In the context of environmental pollution becoming one of the most concerned global issues, the trend of building green architecture has drawn positive responses worldwide as a way to partly decrease the pressure of human activities on Mother Nature.
Firstly, it should be explained that green architecture does not merely mean “a project with a lot of trees”, but need to be made from environment friendly materials, optimize natural light and wind to minimize the energy consumption. Green architecture is a method of creating multi-convenient living space for human in the most harmless way to environment to treasure the world of today and tomorrow.
In Vietnam, the trend is about to spread out, from iconic buildings, public project to private home project. But the most noticeable feature should be counted that green architecture does not limit its influence within the urban areas, but also cover those rural and highland areas where lie ethnic minorities. One of the most outstanding green projects that was offered Asia Green Architecture and Vietnam Green Architecture awards is the Community Homestay House in Nam Dam village, Quan Ba, Ha Giang. Inspired by the traditional housing style of Dao people, architects have developed several ways to improve the house structure in order to optimize natural light and wind as well as to recycle rain drops for living purpose.
A report by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) reveals that green retail environments, do indeed enhance customer experience and drive greater profit. The report examined the correlation between a sustainable store design and higher revenues for retailers.
According to a report of Solidiance and Vietnam Green Building Council, the green buildings market in Vietnam is still at the early stages of development, primarily as a result of cost sensitivities, low electricity prices, short-term thinking and misaligned incentives between building developers and users, an underdeveloped regulatory market, and a limited supply of skilled employees with green building awareness.
At present, there are only approximately a hundred buildings that have achieved a green building certification in Vietnam. These are concentrated in the industrial sector, initiatives driven by global corporate guidelines, CSR, and the need to reduce operating expenses. However, office buildings and the hospitality sector are also seeing increased green building adoption as property developers seek to attract premium rates and stand out in crowded markets. The residential segment has been lagging on low awareness and short-term cost considerations, though certain technologies such as solar water heaters have taken off.
Environmental, economic and societal benefits brought over by green architecture have been widely recognized thanks to the obvious result on energy saving and greenhouse effect decreasing. Dr Pamela Phua, R&D Director, Southeast Asia and Pacific at AkzoNobel Paints proposes that the future of the world belongs to green architecture with nature truly well immersed in human’s living space.
Green materials are those with the ability to minimize negative impact of itself on environment during the time of production, building and using while still guarantee the comfort and convenience for people to live in. Paint only occupies for a tiny part in project budget but owns a potential to transform the whole appearance of projects. According to Dr Pamela Phua, paint contributes a crucial part in making a sustainable work. An environment-friendly paint should have water-based structure, low VOC (mixture of toxic organic substances in the air) and plays a certain role in saving the energy consumption. Dr Pamela also stresses the durability factor of product since it helps considerably in saving maintenance expenditure and decreasing harmful impact on environment.
Dulux Professional is the product range that fully satisfies all of the above criteria. It is one of the rare brands to be awarded the Green Label by Singapore Environmental Council (SEC) thanks to the eco-friendly feature. These products are integrated with latest technologies to release energy consumption in building within urban areas. Using eco-friendly materials, even in the littlest details does make a big step in greening Vietnam, from which goes a larger movement to immerse in the global trend of greening the world.
Huong Ly
Vietnamese
