On July 11, 2024, VGBA & VILANDCO, in collaboration with One Click LCA and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), hosted the online seminar “LEED V5 & Decarbonization.”
To begin the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Director of VILANDCO & VGBA, stated that the anticipated LEED v5 version focuses on three main areas: reducing carbon emissions, enhancing quality of life, and protecting and restoring ecosystems. The primary emphasis is on reducing carbon emissions, which is expected to account for approximately 50% of the scoring. For this reason, aside from introducing LEED v5, the program concentrates on discussing decarbonization in construction projects.
At the seminar, Mr. Raymond Chan, Business Development Engineer at One Click LCA, noted that most carbon emissions in buildings currently originate from two primary sources: embodied carbon and operational carbon. Operational carbon accounts for the majority at present; however, in the near future, this proportion is expected to shift, with embodied carbon becoming the predominant emission source that requires control. Currently, there are several international standards, such as ISO and European standards, for conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for products and buildings. Green building certification systems like LEED and BREEAM have incorporated LCA into their evaluation and certification criteria. Specifically, LEED focuses on assessing LCA for structures and envelopes, emphasizing six environmental impact indicators, with the Global Warming Potential (GWP) indicator being considered the most important.
Mr. Santanu Dutta Gupta, Vice President of Market Development at GBCI/USGBC, shared during the seminar that Vietnam is ranked by USGBC as the second priority market, following only India, for green building development. Thus, there should be a focus on prioritizing training activities and updating knowledge for stakeholders to facilitate and support the implementation of LEED-related construction projects. During his recent visit to Vietnam, Mr. Santanu also visited several universities, aiming to bring LEED closer to educational programs and future engineers.
Continuing the program, Mr. Nagesh Gupta, Vice President of Customer Solutions Consulting Services at GBCI/USGBC, shared detailed insights on some features and innovations in LEED v5 compared to previous versions. It is expected that LEED v5 will officially be open for project registration and implementation starting in 2025.
Photos during the seminar
