The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, awarded its first EDGE resource efficiency certifications in Vietnam, at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 16.

The Nam Long Investment Corp and FPT City Da Nang JSC are the first companies to receive the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification for the Bridge View apartment and the FPT office building projects.

Adopting improved features such as a low embodied-energy facade, energy-efficient lighting and low-flow faucets, the Bridge View Apartment is expected to achieve reductions of 20.02 percent in energy, 21.7 percent in water and 26.8 percent in materials.

Meanwhile, the FPT’s office building is a top-end office complex in Da Nang city with resource-efficient solutions such as the utilisation of sewage treatment, rain collection, and cooling systems.

The building designed to accommodate 10,000 employees in the next two years is expected to reduce energy, water and construction material consumption by 20.7 percent, 31.8 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.

Head of the Department of Sciences, Technology and Environment under the Ministry of Construction Nguyen Trung Hoa said the ministry encourages investors to build environmentally-friendly projects for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions.

To qualify for the design certification, companies must prove their building design will reduce energy, water, and embodied energy in building materials by at least 20 percent compared to conventional buildings.-VNA