23 May 2015 Ha Noi – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh cut the ribon to inaugurate the official opening of Green One UN House (GOUNH) in Vietnam.

This is the first UN building in the world to be certified with Green.

"The new building will generate electricity from solar panels and significantly reduce water use. It will help build local knowledge on eco-design and green technology. And I note that this is the first building in Vietnam to be awarded a provisional Gold Lotus rating from the Vietnam Building Council" - UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in his opening speech said at the inauguration ceremony.

"Viet Nam has been a pioneer country for the world. This building will now bring together many agencies under one roof – promoting coherence, cooperation, teamwork and creativity", said Mr Ban Ki Moon.

The house was built with high standard insulation materials which help control the air and creates high air quality in the building, contributing to reduce energy demand by 25%. The UN also implemented many initiatives to create the "green" habits for its employees, including reducing the amount of printing, recycling of paper, plastic and glass, turning off the lights when leaving a room, and biking or walking to work.

The house has been designed to increase the collaboration through the initiative "layout by job", in which the employees of different UN organizations sit together in work layout to achieve common outputs.

The house has the General Services of the "One-Stop-Shop" to provide administrative services, information technology, and management of facilities in a same standard for various UN organizations. Moreover, the UN General Green House is also the first building in Vietnam to get the provisional Gold Lotus rating from the Viet Nam Building Council.

Trong Tan