The industrial sector is the leading driver of Vietnam's green building trend

 

The green building trend in Vietnam starts later than other countries in the region. According to the report "Map of green building codes development and energy efficiency in ASEAN" implemented by the ASEAN Energy Center, green building has only started to develop attention in Vietnam since 2010, while other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore since 2008. Vietnam is also rapidly accelerating the establishment of new green buildings. According to BlueScope data published at Eurocham's Central Business Forum, if in the period 2010-2011, Vietnam had only two projects achieving green building certification, then in the 2016-2017 period, there would be 19 projects.

Notably, the industrial sector contributes the majority of green buildings. Considering LEED certification alone, 42% of projects registered for certification in the period 2015-2018 were factories, followed by offices (31%) and housing (8%), according to the data. market of Vietnam Green Building Council. The Eurocham Green Book has a growing number of green factories coming from multinational corporations operating in Vietnam, which are subject to strict environmental laws. The first two green buildings belonging to two multinational corporations are the Colgate Pamolive factory with LEED Silver certification in 2010 and the logistics center of the company YCH Postrate Distripark with LEED Silver in 2011.

Another cause is the influx of FDI inflows massively into the manufacturing sector. Only in the first nine months of 2019, the processing and manufacturing industry attracted 18 billion USD, accounting for 69% of the total registered investment capital. Therefore, building green factories is also an effective strategy for industrial real estate owners aiming to increase their competitiveness in the market. Positive pioneering factors have gradually created a market effect when a series of Vietnamese enterprises have entered the green list of their factories, notably ATAD steel company, Dong Phu garment company. Cuong, Canifa garment company. Most recently, CP Paper has achieved LEED certification for both the office and the new factory. This is also the first unit in the paper and packaging industry to obtain LEED certification in Vietnam.

 

“This certification benefit is not only about saving electricity and water, but also working in a green, clean and health-safe environment. This is the driving force for sustainable development and commensurate with the initial values ​​we desire, both in terms of long-term vision and specific results. ”- Ms. To My Chau, general director of CP Paper shared shall.

However, in general, the number of green buildings in Vietnam is still very modest: as of December 2018, the whole country has only nearly 2.5 million square meters of green building certified floor - equivalent to only 4.3 % of the construction area will be in 2018. The green book Eurocham said the limitation lies in the lack of pressure from the government. While in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, the law requires that buildings comply with certain national and international green standards, in Vietnam, the compliance with green building standards such as LOTUS, LEED or EDGE is only voluntary.

Another issue lies in the orientation to use capital flows of the business. For example, in the textile and garment industry, 80% of businesses are small and medium, so their financial capacity is limited. "Although they are aware of the impact of climate change, they still have to prioritize funding for production investment," Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) shared with Forbes. Vietnam. "The investment orientation in combination with reducing the negative impact on the environment depends a lot on the vision of business leaders. Because looking at profits, no one wants to invest, only when businesses think long-term development. and sustainability, "said Ms. Hoang Thi Minh Hong, founder and director of the non-governmental environment organization CHANGE, told Forbes Vietnam on the sidelines of the talkshow event on Understanding air pollution that took place in October 2019.

According to Giang Le, Forbes Vietnam.