National regulation on energy efficiency buildings makes debut
The Ministry of Construction and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) introduced the National Technical Regulation on Energy Efficiency Buildings, coded QCVN 09:2013/BXD, in Hanoi on October 23.
According to Nguyen Trung Hoa, Director of the ministry’s Department of Science, Technology and Environment, the regulation sets compulsory technical requirements for designing, constructing or repairing civil buildings such as offices, hotels, hospitals, schools, apartment blocks, or trade and service facilities with floor space of 2,500 square metres or more.
If the regulation is well applied, energy consumption will be reduced by about 20 – 25 percent from the current level, he said.
Autif Sayyed, IFC’s Regional Green Building specialist for the East Asia-Pacific Region, considered the regulation as an important legal step towards efficient energy use.
With this regulation put in place, Vietnam would consume energy in a more effective way and contribute to the global target of climate change resilience, he added.
The regulation was developed with the participation of experts from IFC, the US Agency for International Development, and the Danish Energy Agency.
Vietnam is among the first countries in Southeast Asia which have introduced such regulation.