Science and technology of building materials for sustainable development

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hau, Director General of Department of Science and Technology for economic and technical branches (MOST) attending the conference.
 

Attending the conference were Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh, Vice Minister of Ministry of Construction; Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam; Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hau, Director General of Department of Science and Technology for economic and technical branches (Ministry of Science and Technology); Mr.  Le Trung Thanh, Director General of the Viet Nam Institute for Building Materials; embassies, institutions, academia, more than 300 researchers, scholars, experts and policy makers from about 15 countries around the world, national and international press agencies.

The conference is a diversified-topics forum to exchange, discuss and learn about best practices, innovative solutions and recent and future developments in science and technology of building materials for further development of the sustainable construction industry in Viet Nam and beyond. Its main themes include: Cement, concrete, ceramic, glass, refractory materials, fire-resistant materials, insulating materials, paints, product quality control, energy-savings, natural resources-savings, environmental protection and recycling wastes for the sustainable development in building materials and construction industry with lectures given by leading speakers.

At the conference, outstanding research results from activities of the Project "Promotion of Non-Fired Brick Production and Utilization in Viet Nam" were also shared as follows: World experiences in developing non-fired bricks and recommendations of strategical framework for the development of non-fired bricks in Viet Nam; Application of solar energy in non-fired brick production; Research the use non-fired building materials in Viet Nam; Manufacturing technologies for AAC wall panels.
 

Mr. Le Trung Thanh, Director General of the Viet Nam Institute for Building Materials speaking at the conference.
 

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Le Trung Thanh, Director General of the Viet Nam Institute for Building Materials said “The development of building materials definitely requires the application of science and technology to minimize using natural minerals, maximize using industrial by-products, save energy, protect environment and create more sustainable building material products when Viet Nam is one of the countries having the largest production of building materials in the world”.

In 2018, the production capacities of main building materials are nearly 100 million tons of cement, 706 million m2 of ceramic tiles, 16 million sanitary ware products, 260 million m2 of glass products, 18 billion fired clay bricks, 8 billion non-fired cement-based blocks, 200,000 tons of refractory products, 250 million litres of paints, etc. The cement and ceramic production sectors have the fourth largest outputs in the world.

The construction sector accounts for about one-third of global final energy use and around 35 to 40 percent of total GHG emissions worldwide and is responsible for more than a third of global material resource. These challenges are becoming more apparent in the developing countries where building stock in developing countries is expected to be more than double by 2030. Most of these emissions are the result of cement and steel manufacturing, followed by aluminum, glass and insulation materials.
 

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam speaking at the conference.
 

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam highly appreciated the close cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Construction and other relevant Vietnamese units, businesses and organizations especially through the Project "Promotion of Non-Fired Brick Production and Utilization in Viet Nam" implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Construction funded by the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme. She also highlighted “Expansion of the sustainable construction sector is critical in the context of increasing climate vulnerability and rapid urbanization, thus action is needed by the Government to create enabling policy frameworks that help shape markets where businesses generate sustainable materials and end-users are encouraged to design, use and demand sustainable construction products”.

However, in the context of climate change, the construction industry needs to shift to new directions of development, such as recycling and reusing materials from concrete components and ash by-products from coal-fired power plants for utilization, production of non-fire bricks or crushing for manufacturing building materials.
 

Participants attending the conference.
 

In addition, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen affirmed the role of science and technology in building materials for the purpose of developing the sustainable building materials industry in general and non-fired bricks in particular, meeting the increasing living standards of people while ensuring environmental protection.