A green building is not simply a building with a green color (trees and plants). It brings benefits that not only serve the users but are also environmentally friendly, which is important in the current context when the greenhouse effect is increasing global temperatures. Creating such projects is not just a trend but a necessity to reduce environmental impact.
LeKhaMart's Director, Mr. Le Trong Kha originally comes from a Construction engineer background. He not only applies pioneering ideas to his company but also aspires to spread the green design and green building movement within the community. He had a meeting with the Green Viet office in early 2023 to share his ideas and stated that green buildings do not have to be large projects worth hundreds of billions of VND, but can also be applied to townhouse and residential buildings.
According to Mr. Kha, there are currently over ten million household homes in Vietnam, and nearly 500 thousand new homes are built every year. Among these, many households use their homes for both living and business. These houses often lack natural light and ventilation, and consume a large amount of energy. This not only affects health but also increases energy costs. Recognizing this problem, Mr. Kha sought the support of Mr. Quang - Green Viet's Sales Director and the design team to provide free consultation for LeKhaMart in building a green building model combining residential and business use. This achievement earned the Lotus Gold certification and was honored at the "Vietnam Green Building Week 2023" Conference.
After nearly 1 year of operation, the LeKhaMart - Lotus Gold green building has brought many positive results, such as the house being cooler compared to surrounding residences. With good natural lighting, there is no need to turn on lights during the day or use air conditioning. Instead, energy-saving 5-star ceiling fans are used. Mr. Kha shared that the electricity bill for this building is now only about 200 thousand VND per month, despite using all electrical appliances such as a washing machine, induction cooktop, microwave, food steamer, rice cooker, computer, phone chargers, car washer, etc.
Indoor garden corner
The place to bring natural light and wind into the house
Taking light and air from the roof, suitable for tube houses. (Photo: Kim Thanh)
The house is painted white to reduce heat absorption. (Photo: Kim Thanh)
The staircase proportions are calculated to suit a small house while still ensuring sufficient light and air convection. (Photo: Kim Thanh)
An airy, eye-catching kitchen with enough light and spacious enough with all amenities despite its small area
The project uses ToTo wall-hung toilets, helping to save water and make cleaning easier
Through the above green building model project, Mr. Le Trong Kha wants to convey a message calling on architects to pay more attention to green design. He calls on contractors, construction companies, and especially investors to care about green building. Although residential buildings may not aim to obtain green building certification, when having the idea of applying green design and construction, one must carefully calculate the functionality right from the beginning as well as use appropriate materials, equipment, and complete the project to meet Lotus criteria.
To better understand green buildings, you can contact:
GreenViet Green Building Consulting Co., Ltd.
Address: No. 19 Street 46, Thao Dien, Thu Duc City
Phone: 0903 613 816 for consultation
Learn more about the Lotus certification system for green buildings
LOTUS is the first green building rating system developed specifically for the construction market in Vietnam, on a voluntary basis, developed by the Vietnam Green Building Council Council (VGBC) – a non-profit project of the Green Cities Fund (California, USA).
Criteria Groups in Green Building
Similar to the structure of international green building certification systems, LOTUS has a structure consisting of mandatory criteria (Prerequisites) and voluntary criteria (optional credits), divided into criteria groups (Categories). LOTUS NC v3 currently has 6 main groups (Energy, Water, Materials & Resources, Health & Comfort, Site & Ecology, Management) and 1 Bonus category (recognizing innovative solutions or projects with superior performance).
As the name suggests, a project must meet the requirements of Prerequisites to be considered for evaluating voluntary criteria. Each voluntary criterion is usually set higher than current minimum standards or mandatory regulations. The project will receive points when meeting the requirements of a voluntary criterion. The total score achieved by the project will determine its certification level.
The minimum certification level of LOTUS NC (LOTUS Certified) is set at 40% of the total score (excluding 8 bonus points). This value shows that the building has met the minimum requirements to be considered a green building. The subsequent certification levels correspond to 55% (LOTUS Silver), 65% (LOTUS Gold), and 75% (LOTUS Platinum) of the total score.
