
over-urbanisation concerning the fast pace and scale of urbanisation w
ithout correspondingly benefits the urban
production [8, 9]. In both theory and statistical data, this phenomenon
is directly related to the proportion of
population living in urban areas [10, 11]. The current population of Vietnam is 90.7 m
illion and it is predicted to
grow up to 108.7 million in 2049 with 58.8% of the population residing in urban areas [3, 12]. As there is a two-
sided link between population and housing [13], this growth in population and over-urbanisation will create a huge
dem
and on buildings in the coming years. Construction statistical data showed that each
year, the average of
housing floor areas constructed increased by 115.9% from 2005 to 2013, presented in Fig. 1. [14]. In 2014,
acco
rding to Ministry of Construction, 92 million m
2
housing floor was built, increasing the average floor per people
to 20.6m
2
, in which, the average one in urban areas is 23m
2
/pp and in rural areas is 19.5m
2
/pp. Up to 2014, the total
area of housing floor constructed is approximately 1,873.65 million m
2
.
Fig. 1. Areas of housing floor were constructed from 2005 to 2013 [adapted from 14]
2.2. Predicted insecurity of energy supply
High growth rate of the economy, industrialisation, over-urbanisation and increasing popu
lation are believed to
be the drivers of energy demand. Total demand increased by 9.3 per cent annually between the years 1990 2007;
an
d it is estimated to increase by 5.5 per cent annually up to the year 2025. Currently, energy production relies
primarily on fossil fuel, including coal, oil, gas, followed by hydro and other renewable energy [15]. The reliance on
f
ossil fuel has made the energy system of Vietnam carbonised even faster than the world average, China’s and
newly industrialised countries’ (Fig. 2.a).
However, reserve of oil and gas will not be enough for energy production beyond 25 year time-horizon,
acco
rding to Do et.al [16]. Additionally, due to limited reserve generation capacity and rain-fall dependency of
hy
dro, the national electricity system has experienced power shortages relatively frequently in the dry season. In a
long term, studies since 2011 have pointed out that Vietnam will become a net importer of energy in a decade when
315
Hong-Trang Nguyen and Matthew Gray / Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 – 320
the demand surpasses the domestic energy production around 2015 (Fig. 3) [7, 15, 16]. It is also projected that in
2025, the nation will need to import approximately 49 per cent of its total primary energy needs. Scholars have
suggested that the government should promote energy efficiency, develop market-based energy pricing and
in
corporate energy plans with other programs to form a long-term policy package [15, 16]. Even an increase as
s
mall as US 7.5 cent/kWh in the electricity tariff would drive up the prices of all other factors, thus, it is hard to
implement at one time, especially when Vietnam is facing a high inflation rate [17]. Therefore, in the meantime,
energy
efficiency would be one of the main solutions to deal with the energy shortage.
Fig.2. (a) Carbon intensity; (b) Energy intensity (PPP) over time for Vietnam, China, newly industrialised countries (NIC) and the global average
[adapted from 18]
Fig. 3. Primary energy demand and supply balance [adapted from 16]
2.3. Environmental detriment and negative impacts of climate change
Vietnam has witnessed environmental detriment due to
economic development, urbanisation, industrialisation,
energy consumption and consumption of natural resources” [6]. Economic growth effects, industrialisation, energy
in
tensity and growing population release pollution and increase CO
2
emission [19-21]. Currently the electricity
prices for manufacture are low and subsidised; it has made Vietnam more appeal to those industries that are high
energy intensity such as steel and cement [16]. This contributes to the energy intensity of the economy and carbon
em
ission (Fig. 2. b). There is also evidence of a positive relationship between urbanisation and emissions although it
is arg
ued that the impact of urbanisation on CO
2
emission is not statistically significant [20, 22, 23]. The pollution is
predicted to be persistent along with the economic growth as the relationship between GDP and pollution remains
positive in both short and long term, proven that the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis does not exist in the
country’s context [6].
Due to the excessive CO
2
and other greenhouse gas emissions, the world is experiencing climate change and
global warming. Vietnam’s long coast line in addition to low-lying and densely populated delta regions make it
v
ulnerable to present climate extremes and future climate changes [24]. Currently, the country is suffering from
m
ore frequent strong typhoons during the monsoon season, volatile rainfall patterns and droughts in different extents
a
b
316 Hong-Trang Nguyen and Matthew Gray / Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 – 320
and locations [25, 26]. In the near future, it is also forecasted to be one of the five nations in the world most severely
impacted by rising sea-levels and one of six countries in Pacific-Rim region most vulnerable to climate change [2,
27, 28]. As most areas are within 60km of the coastline, Carew-Reid [2] predicted that inundation from a one meter
sea level rise
will result in the loss of 4.4% of Vietnam’s territory, which include coastal areas and the Mekong river
delta region, affecting 6 million people in 2100. Since the economy backbone of the nation falls in its coastal zone
and th
e lowlands near the coast, which are rich in natural and socio-economic assets, the loss will directly impact its
w
ealth and standard of living [26].
Additionally, more severe droughts, storm intensity, flooding
and changes in rainfall pattern as consequences of
climate change will affect aquaculture, agriculture and food production [2, 29]. Agriculture plays an important role
in
the Vietnam economy, making up 21% of GDP, the climate related damages will directly threaten food security
and social welfare [30]. Rural areas where almost all of the agricultural activi
ties take place and which have low
adaptive capacity are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. The change in climate pattern and frequency of
climate shocks has negative effects on household income and expenditure, threatening their livelihood [31]. This
ad
ds to the economic pressure that has pushed people in rural areas seeking for employment and education
oppo
rtunities in the cities to diversify their income from agriculture dependency a livelihood strategy called rural-
urban migration [32]. Census data revealed that the rural-urban migration strongly influences the urban population
and also
over-urbanisation, creating a greater demand for buildings [11].
3. The green building movement as a solutio
n to mitigate the negative impact of the construction industry
3.1. Impacts of the construction industry and buildings
Given the large demand for buildings in Vietnam in the n
ear future, the construction industry is predicted to
gained more focus and investment. However, this industry is unarguably one of the main contributors to global
warming and the largest polluters affecting the environment. Its impacts on climate change have been addressed by
numerous scholars and researchers [33-35]. The construction industry produces half of worldwide CO2 emissions
and co
nsumes almost 50% of all global resources [36]. 36% of total electricity usage in Vietnam is reportedly
co
nsumed by this section [37]. Ortiz, Castells [38] cite a number of research accusing the industry of “high-energy
co
nsumption, solid waste generation, GHG emissions, external and internal pollution, environment damage and
resource depletion”. Although it makes the development path more challenging, this industry is considered as
having a great potential to contribute to sustainable development through improvements in its long lasting products
[39, 40].
Buildings affect humans and the environment in countless ways [41]. As we spend about 90% of our time in
in
door activities, buildings can positively and negatively impact on our living environment [U.S Environmental
P
rotection Agency, 2004, as cited in 42, Klepeis; Tsang etal., 1995, as cited in 43]. They provide shelter and protect
u
s from natural extremes [41], however, buildings release volatile organic compounds which pose serious risks to
ou
r health [42]. Buildings consume 50% of energy generated and 70% of
all timber as well as a considerable
proportion of raw materials globally [36, 39, 44]. A significant amount of wastes is also produced during their
lifecycle, from construction, operation and demolition processes [39, 44]. Buildings contribute to air pollution, noise
pollu
tion, waste pollution and water pollution [34].
3.2. The green building movement
Green building (hereinafter referred to as GB
) is defined by US Green Building Council [2007, as cited in 41] as
the “practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation,
operation
, maintenance and demolition”. Kibert (2004) further defines green/sustainable buildings as “the facilities
which are the outcomes of sustainable construction for the purpose of promoting occupant health and resource
efficiency, minimizing the impacts of the built environment on the natural ecology system” [as cited in 45]. A more
specif
ic definition stated by Hu, Geertman [46] refers to green housing as environmentally-friendly buildings which
are resou
rce-efficient, energy-saving, heath-improved and comfortable for living. In this study, green buildings are
th
ose embrace the principles of lower environmental impacts through greater energy efficiency, lower energy
dem
and, reduce water usage, improve indoor quality and minimise construction waste [O'Leary, 2008 as cited in
317
Hong-Trang Nguyen and Matthew Gray / Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 – 320
47].
The GB movement started in 1970s in Europe and US. It is
first considered as a solution to reduce energy
consumption to deal with instable energy markets after an oil embargo imposed by Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) [48]. Gradually, GB gained serious attention from government, industry players and
scholars as a prom
ising innovation to mitigate building related environment problems such as excessive
consumption of energy and water [Retzlaff, 2009, as cited in 46, Nelms et al. 2005, Sparks, 2007 as cited in 49, 50].
Con
sequently, GB is now considered as a means to achieve low carbon construction towards sustainability [41, 51,
52].
From those purposes, GB is often desi
gned to achieve positive environment performance and assessed by GB
rating tools, which also comprise environment related criteria such as sustainable sites and transport, energy and
water efficiency, environmentally friendly materials, indoor air quality improvement [33, 53, 54]. The benefits of
GB
are generally accepted as resource efficiency, health improvement of occupants and waste reduction during the
building lifecycle [36, 55]. GB has been believed to bring direct economic benefits to their owners as they are able
to save lif
ecycle costs, improve occupant productivity and performance, and increase their competitive advantage
[56]. As an inn
ovation, GB is proved that it has increased average rents and prices’ value of early adopters more
than that of later entrants [57]. Furthermore, it would also bring indirect economic and environmental benefits to the
su
rrounding communities [57, 58]. A GB market report by BCI Economics [59] showed that buildings certified by
Green
Starthe sustainable building assessment tool used widely in Australia and New Zealandbring significant
positiv
e effects. Those buildings only emit one third of GHGs, use a third of electricity, consume half of portable
water compared to average Australian buildings, and also recycle almost 96% of demolition waste. GB practices,
thus, are able to contribute greatly in reducing greenhouse gas, mitigating climate change impacts and maintaining
energy security.
As GB brings both tangible and intangible benefits, the m
ovement is gaining momentum and has become a
global trend [36, 41, 60]. The Green Building Council network and Green Building Certifications are now present in
93 states and tertiarie
s worldwide and has significantly accelerated global GB practices [61, 62]. From a
co
mparative study of global GB evaluation tools, Reed, Wilkinson [60] show a considerable increase in the number
an
d maturity of international sustainable building organisations through a large number of projects registering and
seeking certificates in last 10 years, illustrating the successful progress of this initiative.
In Southeast Asia, Green Building Councils were formed in six
countries with their associated green building rating
systems, including Brunei, Green Ship of Indonesia, Green Building Index of Malaysia, Building for Ecologically
Responsive Design Excellence of Philippines, Green Mark of Singapore and LOTUS of Vietnam [62] with an
in
creasing number of buildings being certified. However, scholars point out that the concept of sustainability is still
relatively new in the region, many important stakeholders in the construction industry are not aware of the GB
concepts [63].
In Vietnam, Solidiance and VGBC [64] claim that the development of the GB market is still in its initial stages
although it has obtained increasing attentions from both the indu
stry and government, and become a topic of recent
real estate fora and conferences [50, 65]. After the first building was certified in 2008, GB can now be seen in large
cities throughout the country, mainly in two major metropolitan areas Hanoi and HoChiMinh City. In terms of
org
anisation setting, the Vietnam Green Building Council was established in 2007 and joined World Green Building
Council Network as an Associated Group. The Council has played a considerably important role in promoting GB
practices such as engaging construction experts in developing LOTUS - a GB certification developed for Vietnam’s
co
nditions - and organising regular nationwide training courses ab
out green buildings’ solutions. Comparing
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) and LOTUS, industry leaders point out that LEED is
considered having higher recognition while LOTUS has higher applicability and lower implementation cost [64].
The LOTUS assessment tools include: LOTUS-NR for non-residential buildings; LOTUS-R for residential
bu
ildings; LOTUS-BIO for Building in Operation; and LOTUS In
teriors and LOTUS Homes are under
development. In 2013, there were 21 LEED projects and 9 LOTUS projects in the total of 41 projects certified as
Green building. Until now, there are 34 LEED projects and 14 LOTUS projects. Based on the small ratio of the
n
umber of GB projects on the area of floors constructed each year, the adoption of GB is still in its initial stages
(Spot A in Fig. 4.). It shows a stronger trend towards the intern
ational certification and limited recognition of
LOTUS - the localised sustainability assessment tool. This could be th
e result of majority of GB projects’ investors
being multinational companies while domestic ones still hesitate about investing in GB [64].
318 Hong-Trang Nguyen and Matthew Gray / Procedia Engineering 142 ( 2016 ) 313 – 320
Fig. 4. The adoption curve for green construction [adapted from 66]
Another organisation - Green Building Council Vietnam (GBCVietnam) - was established in 2011 as a national
government-sponsored council, demonstrating an official advocacy for GB adoption [67]. This council consists of
19 aca
demia and scholars who are experienced in GB’s attributes. They are developing the National Green Building
Development Strategy for 2020-2030 and a Green Building Assessment Criterion System under contracts with a
g
overnment agency. Those documents will form an important legal foundation for the development of GB. Pham
[67] as the vice chairman of GBCV - also believes that GB movement in Vietnam is still at its infancy without an
adequ
ate attention from the public.
Comparing the number of GB with other peer countries in the region such as Indonesia with 23 LEED projects
an
d 105 GREENSHIP projects or Philippines with 142 LEED projects [68, 69] illustrates a slow progress of green
bu
ilding adoption in Vietnam. While Vietnam has limited programs addressing renewable energy and energy
ef
ficiency, and has yet provided GB regulations, the other two countries have implemented numerous financial and
ad
vocacy incentives to encourage investment in renewable energy and GB, including feed-in-tariff, net metering,
sof
t loan schemes for renewable energy producers and environmentally friendly investment, and GB guidelines [70].
It is argued that the Vietnam government necessitates stronger actions to pro
mote GB provided the worsen effect of
climate change and all the development challenges.
4. Conclusion
With all the benefits that GB could bring, it should be
considered as a solution for the development related
challenges and increasing demand for buildings in Vietnam, including growing population and over-urbanisation,
pred
icted insecurity of energy supply, and environmental detriment and negative impacts of climate change.
Ho
wever, the GB adoption in Vietnam is still criticised as being slow and lacking governmental support. It is
recom
mended that the government needs to take stronger actions such as ratifying regulations or offering incentives
to prom
ote GB towards sustainable development.
Acknowledgements
This paper is a part of a Doctorate degree undertake
n in Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The
authors would like to express the deepest gratitu
de towards the sponsorship of QUT and the support of IEEE,
Vietnam. The authors also appreciate comments of two anonymous reviewers in preparing this paper.
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... By focusing on energy transition rather than energy efficiency or reduction, Viet Nam is overlooking an important opportunity to both mitigate energy use, and achieve micro-level infrastructure evolution via the built environment sector. On top of estimated global and city emissions resulting from this sector, construction activities in urban Viet Nam consume 40-70% of the total energy output [48] , and considering Viet Nam's current reliance on fossil fuel [44] , the real estate segment can be blamed for a devastating number of negative externalities, discussed in detail later. ...
... Given the geographic circumstances and current urban environment in HCMC, climate change impacts are already tangible, with horrifying forecasts for its future [5] . With over 9 million people and growing, HCMC is already short on housing and equally starved of mass transit infrastructure [44,52,53] , not to mention trees, parks and safe walking and cycling amenities [21,59] . Moreover, the heat island effect, lack of permeability and ground water depletion created by the densely packed dwellings of downtown HCMC add to the devastating impacts of flooding, pollution and increased temperatures, beyond their local boundaries [5] . ...
... While many of the most detrimental facts about the built environment have been highlighted via various infographics, it should be mentioned that buildings and the built environment are responsible for a significant proportion of the following externalities, both locally and globally [44] : h air pollution h noise pollution h waste pollution h water pollution h high-energy consumption h GHG emissions, both through embodied and operational energy use h resource depletion, and h environmental degradation Indeed, HCMC has been ranked among the top 5 noisiest cities in the world, with prolonged exposure to average noise levels declared capable of irreversible hearing loss [55] . Obviously, hearing loss is a social affect that would likely lead to economic stress, demonstrating how interconnected this single environmental impact is with other QBL dimensions. ...
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... In response to global development challenges and the green movement, the government has taken action to promote green buildings to foster more sustainable development. However, Vietnam's adoption of green building practices has been criticized as slow and lacking government support (Nguyen and Gray 2016). According to the Ministry of Construction, Vietnam's housing demand is projected to increase by 70 million square meters annually by 2030, equivalent to 17,500 buildings with 30 floors each. ...
... Research on the current status of green building development in Southeast Asian countries has mainly focused on Singapore, the developed country (Bin Esa, Marhani et al. 2011, Fulton, Mejia et al. 2017, Cai and Gou 2022, Hong and Rahmat 2022. Few studies have focused on green building development in developing countries such as Vietnam, and most of the studies on Vietnam have been from a policy perspective (Nguyen and Gray 2016, Nguyen, Olanipekun et al. 2019, Nguyen and Macchion 2022. ...
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... Công trình hiệu quả năng lượng tại Việt Nam, đặc biệt là ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long (ĐBSCL), đang trở thành một lĩnh vực quan trọng trong bối cảnh nhu cầu năng lượng ngày càng tăng và những thách thức về biến đổi khí hậu [1] [2]. Việt Nam đối mặt với việc phát triển kinh tế nhanh chóng, dẫn đến nhu cầu năng lượng gia tăng, đặc biệt trong các ngành công nghiệp và xây dựng. ...
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... Green buildings are designed to reduce negative environmental impacts through energy efficiency, sustainable materials, or water resource management. In addition to reducing negative environmental impacts, green buildings also focus on improving the quality of life and human well-being [11]. By integrating the principles of energy efficiency, use of sustainable materials, and good water resource management, green buildings play an essential role in creating a healthier and more environmentally friendly environment and contributing to climate change mitigation and natural resource conservation [3,12]. ...
... Additionally, Green buildings play a pivotal role in achieving this goal by implementing renewable energy solutions such as solar panels, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and smart building technologies. Research shows that sustainable buildings can conserve 40% more energy compared with traditional buildings, increasing energy efficiency and decreasing CO 2 emissions, which signifies that the design should make room for conserving energy and reducing emissions (Nguyen and Gray 2016), which is in alignment with UN SDG 7 that focuses on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. This reduction not only helps meet energy needs sustainably but also contributes to reducing GHG emissions, aligning with UN SDG 13: Climate Action. ...
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... Direct radiation is focused within a narrow angle of around 0.53°, whereas diffuse radiation comes from the sky in all directions and is dispersed by the surrounding area. Global radiation refers to the sum of all radiation components [17][18][19][20]. Every radiation reaching the Earth's surface needs to pass through the atmosphere, where the spectrum is changed by absorption and scattering mechanisms. ...
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... The sector of construction industry producers' half of worldwide CDE and consumes 50% from global resources that includes 36% of total electricity usage in Vietnam. (Nguyen & Gray, 2016). As a result of Global warming and caused climate changes Greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emission can be concluded as a major concern in Bangladesh that contributes to emit 1.87% CO2 from country total (Islam et al, 2020). ...
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... Health and Wellbeing considerations underscore the pivotal role of green buildings in enhancing occupant health, comfort, and productivity [16,17]. By prioritizing indoor air quality, natural lighting, thermal comfort, and acoustic performance, Green Mark-certified buildings create healthier, more conducive indoor environments, promoting occupants' wellbeing, satisfaction, and performance. ...
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