The Tien Dat Mui Ne Resort in Binh Thuan Province, 200km north of Ho Chi Minh City, is a wonderful place with the blue sea, white sand dunes and green coconuts. The resort recently received a second prize for being a tropical building from the contest “2010 Energy Efficient Building”, an event held annually by the ASEAN Center of Energy (ACE).

Tien Dat Mui Ne was designed to combine modern and traditional styles to create comfort and delightfulness for guests. The resort looks to the sea where there is much fresh air, natural light and natural wind, which is a large source of energy that makes the resort bright and cool without consuming much electricity.

Tran Trong Nho, the general director of Tien Dat Mui Ne, said that with the efforts of the resort staff members and customers’ understanding of energy conservation, his facility saved an average of 30.9 percent of electricity annually. He said, “Apart from advice from experts, we have tried to learn about energy efficiency. Our business philosophy is to improve administration and use less energy while ensuring the highest convenience for customers.”

Energy conservation begins from architecture

To make the most of natural sources of energy the management of Tien Dat Mui Ne chose environmentally construction friendly materials in hopes to make guests close to nature and create a special style for the resort. 

Most construction materials are bamboo, wood and leaves that lead natural light and air to every room and make a difference between coastal resorts like Tien Dat Mui Ne and urban areas which are densely populated and stuffy. The design that made the most of environmentally friendly construction materials allows natural wind to flow deep into the resort, which together with numerous trees there makes the resort cool without any air-conditioner even on hot days.

To minimize solar radiation, the architects for Tien Dat Mui Ne were very concerned about walling, roofing and curtains. Tiled/cottage roofs and bamboo shades are suitable for the tropical climate in Vietnam and are ideal for heat resistance following the Vietnamese traditional architecture.

In addition, good arrangement of windows, doors and shutters contributes importantly to energy efficiency in the resort.

Technical solutions

With many service facilities like restaurants, bars and massage/beauty salons, Tien Dat Mui Ne consumed a large volume of power annually. Statistics by the resort authority indicate that the resort consumed about 285,000 kWh in 2008 costing VND467 million.

Because there is much sunlight in Mui Ne, the architects made use of solar energy for the resort. There are nine solar water heaters in the resort that provide a minimum 2,700 liters of hot water daily and help the resort save more than 61,000 kWh worth VND50 million annually.

Apart from natural light, most lamps in the resort are 5W compact and 36W fluorescent lamps with shades that create reflected light. As the resort uses energy saving appliances and closely observes regulations on power system operation, the resort saved 28 percent of power for lighting annually.

Another success went to dimmers that allow the light and fan systems to save more than 2,500 kWh annually.

Although the resort has made the most of natural wind, it has had to install many air conditioners that have consumed much power. However, all outdoor units of air-conditioners were installed in cool places under trees where it is easy to clean them. In so doing, the resort has also saved power for the air conditioning system.

With all these energy conservation solutions, Tien Dat Mui Ne saved about 82,000 kWh worth more than VND145 million annually and contributed actively to environment protection by reducing about 68 tonnes of CO2 annually.