At the April 16 workshop,co-organised by the Vietnam Ministry of Construction and the US Embassy,US participants shared experience to help Vietnam access US expertise,technology and best practices in designing, building and managing greenestablishments’ operations.
US Ambassador David Shear highlyvalued the ministry’s attention to green and energy-saving facilities,citing the under-construction Parliament House in Hanoi as anexample.
Green and energy-saving facilities wouldbring benefits to environmental protection and sustainable developmentwhile mitigating adverse impacts of climate change, green-houseemissions as well as energy costs for users, according to theambassador.
Construction Minister Trinh Dinh Dung saidthat Vietnam is experiencing a rapid urbanisation with 765 urbanareas where account for 32.45 percent of the country’s population.
The number of urban residents in Vietnam is forecast to hit 52million by 2025, making up 50 percent of the nation’s population.
The fact has brought about a growing demand for construction andfossil fuels as well, which causes environmental pollution, he said.
The ministry said it is formulating a strategy on developing greenfacilities for the period from now to 2020 with a vision toward 2030 andcriteria for assessment of energy-saving projects.
Vietnam and the US are effectively coordinating in the research, application and development of green facilities.
Through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the UShas assisted the Construction Ministry and the Industry and TradeMinistry of Vietnam in enhancing capacity in collecting, managing,analysing and using energy data in making decisions on state management.
The US side has also helped Vietnam improveenergy efficiency of buildings, promote public-private investment andimplement pilot renewable energy projects.-VNA