Online Conference “Climate-Adapted Material Research for the Socio-Economic Context of Vietnam”
On 18 March 2021, the Vietnam Institute for Building Materials (VIBM), in cooperation with the University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany, held an online conference of the Vietnamese–German joint research project “Climate-Adapted Material Research for the Socio-Economic Context of Vietnam” (CAMaRSEC). The conference was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Trung Thanh – Director of VIBM.
The online conference venue at VIBM
The CAMaRSEC project is implemented simultaneously in Germany and Viet Nam with the participation of the University of Stuttgart (Germany); the University of Hamburg (Germany); the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (Holzkirchen, Germany); the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (Stuttgart, Germany); TAURUS laboratory (Germany); the vocational construction school Baubildung Sachsen; VIBM; the National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE), Hanoi; Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), HCMC; and the Construction College (CUWC), Hanoi.
The project aims to implement and develop energy saving, resource saving and sustainable construction practices in general in Viet Nam’s construction industry through cooperation in promoting research, training, education and the transfer of scientific results – foundations supporting the core elements of interdisciplinary problem analysis and basic research in construction and planning practice.
The conference opened with remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Trung Thanh – Director of VIBM; Dr. Dirk Schwede – University of Stuttgart (Germany), CAMaRSEC Project Director; Ms. Ute Arnold – representative of the Vietnamese–German Office for Sustainability Research in Viet Nam; and Mr. Weert Börner – Deputy Ambassador and Economic Counsellor, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Viet Nam. Mr. Nguyen Cong Thinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Construction, introduced the Vietnamese Government’s policies and programmes for sustainable construction.
The main content of the conference consisted of presentations of the scientific research results of each project component:
- The results of Component 1 were presented by Dr. Dirk Schwede (University of Stuttgart) and Dr. Pham Thi Hai Ha (NUCE). The report updated the progress of six project activities: climate analysis, building audits and measurements, life cycle assessment of building materials, labelling and evaluation concepts for building materials, teaching materials on building materials, and textbooks on energy and resource saving.
- The results of Component 2 were presented by Dr. Michael Waibel and Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy (University of Hamburg), Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan (NUCE) and Dr. Ngo Le Minh (TDTU). Two important activities of Component 2 were the establishment of the Centre for Capacity Building in Sustainable Building – Vietnam (CCSB-VN) and a survey assessing cultural factors, awareness and energy-use habits of households living in apartment buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
- The results of Components 3 and 4 were presented by Dr. Le Thi Song (VIBM) and Prof. Dr. Hartwig Künzel (Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics). The report covered the investment in equipment and the construction of a laboratory and field test site to study the effects of weather factors such as temperature and humidity on the thermal properties of building materials. The team concluded with findings on hygrothermal simulation for building systems in Viet Nam.
- The results of Component 5 were presented by expert Michael Wieczorek (Baubildung Sachsen vocational construction school). The report shared research results on preparing vocational training materials for construction workers in Viet Nam.
The panel discussion brought together domestic and international experts experienced in sustainable construction in general and in Viet Nam in particular, including Mr. Nguyen Quang Hiep – Deputy Director of the Department of Building Materials, Ministry of Construction; Ms. Vu Thi Kim Thoa – consultant for the Public Environmental Education Project (PEEP); Ms. Do Ngoc Diep – International Finance Corporation (IFC); Mr. Andreas Gruner – expert, German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ); Mr. Hoang Manh Nguyen – Director of the Green Urban Development Research Institute; Mr. Tobias Kuester – green building architect; and Mr. Yannick Millet – consultant, United Nations Development Programme in Viet Nam (UNDP).
Participants highly appreciated the significance of the CAMaRSEC project in the Vietnamese context and the results presented. Delegates shared information on programmes being implemented in Viet Nam and expressed interest in further results of each component. The discussion opened up many opportunities for connections between partners.
The conference ended with an open discussion and summary by VIBM’s representative and closing remarks by the CAMaRSEC Project Director. In the coming period, the project team will continue research on the next activities to achieve the project objectives. The conference concluded successfully and the presentations were highly appreciated for their technical quality. The German Deputy Ambassador offered his congratulations and expressed interest in supporting the next steps of the project.
For its part, with the support of the project and German experts, VIBM has completed the investment in and construction of a laboratory for energy-efficient materials, capable of fully testing the thermal properties of building materials (masonry materials, finishing materials, glass, doors, etc.). VIBM has jointly studied and compared test results with the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (Germany) and agreed on a plan for further research.
Closing the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Trung Thanh said: VIBM is very pleased that the online conference took place as planned and attracted many participants, including experts and representatives from the German Embassy in Viet Nam, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Science and Technology, international organisations (GIZ, UNDP, IFC, etc.), universities, research institutes and domestic and foreign enterprises in the construction sector. VIBM has affirmed its role, efforts and research cooperation through the results reported at this conference. He also thanked the organisations, experts and all those who have accompanied VIBM, and hoped that close cooperation between VIBM and related partners would facilitate further research and achieve the set objectives.
Photos from the online conference on 18 March 2021:
Tam Nguyen
