Electricity consumption was reduced by 7 to 10% compared to 2008; in the first 3 months of 2010, 5% of electricity consumption was cut down, compared with the same period in 2009. Those are the first benefits that energy efficiency methods have brought to the Landmark building in Ho Chi Minh City.

Với những kết quả đó, The Landmark đã đoạt giải nhất “Tòa nhà hiệu quả năng lượng” năm 2009, loại hình tòa nhà cải tạo lại do Bộ Công Thương tổ chức. Đặc biệt, trong cuộc thi Tòa nhà hiệu quả năng lượng khu vực Đông Nam Á 2010 mới đây, tòa nhà này cũng “giật” được giải 3 tòa nhà cải tạo lại.

Hanoi International Marine Trade Center Building – Ocean Park (located at number 1 Dao Duy Anh Street, Dong Da District, Ha Noi) was built in 2001 and put into operation in early 2004. With a total floor area of 34,640 sqm, having 21 stories including a commercial center and office blocks, the building consumes a huge amount of energy annually.

The Sheraton Hotel won a First Energy Efficient Building Prize in 2009, which recognizes the hotel that was rebuilt to be energy efficient, green and environmentally friendly. The Sheraton Hotel was one of three buildings in Hanoi that took part in the contest and won a prize. Sheraton Hanoi has also led in applying the ISO 14.001 international environmental protection system.

Hệ thống điều hòa không khí luôn là khu vực tiêu tốn nhiều điện năng nhất trong tòa nhà. Giải pháp tiết kiệm năng lượng được ứng dụng đầu tiên tại Ocean Park chính là lắp đặt hệ thống BMS điều khiển, kiểm soát tình hình tiêu thụ năng lượng cho hệ thống điều hòa.

The building of new renewable energy sources continued to outstrip new fossil fuel power plants in Europe and the US during 2009, a report has shown. The UN-backed study said renewables accounted for 60% of new electricity generation capacity in Europe. And in the US, green electricity accounted for more than half of the generation capacity built last year.

Under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at Announcement number 343/TB-VPCP dated December 4th 2009 on building an energy saving advocacy program to every province, bringing the program to every ward, commune, block, making energy efficiency an emulation target, a standard in the cultural family evaluation, the Hanoi People’s Committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, organized the pilot campaign for the 2010 Energy Saving and Efficiency for Households in Hanoi, with the theme “Energy efficiency in every household is saving for you and for future generations”.

The federal government has just finished construction on a zero-energy office building, the nation’s largest, and is hoping that commercial developers will follow its lead. The 222,000-square-foot Research Support Facility is on the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus in Golden, Colo. Just over 800 employees will occupy the building once it officially opens in late August.

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a process for building an organic molecular-scale framework that could be used to collect solar energy. They did it using phthalocyanines, which are common dyes used in blue jeans and numerous other products.

The Prime Minister has approved of the Nuclear power development plan in Vietnam in 2010 – 2030. There are 8 construction sites proposed for building nuclear power plants in 5 provinces, including: Ninh Thuan, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Ha Tinh and Quang Ngai, each capable of installing 4 – 6 units.

In recent years, together with the growth of the entire economy, construction companies obtained an annual growth rate of 12-16 percent. Production was expanded and the use of energy as well as natural resources increased. Presently, energy consumption by the construction sector accounts for 20-24 percent of the total amount of energy consumption nationwide.

According to the Master plan for Vietnam building material development to 2020, demands for building materials in 2010, 2015, 2020 are correspondingly 25, 32, 42 billion brick equivalent units, in which, the proportions of non-baked material are 10%, 15 – 20% and 30 – 40%, respectively.

The Vietnam project ‘Building four-chamber conveyor-type ceramic brick furnaces using rice husk gasification technology’ will be honored the 2009 Energy Globe Award in a ceremony to be held on June 3, 2010 in Rwanda.

Electricity is a powerful tool for building modern societies and plays a critical role in eradicating poverty and boosting economies. Yet, according to U.N. estimates, 1.5 billion people—nearly a quarter of the world's population—live without access to reliable power.

In the framework of the second International Exhibition on Energy Efficiency and Environment (Entech Hanoi 2010), the Hanoi Industry and Trade Department and the Hanoi Energy Conservation Center recently organized a seminar to discuss solutions for energy efficiency in buildings.

Construction Industry in Viet Nam has been growing quickly in recent years, with growth rate of 12 – 16% per year. This quick growth, however, means an uncontrollably increasing use of energy and natural resources in construction. Statistics show that there are about 1,000 buildings consuming more than 1 million kWh per year. Such enormous energy waste could be greatly reduced (20% to 30%) under an energy efficiency plan in construction design.

Various bodies in construction have set up energy saving systems in buildings under the Research and Cooperation Program in accordance with protocols with other countries, for instance, cooperation with Bulgaria and Russia in saving energy in buildings; cooperation with Germany in saving energy in construction and reducing consequences of climate change.

The Institute for Building, Science and Technology (IBST) on May 12th held a scientific seminar on “The experiences in implementing energy saving and efficiency program of the EU and Bulgaria and the application of energy efficiency meter software in Vietnam.” Participants of the workshop included Mr. Vladimir Moskov, commissioner of Bulgarian Embassy in Vietnam, Prof. Dr Nikola Geargiev Kaloyanov, Vice-Chancellor of Technical University of Sofia, project director and some other experts. On Vietnam side are Assoc. Prof. Dr Cao Duy Tien, director of IBST, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Xuan Chinh, deputy director of IBST concurrently project director, other experts from research institutes and universities and other interested researchers.

The Southeast False Creek Neighborhood Energy Utility, or N.E.U., supplies space heating and domestic hot water to local buildings using heat recovered from wastewater and raw sewage. “This is a test case for Vancouver,” said Chris Baber, the N.E.U.’s manager. It is also the first “district” energy system in North America to draw heat from untreated wastewater. There are only three similar projects worldwide: two in Oslo and one in Tokyo.

Spanish wind turbine builder Gamesa and San Diego wind farm developer Cannon Power Group have teamed up to start building a wind farm South of the Border to supply clean power to a quarter of a million households in both California and Mexico from 500 MW of power by 2015. Cannon says the site’s potential capacity is ultimately 1,000 MW.