Vietnam Leads ASEAN in Green Building Certification Progress

As of the end of June this year, Vietnam has seen 446 buildings achieve EDGE certification, a green building standard issued by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Notably, this number positions Vietnam at the forefront in ASEAN, accounting for over 51% of all internationally certified green buildings in the country. While EDGE certification focuses on reducing the consumption of energy, water, and carbon in building materials, LEED certification (issued by the U.S. Green Building Council/USGBC) incorporates living space quality alongside similar factors to EDGE. LEED holds the second position in popularity for buildings and construction projects in Vietnam, followed by Greenmark (Singapore, more common for individual apartments), WELL (USA), and BREEAM (UK). In Vietnam, the Vietnam Green Building Council (VGBC), currently operating as a social enterprise, was officially recognized by the Ministry of Construction in March 2009. It subsequently became a member of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) network. The LOTUS certification, offered by VGBC at various levels, has been granted to 804 buildings, 200 products, and nearly 100 projects, covering a total floor area of over 1.5 million square meters. Significantly, green building certifications, whether international or domestic, are increasingly being considered by many domestic banks and branches of international commercial banks as criteria for applying preferential lending programs (green credit), including those from the State Bank of Vietnam. An interesting statistic from a recently certified EDGE building in Hanoi, the office building at 63 Ly Thai To Street, Hoan Kiem Ward, highlights the substantial benefits derived from green efforts. It reported: 37.24% energy savings; 43.88% water use savings; and a 100% reduction in embodied carbon in building materials (exceeding EDGE's baseline requirement of 20%). More encouragingly, Vietnam has its first symbolic local structure, the combined headquarters of the Provincial Party Committee, National Assembly Delegation, People's Council, and People's Committee of Khanh Hoa Province, to achieve EDGE certification as a provincial-level headquarters. This signifies that green certification is no longer just a trend but has become a standard valued by developers, owners, and operators of buildings.