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.

Having achieved those results, The Landmark Building won the first prize in the competition “Energy efficiency Building” for renovated building category, organized by Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2009. In another recent competition for energy efficiency buildings in South East Asia in 2010, this building again won the third prize for renovated building.

Chief Engineer Nguyen Thanh Vinh said: “Thanks to the efforts of all managers and staff of the building, in 2009, The Landmark saved a total amount of 2.2 million kWh, reducing 51% of its electricity consumption while cutting down a thousand tons of total carbon dioxide emission released into the environment. Currently we are working with independent consulting agents to continue researching and bettering our energy saving measures in order to attain further saving target of at least 10 to 15% reduction in electricity consumption.”

The Landmark Building, property of Burotel International Joint Venture Company, was put into operation in 1995 with 16 stories and a usable area of over 20.7 thousand square meters. In its original design, the building’s energy consumption system showed many problems leading to power waste. After renovating 80% of its area, it is estimated that the air conditioning area has saved 53 kWh per square meter per year; the lighting system saved 8 kWh per square meter per year if used for 2000 hours per year.

It is worth mentioning that even with increasing demand for electricity and a growing number of electrical devices installed, there is no significant difference shown when comparing the electricity consumption report table of The Landmark over the years 2008, 2009 and the first six months of 2010. The average amount of power consumption of the building is around 3.9 million kWh per year.

Advantages from its location

Located at number 5B Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, The Landmark has a rather favorable location, surrounded by plenty of green trees and directly facing the Sai Gon River. Trees and river help create a cool, windy place and harmonious landscape for the building.

Aware of the building’s geographical advantages, architects have chosen to tile the concrete-framed surface of the building in order to create the shade effect and significantly reduce the amount of heat absorbed into the building. 60% of its wall area is glass, which does not only take full advantage of natural lighting but also make it easier for air to flow into and out of the building.

In addition, the light yellow Ceramic tiles on the building’s surrounding walls make the walls become waterproof and heatproof. Ventilating cells increase air flow to prevent the buildup of heat radiation inside the building.

To take full advantage of natural winds and cool atmosphere, the ventilating windows and doors system is carefully designed. Besides normal glass windows, the building also uses heat-radiation-proof glass. Being active in designing its glass window system and using preventative methods to avoid the penetration of solar radiation, The Landmark has significantly reduced the amount of electricity for lighting and air conditioning.

In addition, the logical use of different areas has further increased the energy efficiency level of the building.  At The Landmark, most of the terrace area is used for building restaurants. Sports areas, swimming pool and greenery system all contribute to enhancing natural air flow and heatproof effect, creating a cool atmosphere for the roof and other areas.

Efforts from the enterprise

Being put into use in 1995, the air conditioning system and the central air conditioning unit of the building is no longer appropriate after such a long time operating. Thus, the company in charge of the building decided to carry out a solution, in which the central air condition system can automatically adjust its temperature according to the outside temperature, in order to cut power consumption. This solution has helped The Landmark save 1.8 million kWh per year, equivalent to 59% of its normal electricity consumption, cutting down power costs by approximately 3.47 billion dong per year.

By replacing 7 water heaters in office, each has a capacity of 9 kW, by two with capacity of 2.5 kW, the building saves an average of 4 kW with each one. With the additional reduction of 51 kW in the capacity of each water heater used in restaurants, the building has saved a total of 354 thousand kWh, meaning that the power cost has been cut by 837 million dong and the amount of carbon dioxide emission released into the environment by 152 thousand kg every year.

Take the electricity system as an example, by a measure to replace engines with the ones with more appropriate operating capacity, the enterprise is able to save 119 million dong per year.

With the lighting system, the building performed a replacement of T10 bulbs with T8 and T5 bulbs, together with using 5W compact lighting bulbs instead of Halogen lamps; replacing incandescent bulbs, high voltage headlamps. The lighting system was also adjusted, cutting all unnecessary lighting bulbs. With all these measures, the amount of electricity for lighting is reduced by 52%, saving over 565 million dong for the business.

In large multi-functional buildings like The Landmark, good energy management plays a very important role. Aware of this importance, management and maintenance process draw special attention. By using tools for energy management to monitor, supervise and collecting data, the building’s managers are able to give timely and appropriate solutions for energy issues. Every year, detailed maintenance and replacement plans for each device are drafted in order to maximize the device’s energy efficiency and therefore save more power for the whole building.

Along with good management, an indispensable part of any energy efficiency plan is a training program. The Landmark has managed to implement the training program to improve awareness of all staffs and customers on energy efficiency.

With all those efforts, The Landmark deserves the title “Green Building” of Vietnam, greatly encouraging other buildings on solving energy efficiency issues and more importantly contributing to the success of  the Vietnam’s National Target Program on using energy efficiently.

By Nguyen An