Using Green Materials: An Opportunity for the Construction Industry to Develop Sustainably.
Source: Vietnamplus
Source: Vietnamplus
According to a representative from the Ministry of Construction, using green building materials not only helps reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions but also contributes to improving living spaces.
Statistics from the Ministry of Construction show that buildings account for approximately 40% of energy consumption, 50% of emissions, 33% of carbon emissions, and 40% of solid construction waste.
Therefore, the development of green materials is becoming an inevitable trend and a goal for Vietnam’s building materials industry, aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 as committed by the Prime Minister at the COP26 conference.
In this regard, the sector under the Ministry of Construction is responsible for reducing 74.3 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
An inevitable choice.
According to Mr. Nguyễn Quang Hiệp, Deputy Director of the Building Materials Department (Ministry of Construction), the development of green materials has numerous advantages, not only benefiting the construction industry but also society as a whole, especially in improving the living environment.
Some of the benefits mentioned by Mr. Hiệp include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to combating climate change, and saving energy throughout the production process.
Data from the Institute of Building Materials shows that construction projects currently use about 17% of water resources and 40% of energy sources.
The use of green materials also helps utilize waste from other industries, and these materials are easy to recycle after use. This is also a solution to save resources and minerals.
"More importantly, using green materials makes the environment cleaner, safer for health, and helps the construction industry and other industries develop sustainably," said Mr. Hiệp.
Given this importance, Mr. Hiệp emphasized the need to develop the green building materials industry and eliminate outdated production technologies for building materials.
The Ministry of Construction has developed and advised the government to issue the Vietnam Building Materials Development Strategy for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050. This strategy sets goals for the development of building materials.
The strategy aims to completely eliminate resource-consuming, environmentally polluting building material production technologies, save resources, save energy, and be environmentally friendly.
Moreover, the strategy has outlined specific targets for each type of material, particularly those with large emissions during production, such as cement, sanitary ceramics, construction glass, and industrial lime-based tiles.
In 2021, the Ministry of Construction also developed the new non-burnt building materials development program for the 2021-2030 period.
The program includes mandatory requirements for the use of non-burnt materials in construction, especially for public investment projects using government funding in major cities.
The Ministry also encourages the use of lightweight building materials in high-rise buildings to achieve energy-saving benefits.
A shared perspective. Similarly, Dr. Lưu Thị Hồng, Deputy Director of the Institute of Building Materials, emphasized that promoting the use of green building materials is a crucial solution to achieve low emissions, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and safety for users.
However, Dr. Hồng pointed out that currently, Vietnam and other countries do not have specific standards for green materials. Instead, countries have developed criteria for evaluating and certifying green materials.
One of the key criteria is that the material must be environmentally friendly and use industrial waste.
"Especially, it should reduce thermal energy consumption; the life cycle of green materials should be long-lasting and recyclable," Dr. Hồng stressed.
In the past, construction projects typically used roofing materials such as baked tiles and asbestos cement sheets, which had dull colors and limited sizes.
Today, roofing materials are transitioning to other types, such as metal sheets, plastic/composite sheets, and non-burnt tiles with various sizes. Moreover, the wide range of colors of green materials helps enhance the aesthetic value of buildings.
Need for incentive mechanisms.
Although the development of green materials has been promoted, Deputy Director Nguyễn Quang Hiệp stated that green materials are still not widely used in Vietnam.
According to Mr. Hiệp, the main difficulty is the legal framework; while there are technical regulations, they are not yet comprehensive and still lack detail. As a result, integrating green, environmentally friendly building materials into projects faces significant challenges.
In addition, the production technology and capacity for green materials in Vietnam are still limited, while the price of these products remains high, making it difficult to compete with other materials.
In light of this, Mr. Hiệp emphasized that to further promote green, environmentally friendly, and energy-saving materials, Vietnam needs to address several issues. First, it is necessary to establish a legal and technical framework for green materials.
However, Mr. Hiệp also noted that this task is not solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Construction but also involves several other ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance.
"Only with a legal framework can we establish specific regulations to create financial policies that favor research and development, and investment in the production of green materials. Furthermore, as we are operating in a market economy with state guidance, the government should lead by example in using green materials," said Mr. Hiệp.
Moreover, according to Mr. Hiệp, Vietnam also needs standards, criteria, and procedures for businesses to produce green materials. Manufacturers must find solutions to further reduce costs for green materials to compete better with traditional materials with similar functions.
Additionally, Mr. Hiệp proposed the need for awareness campaigns to change the mindset of stakeholders involved in construction investment, government managers at all levels, investors, consultants, contractors, project managers, and the general public.
"Only then will green materials become more widespread, contributing positively to sustainable development," Mr. Hiệp added.
From the perspective of a company involved in the development of green materials, Ms. Nguyễn Dương Trúc Linh, representative of Phương Nam Insulation Company, suggested that besides the efforts of businesses, the Ministry of Construction and related agencies need to offer more concrete solutions to attract businesses' participation.
"In the short term, the Ministry of Construction needs to establish criteria for designing and guiding the construction of green buildings, or create practical tools to directly guide all investors towards sustainable green building projects," Ms. Trúc Linh recommended.
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