Phong said that surveys have found out that the housing construction (wall structure, building materials, roof wall color, thickness, or the resistance to radiation of the window glass) at nearly all buildings cannot meet the standards. The air-conditioning systems of some buildings gobble up 50 percent of the total power consumption level of the whole buildings, which is because of the poor performance and bad initial investment, while the machines are too old and they are not property maintained.
How would you explain the fact that people’s houses consume up to 36 percent of the total electricity consumption of the city?
The construction standards are applied to the buildings with the areas of 300-2500 square meters. As people’s houses usually have the areas of less than 300 square meters, they do not need to follow the standards. Therefore, the energy saving at people’s houses depends on the awareness and how effectively people use electrical appliances.
Many people say that in energy saving, the heavier investments they make; the lower efficiency they can get. What would you say about that?
There are always three groups of solutions for energy saving. The first group is simple with low expenses, but it can bring high efficiency. These are the reasonable management methods which encourage people to save energy.
The second group has the medium level of investment which takes 2-3 years to get back investment capital.
The third group includes high solutions, which takes more than three years to get back capital. Though the solutions are costly and they require much time, the energy to be saved will be big.
When we give advices to clients, we always present the three solutions, so that the clients can make decisions after considering their conditions. The first group of solutions is always the priority choice which can be done immediately. Meanwhile, the second group of solutions could be suitable for the immediate time, while the third should be carried out in a long term plan.
Have you taken into account the climate changes when offering the solutions?
Yes, of course. Previously, when talking about energy consumption, we emphasized the benefits for the owners of the buildings. As you may hear recently that “green buildings” have become in a growing tendency. Green buildings mean the buildings which use energy in the most effective way.
Moreover, the buildings do not use energy, but they can themselves create energy. They are built in the way which fits the local climate and allows to take full advantage of the natural conditions, striving to a sustainable development and the reduction of the energy that causes pollution to the environment.
However, I have to say that Vietnam is still far from attaining “green buildings”. Before we dream of green buildings, we should strive to have energy saving buildings first, because we still even do not have energy saving buildings.
Though the construction standards were promulgated in 2006 already, the standards have not been compulsory. We are just encouraging buildings’ investors to follow the standards. The Energy Saving Law has taken effects since the beginning of 2011, but there have been no concrete regulations.
Could you please tell us about the things that need to be done to march towards green buildings?
In fact, it is very difficult to attain green buildings – the concept which remains new in many countries in the world. But it is much easier to have energy saving buildings. I believe that we have great potentials to save energy.
Source: SGTT |