Last year, the Anantara Resort & Spa in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province won first prize at the Energy-Efficient Architecture Contest initiated by the Ministry of Construction and the second tropical building prize at the "Building Energy Efficiency East South Asia in 2012" contest.

Buildings can be air-conditioned using entirely natural means, without mechanical ventilation systems.

As scheduled, the organizing committee of the “1st energy-efficient building design competition” organized by the Ministry of Construction would hold an award ceremony on March 23rd.

Green walls have been acknowledged as one of the most effective ways to cut down city air pollution, improve building’s energy efficiency, reduce noise and at the same time give a warm green feel to the usually colorless city architecture.

Amid this thriving Chinese megalopolis, the Hong Kong government and the city’s Construction Industry Council have recently completed a project to demonstrate how low a modern building can reduce its carbon footprint.

Officials in Japan have announced plans for building the largest wind farm in the world, ten miles off the coast of Fukushima

The rap on some green building efforts is that they can tend to be more expensive than using conventional designs and materials. However, a fire department in North Carolina turned this argument on its head recently when it completed its new LEED Gold certified fire station not only on time but $2 million under budget.

Green technologies are becoming more and more popular in all aspects of home and industry design. As New York rebuilds after the tragic events of 911, a new era of architecture is being unleashed.

On 24th November 2012, HCM City Energy Conservation Center (ECC HCM) held a seminar on Green Architecture to share useful information about green buildings and to discuss measures to promote the construction of green projects in Vietnam in the office of HCM Department of Science and Technology.

They can help us pass the time, socialise and yes, even work, but can smartphones also help us save the planet? A paper recently published in the International Journal of Sustainable Energy suggests they can.

With high economic development, Viet Nam is coming into the stage to require substantial amount of material and energy to construct the nation, develop socio-economic infrastructure and improve living standard.

Building a green economy is necessary for Viet Nam to realize her sustainable development roadmap in the current context, said a senior official.

On 7th Nov., Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung and Minister of Climate, Energy and Building Martin Lidegaard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of energy efficiency in buildings.

On 22nd August, the Ministry of Construction held the approval of the draft "National Strategy for Green Building Development in 2030, with a vision to 2050

s green building a trend in major global sporting events? It certainly was at the London Olympics, which saw all of its permanent structures built to green standards, and materials from all of its temporary buildings recycled or reused upon deconstruction.

As one of the Ministry of Industry and Trade award-winners in an energy efficient building contest, the Fortuna Hotel in Hanoi is held up as an effective example of energy conversation.

A variety of Japanese businesses participated in a seminar on October 26 to discuss new financial mechanisms for applying energy saving technology to buildings and hotels.

The Energy Conservation Center Hanoi (ECC Hanoi) under the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade launched a workshop on October 23 in Hanoi to present energy management models for commercial buildings in the city.

Hanoi Energy Conservation Centre (ECC), on 23rd October, 2012, held a confenrence to popularise the energy managemen model for commercial buildings in the city.

Environmental experts have called on Viet Nam to make further efforts in providing economic incentives and better policies to promote "greener" buildings in the face of resource depletion and rapid urbanization.