Ho Chi Minh City November 24th, 2016, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) in collaboration with Phillips, St Gobain, Ecocim and Siemens organised the “Sustainable Building towards a Smart City” workshop to propose sustainable solutions in construction towards contributing to the sustainable urbanisation in HCMC.

The conference gathered high interest and support of Peoples Committee leaders and Department of Construction, Department of Urban Planning & Architecture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Energy Conservation Center, Ho Chi Minh City Investment & Trade Promotion Center and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr. Le Thanh Liem, Deputy President of Ho Chi Minh Peoples Committee expressed the City’s interest to strengthen the cooperation with European companies. The City welcomes, supports the European business community coming to HCMC to invest in long term and efficient solutions towards a Smart City.

The workshop came up with three main recommendations relating to the application of green building standards; the replacement of unbaked brick to the traditional brick; and energy efficiency solutions. These three key recommendations are shown in detail through presentations from leading experts in green building and sustainable construction: Mr Yannick Millet (Member of the Board VGBC), Mr Yoan Guyon (Boydens Engineering), Mr Huynh Trung Hieu (Indochine Engineering).

Regarding to the application of green building standards in the construction, the assessment items of green building and guideline for implementation of these criteria are also carrying out in the presentations to clarify each standards in energy, water, materials, indoor facilities; operational management; innovations and improvements of design and so on. In addition, the presenters have provided guidance for users to apply the green standards and encourage to apply green standards in their building.

Regarding to the materials solution, a wide range of green materials have been suggested with their practical benefits such as:  energy saving, recycling, waste reduction adverse environmental impact. The advantages of these green materials (Concrete masonry unit CMU, Aerated Autoclaved Concrete AAC plasterboard, etc.) compared to the traditional materials have been raised in order to strengthen the recommendation to replace the old ones to increase construction efficiency and simultaneously reduce carbon emissions during operation.

Regarding to the efficient energy solutions, the experts also presented the solutions to optimize energy usage as water, light, wind and electric devices for building from the passive design. The practical examples have shown to demonstrate the benefits of using these solutions during the construction period, when applied these solutions, the constructing cost is not incurred, but reducing the operating costs of the facility/building and contributing to save the environment.
With the above key recommendations, the sustainable building workshop has brought numerous effective solutions to build our city become a smart and sustainable urban and to catch up the trend of sustainable construction globally.

The presentations also covered the implementation and enforecement of existing regulations. Even though the policies have been in place since 2013, they are not consequently and effectively implemented. There is also further need for Vietnam to issue incentives and other forms to encourage the society and builders to apply the regulated standards in the practice.

Mr. Tomaso Andreatta, Vice-Chairman of EuroCham also stressed the importance of a strategic approach of developing green building and architecture in the future. He also recommended Ho Chi Minh City to start a pilot project in the new urban area of Thu Thiem in District 2 of Ho Chi Minh City.

The event was a promising start of a sery of events toward smart city development, for which EuroCham plans to work closely with Ho Chi Minh City and its Departments to support and implement smart, efficient and environmentally friendly solutions to make Ho Chi Minh City a better place for its citizens.