Constructing green buildings is more than just a trend, it is also a fulfillment for an architect as a provider of one of the basic needs of humankind, shelter, while hitting another goal which is to help the environment.
But what makes a building green or environment-friendly? How would an architect employ these principles in building design?
To answer these questions, workshops, seminars, and researches are available to those who are already in the construction field as professionals. Although they say that learning is a continuous process, there is still an advantage in getting ahead. Also, it has a significant difference when one has started late in gathering knowledge versus if the knowledge is already at hand.
Fortunately, in Vietnam, Nguyen Cong Thinh, The vice director of Science, Technology, And Environmental Department at the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction, has noticed this and has pointed out that while these workshops and seminars are very helpful there should also be available well-rounded courses on green building construction for students.
So, in February, the Office of the vice director has started working with the Swiss government and the International Finance Corporation, World Bank's lending agency, to come up with an action plan and the funds to bring this kind of courses to the college campuses. The concepts, "training of the trainers," expresses their goal in establishing the courses, which is to teach students about the resource efficiency principles. In the future, these students, the future trainers, will be able to hand down there knowledge to the next batch of students
According to the property, the lead developer, Jones Lang LaSalle Vietnam, there is an 8.8% expansion in the construction and industrial sectors in 2018. Vietnam is looking for ways to mitigate the anticipated environmental toll that the country could face, especially now that they are in the phase of their fast-growing construction industry, and their country has 3000 km of coast along the South China Sea -- both factoring in the country's vulnerability to disastrous natural phenomenon. Vietnam is well-aware that they could be devastated if global warming gets even more severe.
Thinh expressed his excitement in introducing the course to those that he called future architects and future engineers in an internationally recognized format which offers a global perspective and a local context.
"Training of the Trainers" could be the key in coping with their country's vulnerability.
Important topics included in the course are bioclimatic design, where the students will learn how to design according to the surrounding environment, and improve efficiency in design especially in specifications such as installing dual flush toilets and choosing the right materials that would be less harmful to the environment.
