Urbaneconomics – The “greening” of construction materials products (construction materials) is assessed by experts to open up new markets for this industry group, bringing more profits than traditional brown products of same kind.
Improve competitiveness
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan – Director of the Institute of Circular Economy Research and Development, quoted a famous quote at the World Circular Economy Forum in 2023: “The future is circular, the future is green or no future”. Circular economy is the future of the global economy. The specific contents of the circular economy include green trade, green consumption, green brands… The circular economy must be linked to the market to encourage businesses to participate.
On the other hand, the green transformation process in businesses still faces many challenges such as finance, technology, institutions, especially in linking parties… Facing the movements of the world, Vietnamese businesses will be greatly affected by green barriers set by the international market, but at the same time forced to follow new trends when producing green products.
Solutions to develop “soft” internal resources for businesses in the context of green trade should be linked to the essence of CSR (corporate responsibility), ESG (environment – society – corporate governance), Net-Zero (zero net emissions enterprise governance solutions) in the business ecosystem to form a branding “story”.
As for Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung – Senior Head of the Department of Supply Chain Management and Logistics, RMIT University, “greening” in production is the key for Vietnamese enterprises to improve their competitiveness and participation. Deeply participating in the supply chain, promoting the export of sustainable goods.
According to a 2023 Rakuten Insight survey, up to 84% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for sustainable products. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s major export markets, typically the European Union, are implementing stricter environmental regulations and standards for products and services imported into this region.
Greening is no longer an option but an order-winning factor when exporting. From a supply chain perspective, buyers play a very important role in monitoring and collaborating to promote greening.
Industry experts also recognize that, in terms of benefits, green construction materials have many outstanding advantages, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the fight against climate change; taking advantage of waste from other industries, after use, it can be easily recycled, helping the construction industry and other industries develop sustainably. This is also a solution to help save resources and minerals.
Suggest opportunities
Currently, in the national standards system, Vietnam has built 750 standards aimed at promoting green growth such as: groups of standards on environmental quality, air quality, water quality, waste management, ISO 11041 organic agriculture standards…
According to statistics from the Institute of Construction Materials (Ministry of Construction), construction projects use about 40% of energy sources, account for 50% of emissions, create 33% of carbon emissions and 40% of solid waste. Construction has a significant impact on the environment, requiring transformation.
In addition, mineral resources are increasingly depleted, along with increasing requirements for environmental protection and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of green, environmentally friendly construction materials is gradually becoming an inevitable trend and the target of the construction materials manufacturing industry, in order to realize the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 that Vietnam has committed to the international community.
Evidence from reality shows that greening the construction materials industry is an inevitable path that businesses must choose to limit dependence on scarce resources, protect the environment and meet sustainability standards in the market. Practicing ESG (environment – society – governance) or commitments to sustainable development is no longer a choice for businesses but has become mandatory when the EU has applied a carbon emission tax under the carbon frontier (CBAM).
General Director of Secoin Joint Stock Company Vo Thi Lien Huong shared that using green materials to build an ideal living space is an inevitable trend of the times when both users and real estate investors place their emphasis on green materials. Safety and sustainability criteria come first. Today, the development of modern architecture has placed many new requirements on the use of materials. Producing “sustainable” and “green” construction materials is the “passport” to bring Vietnamese products to the world market.
As an enterprise in the field of art tile production in Vietnam, always focusing on sustainable brand development. Secoin’s products are rich in traditional values, meeting the criteria of high quality, uniqueness and authenticity.
Sustainable trade occurs when the commercial exchange of goods and services creates social, economic and environmental benefits consistent with the fundamental principles of sustainable development (such as creating economic value; reducing poverty and inequality; conserving and reusing environmental resources).
Besides, the 4 national brand criteria include product quality, uniqueness, authenticity, and willingness to buy the product. The uniqueness is that the company cooperates with famous designers in the world, providing products that meet standards, are environmentally friendly, and retain the traditional culture of the nation… Currently the product is available in the Spain, Morocco, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries around the world.
Recently, Fico-YTL Cement launched the ECOCem green label for the entire product portfolio according to sustainability criteria, according to ISO 14021:2016 emission standards. According to a company representative, Fico-YTL’s ECOCem green-labeled cement products have low CO2 emissions compared to Portland cement (850kg CO2/ton) because they are produced with fewer resources.
“By pioneering the announcement of the ECOCem green label, Fico-YTL wishes to communicate transparently to customers and consumers about its efforts in researching and developing environmentally friendly cement products, contributing to promoting a sustainable construction industry and building a greener Vietnam” – said the representative of Fico-YTL Cement Company.
Deputy Director of Module9 Joint Stock Company Pham Tuan Linh said that concrete materials are trending towards green development such as super high performance concrete, 3D printing, recycled aggregates, self-healing, graphic… with products prefabricated structural products such as Acotech wall panels, push-cast sewer pipes, Metro tunnel wall linings, 3D printing construction technology, centrifugal concrete pile technology without excess mortar, technology for building villas with structural components Precast, concrete solutions for waterway projects… are commonly used in construction today, aiming for the net zero emissions target by 2050 set by the Government of Vietnam.
According to a Nielsen report, the global market for “green” products is growing faster and more profitable than “brown” products of the same type. Faced with these movements in the world, Vietnamese businesses will be affected by green barriers set by the international market, but at the same time will be forced to compete when producing green products.
Urban economics | Thanh Luan | 19/07/2024
