>> Hanoi mobilizes resources to improve the city’s air quality >> Siemens supplies equipment for Vietnam’s largest solar farm >> Members of Vietnamese and German companies take pledge against wildlife crime >> ECOSYSTEM-BASED ADAPTATION PROJECT SUPPORTS COMPREHENSIVE COOPERATION FOR VIETNAM’S CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE >> Siemens Healthcare Ltd. and Vietnam Japan Medical High-Tech Development JSC ink MoU to foster cooperation in healthcare

The EDGE (“Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies”) rating system aims to help save energy, water  consumption, and embodied energy in building materials while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nam Long Investment and FPT City Da Nang are the first companies to achieve EDGE certification for a building project in Vietnam, where the building sector consumes up to 36 percent of electricity and contributes to the country’s 12 percent annual increase in greenhouse-gas emissions - among the highest growth rates in the world.

IFC’s EDGE is a new building resource efficiency certification system created for emerging markets. It provides clients with technical solutions for going green and captures capital costs and projected operational savings.

“In parallel with the mandatory Building Energy Efficiency Code [QCVN 09:2013/BXD], we encourage investors, developers, and practitioners to build more environmentally responsible buildings by meeting reliable voluntary certification standards like EDGE,” said Nguyen Trung Hoa, Director of the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment, in Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction. “This will help cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions, improving the community.” 

Already recognized for the quality of its low and middle-income residences, Nam Long, an IFC’s investee, has gone further in making its Bridge View Apartment truly resource efficient. 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.

“Being the first EDGE-awarded real estate developer in Vietnam, we are showing our strong commitment in developing affordable but environmentally friendly residences with high quality of life standards,” said Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, Design Director of Nam Long Investment Corp.

While the drivers behind EDGE are financial, the results are environmental – EDGE helps mitigate climate change by encouraging resource-efficient development in homes, hotels, retail outlets, hospitals, and offices.

Covering an area of 5.9 hectares, FPT City Da Nang JSC’s premises is a top-end office complex in Da Nang city, expected to accommodate some 10,000 employees in the next two years. FPT’s office building has an excellence in design for efficiency solutions in grey and black water treatment, rain collection, high efficient cooling systems, and energy efficient lighting. It is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 20.97 percent, lower water use by up to 31.8 percent and the energy used to produce building materials by 20.2 percent.

“The EDGE Certificate awarded to FPT City Da Nang JSC’s office building is a result of the company’s strategy to support initiatives that increase the sustainability level of the construction sector while improving environmental conditions in urban centers,” said Bui Thien Canh, Managing Director of FPT City Da Nang JSC.

“The EDGE system shows a strong business case for resource efficient building, where financing and environment can come together,” said Wendy Werner, World Bank Group’s Practice Manager for Trade & Competitiveness for East Asia and the Pacific. “We hope more of Vietnam’s building developers will adopt the EDGE system once they learn of the benefits of certification.”

To qualify for EDGE Design Certification, companies must utilize the EDGE software to prove their building design will reduce energy, water, and embodied energy in building materials by at least 20 percent compared to conventional buildings. The online software is available for free at www.ifc.org/edge.

Upon construction completion, the buildings will be evaluated for EDGE Construction Certification.