Unbaked bricks produced by Toàn Cầu Construction Materials Joint Stock Company in Hà Nội. — Photo hanoimoi.com

Associate Professor Bùi Thị An, Director of the Institute for Environmental Resources and Community Development, speaks to Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) newspaper about green construction.

What are the criteria for a construction project to be called green?

Green projects are projects that have achieved high energy efficiency in the use of energy and materials which are friendly to the environment. A green project is not only a project with many green trees but also using safe construction materials which cause fewer bad effects on users while limiting the negative impacts on the environment.

Can you elaborate on the significance of the use of safe and friendly construction materials?

Recently, rapid urbanisation and the use of unsafe and environmentally unfriendly construction materials have led to many problems in urban areas, including the temperature rising, flooding, pollution, the imbalance in the eco-system and others. That’s why it is high time for Việt Nam to use safe and green materials so that it can save natural resources for agriculture practice and reduce CO2 emissions in the environment.

At present, to improve the livelihood for the Vietnamese people is the task of all economic sectors. To achieve the goal of sustainable development, the environment has played a very important role as it has impacts on social security, health and quality of life for all people. That’s why using green and friendly materials should be prioritised in all construction projects.

Will you please explain the use the friendly construction materials in Hà Nội when the city is in the course of building a smart city?

A smart city is one of the several concepts that a green city needs.

A green city is developed based on three concepts. The city must have a good number of green trees which will help balance the eco-system and help the city develop sustainably with complete infrastructure. Of course, all projects in the city must use safe and friendly materials to the environment and be compatible with the current context of climate change. Last but not least, the city must use advanced information technology in its management, operation and civil service.

To implement the proposal on the sustainable development of the smart city from 2018-2025 and orientation towards 2030 which was approved by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Hà Nội has made efforts to become a smart city where the people enjoy a better life. In the course of building Hà Nội into a civilised and sustainable city, a very important criterion Hà Nội must follow is to use safe and friendly construction materials.

Will you please talk a bit further on the development of safe and friendly construction materials?

PM Phúc has many times said that Việt Nam would not exchange the environment for its economic development.

By now, the use of baking-free construction materials has achieved certain successes. The quality of unbaked materials has improved considerably and become a good choice for the construction sector. Yet, the price of the products remains rather high compared to traditional materials.

The Ministry of Construction is drafting a strategy on the development of construction materials for the period from 2021-2030 and orientation toward 2050. We hope when the strategy is approved it will become an effective tool for Việt Nam to have more green building materials. — VNS