The Ministry of Industry and Trade opened two national contests for effective energy management in buildings in HCM City on May 6.

The Energy Management in Buildings and Industries Competition will be judged based on impact, sustainability, replicability and originality of the systems, and presentation of documents as well as the impression they create.

To enter the contest, buildings and industrial facilities must be at least two years old and consume at least 1 million kWh in case of buildings and 3 million KWh in case of industrial facilities.


There will also be three prizes in each category for innovative and original energy management.

The other contest, the Competition for Energy Efficient Buildings, is divided into three categories: new and existing buildings, tropical buildings, and retrofitted buildings.

New and existing buildings should not be more than five years old while tropical buildings are those with less than 50 percent of total gross floor area having air-conditioning, gross floor area of more than 500sq.m, and that are five years old or less, and exclude religious buildings.

Retrofitted buildings refer to buildings where major changes and improvements were made to improve energy efficiency and are more than five years old.

The scores are based on overall on-site design, passive design, active design, maintenance and management, and environmental impact.

Entries will be received until the end of August and the awards given away in the fourth quarter.

Winning entries will be chosen to represent the country at the Asean Energy Awards Competition which will be hosted by Viet Nam this year. Thirty-three buildings won prizes in the last three years, with four going on to win at the annual Asean Best Practices for Energy Efficient Building Competition, Nguyen Dinh Hiep, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Office, said. The competitions, which are held by the ministry, help promote and disseminate best practices in energy management, he added./.