Energy & Sustainability

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 Bao Bui Gia Cao
(Group 2 leader)

Phuoc Duc Pham Viet Dai Huynh Khang Nhat Dang Thuan Minh Nguyen Kha Nguyen

(Group 2 )
…

Preface: (Bao)

We would like to thank teacher Bill and Vietnamese teacher Mrs. Loan who have support us with writing
elective. They were very kind and do not hesitate in helping us with our questions. In addition, they provided
and pointed out the mistakes which had occurred in our writing, so that we can find it easy to solve our issue.
Moreover, we would like to say thank to the presenters of Tekkon technologies company, RFR FV, R.E.E,
ARDOOR, Artelia Vietnam and especially The BIM factory for supporting and spending their time with us to
have a great online interview in elective period in other to provide value data.
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 Table of content
I: INTRODUCTION: 3
1: PROBLEM FORMULATION (TEAM) 3
2: TOPIC EXPLANATION (BAO) 4
3: REASON WHY HAVE TO LIMIT THE TOPIC (BAO) 4
II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES: 5
PART 1: THEORY SECTION 5
PART 2: METHODOLOGIES AND METHOD OF REPLYING TO THE PROBLEM FORMULATION 5
PART 3: DATA GATHERING METHOD. 6
PART 4: RESEARCH STRATEGY (BAO) 7
III, DATA GATHER FROM SURVEY: 8
1.DATA DESCRIPTION (KHANG) 8
2.DATA INTEROPERATION (KHANG) 8
3.DEFINE THE IMPORTANT OF SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE (KHA) 9
4.ANALYZE THE IMPORTANT OF SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES (KHA, VIET) 10
5.DATA DESCRIPTION CONCLUSION (KHA) 13
IV: CONCLUSION: 13
V: BIBLIOGRAPHY(TEAM) 15
1.REFERENCES 15
2.MINDMAP: (BAO) 18
3.APPENDIX: 19

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I: Introduction:
1: Problem formulation (Team)

T o begin with, countries all around the world, especially the developing countries in Asia, have achieved
remarkable economic growth rates. However, in most cases, because of focusing too much on exploiting
material and technical factors, they forget the key of sustainable development. In fact, the issues of
sustainability have been, and continues to be the problem for society in general. Therefore, the Governments
have had adopted may suitable strategies to cope with the maintenance problem of building construction, and
the agencies have tried to support the sustainability of building construction in long terms. First, by applying
green building strategies for new building. Second, applying several strategies to encourage the building use
stable such as use solar energy. Finally, encourage the building design the window as fit as better so it can get
more natural light in the building, and people in general are worried about the impact of the inefficiency use
of sustainability strategies. That it to say, It is problem also occurs in Ho Chi Minh City caused several issues,
not to mention its impact on the natural environment and affects the quality of life.

On the other hands, another aspect of the sustainability view is Humanity, it is approaching the midst of a
transition to a world where fertility rates grow with improvements in quality of life. As to keeping up with the
demands of a steady population in terms of housing capacity, more products and services must be produced
and consumed, as well as increasing demand for land, energy, and resources. This means it increase pressure
on the environment and living resources. Thus, the worries about rapidly consuming natural resources or
destroying them started to come down when enterprises started to implement something called
“sustainability strategies” into the construction process. Therefore, raising awareness about the use of
sustainability criteria in the construction industry sets the premise for economic development. The
sustainability economic construction, which helps to reduce energy use, protect the natural and social
environment, and provide a strong comfortable living environment. In the other words, sustainable economic
construction is concentrated in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, when the need to
increase people's quality of life without harming the environment will be especially urgent.

By taking the research about the sustainability, the solution has raised doubt in many years by citizen about its
effectiveness. The sustainable strategy is something new to people in the city, there have been no example of
the solution to show them its effective yet. That it to say, to assess the solution’s worth and how it impacts on
the construction process it was decided to investigate report on how sustainable building function in their
early phase. Thus, it may be seen that the report it can improve the trust of the citizens on the sustainable
development. However, there are some Family Gardens in HCMC is an excellent sample for applying
sustainability. It is the combination of studio, café, training area, food in a green area. In conclusion, it met all
the sustainable building requirement, legal and self-regulatory parameter from the industry.

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The purpose of this elective is to analyze the common features of current solution, and to propose new
approaches to issue of the “Sustainable building in maintenance building”. That it to say, sustainable building
is not a single and well-defined concept worldwide hence the constantly rising problem from it, the further in
time we go, the more uncertainty emerges suggest adopting a dynamic approach. Yet, achieving the
sustainability goals in the first year has also became a recently rising problem in sustainability terms and this
article aim to theoretically synthesize the interdisciplinary literature on sustainable goals in the first year of
operation. On the whole, the article is also for analyzing the common features of current solutions, and to
propose new approaches to the issue of solving the maintenance use in 1 st year occupation and proving the
efficiency of sustainability practices in Ho Chi Minh city by asking the question:
How can sustainability practices enhance the building maintenance in the 1st year occupation in Ho Chi Minh
City?
2: topic explanation (Bao)
The reason why we choose the aspect of sustainability in maintenance building, just because we want to
discover the initial steps maintenance after handover period, that it to say, after one year the building open
and operate, we want to ensure everything such a is sustainable in use for clients and residential when it
comes to living in the building. For instance, the consider maintenance of the building must be check in the
first year, this mean that, after one year does the building still sustainable about the energy, water, air supply,
… or does it need to repair something? And in case it needs to repair Does it need cost more budget?
In this thesis, there are several things we want to clarify and strongly concentrated to the issues. First, we
want to clarify the sustainable topic, including the definition of sustainability, how to get it, what is the aspect
of sustainability and the role of it in checking the sustainable building in 1st year open. Second, we found that
the maintenance of the building issue is also the topic for discuss include the process of maintenance and does
that stable with time? Third, combine the sustainability and maintenance into one main problem, because we
reckon that the maintenance and sustainability have something corresponded. For instance, when we think
about the sustainable it must be something stay in with time and can not broken. For instance, we consider
the energy in long use and all the things regard to the services. Moreover when we state about the
maintenance of building it is the service of the building when the building goes to operate, it will have the
maintenance services to support and it is depend on the Building management, for instance, some building
will have the maintenance for every 3 years, other building will get after open and it also depend on which
type of building such as Highrise building, hotels, apartments,….
3: Reason why have to limit the topic (Bao)
In order to elaborate on the question at hand, this research would investigate to new Highrise building which
has already operated 1 year. Main topics will include themes on how to tackle the issue of the sustainability
practices improve the building maintenance in the first year open and operation.

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II: Research methodologies:
Part 1: Theory section
Theory section (Bao)
To describe the application of the theory around the question, the pragmatism is been used in this paper.
It is considered that it has a main focus in the empirical data and practical aspects. It can be said in the other
words, the pragmatic paradigm refers to a worldview that focuses on “what works” rather than what might be
considered absolutely and objectively “true” or “real”. Correspondingly, there is the interrelation between the
pragmatics theorical and sustainable building maintenance (Dr Mohd Faris Khamidi, Arazi idrus , Olanrewaju Abdul
Lateef, 2010) stated:

“A sustainable building must be easy to maintain any way! Building maintenance constantly affects everyone’s life because people’s
comfort and productivity is relative to the performance of the building they live, learn, conduct research and work in (e.g., home,
Highrise building, schools, university) and not to mention the impact it has on social fabric and economic growth (Rendeau, Brown
and Lapides, 2006).”

As it has been constructed in the problem formulation, the sustainability has the great effect to new building.
That it to say, the pragmatism insists on the contemplating the consequences of the maintenance of the
“young” high rise building.

Focusing on the main issue, the pragmatism is support and make the research of problem formulation more
specifically. In fact ,that bears a relationship between the pragmatics and maintenance in building in focusing
many aspects such as energy, cost, systems in building,…( Jasim Aldairi, M K Khan, and J E Munive-Hernandez,
2015 ). In other words, to get a deeper understanding of relationship between pragmatics and sustainable in
maintenance( Hung Kit Lai, Francis W.H. Yik, 2006), its aids in collecting data in real world and scientific rigor to
ensure unbiased experimental analysis and reporting of results and solution. That is to say, in this particular
research paper, pragmatism is use for guiding research design, collecting data and analyze the data by
applying the scientific methods.

Part 2: Methodologies and method of replying to the problem formulation

An introduction to research methodology. (Viet)

Continue with the theory section and answer the main question, a research methodology is specific
procedures, systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the
facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s) towards
the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some theoretical formulation (Research Methodology,
2004, C R Kothari, p.13). Developing the research method is an integral part of research design by showing
that the chosen methods and techniques are the best fit for the research aims and objectives and will provide
valid and reliable results. A good research methodology is “systematic in that it is planned, organized and has
a specific goal” (Research Methodology: An Introduction by Wayne Goddard, Stuart Melville, 2001, p.1) which
provides scientifically findings, whereas a poor methodology doesn’t. This paper using the mixed method is a
combine methodology. The corroborative conclusions are given in the early state to answer the question
meanwhile there are also analyses to it for general idea beforehand come up by observing phenomena or
used a theory are approached and developed from general to the specific.

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This method using the data from the statistics and cases classified in prescribed categories collected from the
in semi-structed interview, interview, recorded, survey which is conducted online. The people taking the
interview and survey are from the design and construction company in Vietnam, they were informed an email
about it and agree to interview and answer the question in the google form link design by the team in one
week. In order to gain a better insight about the energy and sustainability strategies development, semi-
structured interview was conducted with employees from 6 informed companies. Answers will be recorded by
note-taking, saved on google form management. Meanwhile, methodology can observe the analytically
generated participant categories form the interview, idea probe. The collected data are analyzed, categorized
into section base on their similarity. By analyzing the data collecting from interview this method help clarify
answer of the questionnaire and gain a deeper understanding of participants’ knowledge and perceptions
about the sustainability in the construction industry (How to write a methodology, 2019,  Shona McCombes)
The analyzed data can help obtaining deeper understanding about the problem, solution how it worked and
proceed. Using the pragmatism in this paper and the mixed methodology is the most effective way to analysis
the problem.
Bottom-up vs Top-down Method (Phuoc)
In this theory section, there are two general methods that commonly use, firstly, top-down analysis, the top-
down analysis is how some idea beforehand come up by observing phenomena or used a theory are
approached and developed from general to the specific. The data is collected, analyzed in depth to be able to
support the ‘idea’ and finally draw the conclusion that proves the hypothesis. Secondly. Bottom-up method is
the opposite of the Top-down analysis method is that the preconceived ideas are not exit in the beginning.
Therefore, the proven data patterns will be found in different method of research in order to draw the final
conclusions of the problem.
Part 3: data gathering method.
Methods for collecting data (Phuoc)
Continuously with the method, first of all, there are two main methods: Qualitative and quantitative. A third
methodology which is mixed methods also gaining acceptance as a way to improve and substantiate research
findings. Distinguished by whether they focus on words, numbers or both which is a good starting point for
understandings. The choice of qualitative or quantitative data collection depends on the type of knowledge
that we want to develop. “The quantitative method, which has its origin based in the scientific method, relies
on statistical procedures for data analysis. In contrast, qualitative methods rely on the descriptive narrative for
data analysis” (Berrios & Lucca, 2006) and we can also take a mixed methods approach, where we use both
qualitative and quantitative research methods. Each type of method would undoubtedly bring advantages, but
there are also inevitable disadvantages.
On the one hand, to implement the Qualitative methodology there are several re-search method examples:
Video recording, Elicitation, questionnaire, unstructured, semi-structure and structure interview... The obvious
advantages of using qualitative is how flexible of the method. We can often adjust methods as we go to
develop new knowledge and can be easily conducted with small samples. On the other hand, using qualitative
method also reveals multiple disadvantages, the distinct of which is that it cannot be analyzed statistically or
generalized to broader populations and very difficult to standardize the research. Because it is subjective, the
generalization of research results to the whole is limited. Transparency of qualitative research is also lower

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than that of quantitative research for example for some sensitive issues, the researcher will keep the
respondents' identities private.

On the other hand, to implement the quantitative methodology, there are several research methods: Survey
research, correlation research, experimental research, descript,…..Major advantage of quantitative methods is
that the results are usually generalizable to large populations which improved the speed, reliability and
accuracy when it is collected using surveys. Furthermore, quantitative method is about numeric and
measurable, it lends itself well to analytics and we may uncover insights that can help better understand.
However, there are undeniable disadvantages of using this method. The most considerable of which is about
the differences in understanding of questions which occurs when the interviewee does not understand the
question posed as intended by the researcher but understands it differently and responds according to their
understanding. For quantitative research, most forms of research are not able to intervene, explain or clarify
questions for respondents. (Martin Gunnell - Research Methodologies: A Comparison of Quantitative,
Qualitative and Mixed Methods; 2016)
Mixed methodology (Phuoc)
Continue with the methods by mixing both quantitative and qualitative research and data, we could gain in
breadth and depth of understanding, while offsetting the weaknesses inherent to using each approach by
itself. Moreover, it can reflect participant’s point of view by studying participants and ensure that study finding
is grounded in participants’ experiences. However, there are some limitations that we have to consider. About
the increase of resources which are labor intensive and require greater time and money than those needed to
conduct a single method study. Secondly, mixed methods studies are complex to plan and conduct. They
require careful planning to describe all aspects of research, including the study sample for qualitative and
quantitative portions; timing and the plan for integrating data which create a challenging phase for us.
(Jennifer Wisdom, Ph.D. and John W Creswell, Ph.D.: Mixed Methods - Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative
Data Collection and Analysis while Studying Patient-Centered Medical Home Models; 2013)
Mixed methodology (Phuoc)
Finally, by mixing both quantitative and qualitative research and data, we could gain in breadth and depth of
understanding and corroboration, while offsetting the weaknesses inherent to using each approach by itself.
Moreover, it can reflect participant’s point of view by giving a voice to study participants and ensure that
study finding is grounded in participants’ experiences. However, there are some limitations that we have to
consider. About the increase of resources which are labor intensive and require greater time and money than
those needed to conduct a single method study. Secondly, mixed methods studies are complex to plan and
conduct. They require careful planning to describe all aspects of research, including the study sample for
qualitative and quantitative portions; timing and the plan for integrating data which create a challenging
phase for us.
Part 4: Research Strategy (Bao)
Along side with the research, by applying the pragmatism theory with our particular research about the
sustainability in building maintenance in Ho Chi Minh building, we chose to emphasize pragmatic aspect of our
data and analyze approaching. We gather empirical data from qualitative and quantitative sources while
keeping and prioritizing professional party. Data obtained through difference such as online questionnaire,
consent interview and literature search of similar case. Moreover, we are using Boolean search to define the

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topics, find some keywords which relate to the topics such as: sustainability, maintenance, building, etc. when
it comes to find some research materials. Furthermore, those validity databases went through a strictly
scientific rigor to ensure there is no bias.

III, Data gather from survey:

1.Data description (Khang)
In the beginning, a questionnaire structure was floated to people working at 21 different construction
companies in Ho Chi Minh city. The questions were designed in such a way that they were simple and
understandable by the respondents. Also, the header part of the questionnaire form contents helpful and
basic information about the study.
Latterly, the questionnaire is divided into 5 different parts: an identity collecting part and 4 others for
categorized questions, which also called the 4 “themes”. The first theme focuses on collecting data from the
sustainability understanding and acknowledgement of the respondents. While the second theme works on the
importance’s for both construction workers and users to understand sustainability. The third theme deals
withs the process of determine the cruciality of sustainability in the later stages, when it may promote all of its
possibilities. Last but not least, the fourth theme discusses about the benefits of sustainable construction.
2.Data interoperation (Khang)
The first part contains 4 questions that required the respondents from 10 different companies to fill in in order
to gain their personal information. The result shows that 90% of them have experience in construction
industry for over 5 years, only 10% for under 1-year experience. The professions are also varied between the
major 5: architect (40%), project manager (30%), BIM (10%), sustainability consultant (10%) and construction
(10%).
The first question asked about the approaching method to sustainability using multiple choices. The most
chosen options were “Trained by the company” and “Self-study, both got 6 people to choose. The reason
behind these two answers is because of the perception and interpretation of building’s sustainable
development have been changed in recent years (Hossein Zabiha et al. 2012), when people starting to
acknowledge the impact of climate change and the utility of sustainability in construction. Hence,
sustainability became undeniable aspect of corporate dealings this day and age (Wim Lambrecht’s et al. 2019),
making more and more companies wanted to bring sustainability technology into their businesses, rise them
to the exalted post in construction industry, so this means that many companies have training programs for
their staff. Similar case applies with the individual company worker, they have to update knowledge to the
global trends if they want to promote or simply acquire new, useful, or interesting knowledge. Equally
important, the promotion of sustainable environment in construction industry has led to the growth of
research studies on sustainable construction (Shen et al. 2002), leading to articles about sustainability are
extremely diverse on the internet as well as social media sites. That explains why there were 3 respondents
who went for the option “Social media” as the method to approach sustainability. The others are “Work
experience, clients” and “Professional and Academic training” with 1 alternative per option.
As a mentioned above, 6 respondents chose “Trained by the company” as their accession to the study.
However, in the 2nd question, 60% said “no” and only 40% - 4 respondents said “yes” for the availability of a
formal training program. That is when an unexpected option - the informal training program is taken into
consideration. Informal training occurs in the context of daily work and has been defined to include three

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types: a) time spent watching co-workers do the job; b) time spent in individualized training or feedback with
supervisors at work; and c) time spent in individualized training or feedback with coworkers at work
(Employment Opportunities Pilot Program, 1979-80). To simplify, the activity such as holding a workshop or
mentoring between staffs also count as company training program, but in informal form.
Regarding to the studies in developing market, Yang and Yang (2015) list down 4 barriers to sustainable
housing in Australia: technological and design, economic, sociocultural and institutional factors. Similar cases
are recognized in the U.S. by Mulligan et al. (2014), who state that green building costs are the most
frequently reported barrier. Economic factors are always considered as the to be the most significant
impediments to sustainable construction by both researchers and practitioners (Saleh and Alloush, 2015). Bon
and Hutchinson (2000) also addressed economic issues as a barrier towards the achievement of sustainability,
in addition to technical and policy issues. Interestingly, the data received from question number 3 shows that
“Technical” currently the most faced barrier towards respondents’ company with 7 selections, followed by
“Financial” with 6 selections. It is clearly seen that Vietnamese’s companies are still facing the same issues that
the other countries’ companies encountered many years ago. According to World Bank (2016), Vietnam, an
emerging economy, has experienced the fastest economic development since 1990s, meaning that in the last
decades, there was a significant growth of new projects. However, the development of sustainable practices in
Vietnam is still far behind that in developed countries (Nguyen et al. 2017a), explaining the fact that
“Technical” and “Financial” are the most chosen options. Lack of project team cooperation is another barrier
to development of projects (Hwang and Tan, 2012) as “Organization” factors also appeared in the chosen
options from the questionnaire. Moreover, the answers received also have, “Contractual, legal” factors (1) and
“Client” (1). Only 1 exceptional case from the sustainability consultant company, which they state that there
was no barrier obstructed them during the process of developing sustainability strategy. Green building, or
sustainability in Vietnam is still in its early stages and facing numerous challenges/barriers (Nguyen et al.
2017b). Nevertheless, it is very promising that many companies in Vietnam will overcome these five most
significant barriers as the solutions to overcome mentioned barriers are already discussed by Hai Pham,
Soo-Yong Kim, Truong-Van Luu (2020).
3.Define the important of sustainability issue (Kha)
That is to say, this is the reason why we want to learn about the urban development of cryptography and the
evolution of green buildings in Vietnam at the present time. We've created a survey of the companies listed
above on adoption rates built on companies at the moment. According to our survey, 66.7% of the
participants answered that the sustainable building acceptance rate in Vietnam is less than 20%, 22.2% of
them answered between 40% and 60% and only 11.1% of participants answered from 60% to 80%. After
filtering the information, most of the candidates with more than 5 years of experience gave an answer of less
than 20%. This shows that green building is not popular in Vietnam. But about its development potential in
this country needs to be explored further.
On the one hand, to evaluate the possibility of green building development in this country, we need historical
data. In 2015, according to the Vietnam Real Estate Association, green building projects currently account for
only 13%. Vietnam's interest in healthy construction also accounted for 28%, higher than the global average,
just behind India, China, South Africa and the US. Experts say that developing green buildings is the optimal
solution to solve the urgent needs of people in the context of serious water and air pollution today. According
to UNDP Vietnam, in 2020, construction enterprises have had many changes in their vision and development
orientation, aiming to provide the market with architectural works with many green elements and efficient
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use of energy. UNDP demonstration projects on applying engineering solutions to reduce energy consumption
in new and renovated buildings show potential energy savings of 25% - 67%/process jobs, with costs
increasing from 0% - 3% of total investment/work and a maximum payback period of 5 years. However,
according to current statistics, the total number of certified green buildings in Vietnam is only about 150
works, a rather modest number compared to other countries in Southeast Asia and around the world. Even if
sustainability is still a relatively new concept in Vietnam, companies in the construction industry have well
grasped its growth potential. According to a survey of 10 different businesses, 8 out of the total number of
companies are involved in the design, construction, management and operation of green buildings,
considering the overall factor of the building in sustainable construction from 1st quarter of last year to
present. A survey participant from ARDOR also said that his company has worked with several buildings,
especially Grade A offices and mixed-use projects.

In addition, the current green buildings in Vietnam are capable of meeting the quality requirements that
the world requires to be able to evaluate based on each local area. As of the last quarter of 2020, the rate
of sustainable construction adoption in Vietnam in green buildings achieving green certificates such as
EDGE Green Building Certificate (41 projects), LEED (83 projects) and LOTUS (31 projects) with a total floor
area of 3,325,000 m2. Although quantity is still a limitation for green building development in Vietnam,
according to the Vietnam Real Estate Association, CTX projects will reach 24% by the end of this year.
Therefore, although it is said to be still low in the adoption rate of green buildings, the development rate is
very fast.

Summing up of this theme, based on surveys and reports as well as factual data from official Vietnamese
government information sources and all sections of industry leaders, we focus on collecting data from the
understanding and sustainability of those required to create this series to learn about the approach of a
modern construction concept. affects developing countries like Vietnam, and how they see it as an
effective method to apply to the development of important spearhead economies of the country.
4.Analyze the important of sustainability issues (Kha, Viet)
(Kha part)

On the other hand, the third topic part consists of 2 questions on the third topic which deals with the process
of determining the importance of sustainability in the post-construction stages, when it can reach its full
potential. Here, we focus on how sustainability applies to project maintenance.
As for the survey, 80% of the participants answered “yes” when they were asked if there are practices
applicable to post-construction maintenance? It can be seen that the participants who answered "yes" are
from companies directly involved in the construction process such as PM or Construction. The remaining 20%
who answered "no" do not work directly in the construction sector, for they are in the supply chain and
design. This proves that contractors and managers are moving towards sustainability works because of the
quality requirements and the benefit. Because building longevity has become an important part of asset
management strategies today in many countries around the world. Today, advanced countries in the world
believe that this asset management strategy must be established on the basis of long-term quality assurance
through technical and legal measures throughout the stages from prepare investment, carry out investment
and exploitation in order to ensure and maintain the normal and safe working of the works according to the
design regulations during the exploitation and use. This is complemented and reinforced when sustainable
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construction is applied. For, an asset that needs to be maintained to ensure that its value. But in reality, this
type of property is not treated like that. The state of maintenance work is somewhat overlooked, everyone
has the feeling that houses, and buildings are assets that last a long time and only slowly deteriorate. This is
only true for rough textures, but it is no exception that many rough textures are quickly damaged due to the
effects of external loads and the environment (TRAN CHUNG, Institute of Construction Science and
Technology).
But the application of sustainability to maintenance is difficult to define in the current Vietnamese conditions.
According to Mrs. Loan (PM, Artelia VN), there are currently no certificates or specific criteria to determine the
quality of maintenance and application of sustainability for Vietnamese buildings. Especially for buildings that
have not been applied sustainability in the construction process before, applying sustainability in maintenance
to these buildings is very difficult because normal maintenance and sustainable maintenance are completely
different stages and certainly have different requirements. Instead, applying sustainability throughout the
entire process from the start of a project will make implementation easier and improve the quality of the
entire project. And/or it's not easy to repair/renovate an existing building being built.
Despite the differences, sustainable maintenance builds on what is available to reduce unnecessary
maintenance. This will help a green building bring many sustainable benefits such as saving 25% - 50% of
resources (reducing about 30 - 35% carbon emissions, saving from 30 - 50% water usage). use), and about 30%
of construction maintenance costs (Dr. Architects. Le Thi Bich Thuan, Deputy General Secretary, General
Construction Association of Vietnam). Careful planning of activities based on the actual condition of the
building can prevent unnecessary maintenance. In addition, Condition Based Maintenance makes operations
based on defects found during construction inspection.
Therefore, management in construction maintenance is a big problem for countries that are new to the
concept of sustainable construction. Therefore, some practical difficulties exist in defining and the limited
scope of maintenance as a cornerstone of sustainability, but most of these difficulties come from limited
application rather than a lack of experience in sustainable construction.
In the summing up, ensuring the longevity of the works means ensuring the satisfaction of the beneficiaries of
the works, which must be taken care of throughout the stages of investment preparation, investment
implementation and exploitation of the works under the project. It is necessary to have a vision of the quality
of construction works throughout the life of the work and see that the investment of costs from the very
beginning is necessary, it is inevitable that the works will soon degrade and not satisfy the needs of use. As for
the methodical application of sustainability in maintenance, there will still be many difficulties in the future
when management issues need to be properly ensured right from the time the project is established.
(Viet Part)
Equally important, all the persons who took the survey think the important of understanding about
sustainability construction is above 3 which mean this is necessary for their company and the industry future
growth. For instance, from the figure of question 11, it shows that the knowledge helps them to implement
sustainability to their construction, project to save and protect natural resource for future use and to reduce
waste, increase recycle material, slowdown the climate change which have huge impact on the environment.
Meanwhile, sustainable construction is a trending of the industry in the 21 st century as it fulfills the global goal.
That it to say, understanding about it help the companies grow faster and reach out the international

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environment from that it can develop the construction industry. This means that, when companies collaborate
in a big project the knowledge is needed to work together open new opportunities for them to implement
more and more sustainability into the construction. Today, many clients require sustain in their project and
knowing about it is certainly necessary to satisfy the demands. As the illustration, in the interview with Paul
from the BIM factory who have more than 30 years of working experience, they only implement the
sustainability into the building when the client requires not all of their project because the materials are
expensive and sometime unavailable in the local, he said:” The more companies apply the sustainable
construction the lower the materials cost in the future and saving a lot in long-term throughout the life cycle
of and building”. Many enterprises decide to put sustainability into practice for the benefits it brings the
economic and environment in the long-term, in order to do that the understanding is definitely playing an
important role.
On the whole, not only the people working in the construction but also the user needs to know about the
sustainability of the building they live in. From the figure of question 12, it can be said that, the lack of
understanding about sustainability is reason why clients do not consider sustainability during the feasibility of
a building development. It concludes that it is critical for client to know the long-term benefits of sustainable
construction and to create market to assist its clients to achieve both the short-term return and long-term
benefits from sustainable construction (Zhou L. and Lowe, D. J (2003), Economic Challenge of Sustainable
Construction). End users are clients. If they are more informed about the ultimate benefits of sustainable
practice, they would more likely agree to raise the budget to accommodate sustainable practice.
Analyze the benefits of sustainable from the data collection (Thuan)
On the one hand, the analyze from the question 15 state, sustainability should be applied at the design
phase of the building, since from the first process of the building being built. Moreover, sustainability is
also one of the factors of BIM orientated project, thus applying sustainability post-complete is somewhat
of the vague concept for most people as the statement above. Odd as it seems, however, sustainability is
not totally impossible to implemented after the building has been constructed.
[1]
To be more specific, “Post construction stage is the stage that the total contractor should be collecting all as
built drawings from vendors and consultants and all of which should be approved by architects, collecting
warranty manuals, maintenance manuals, certify all vendor bills after collecting all documents and attending
snags, prepare detailed statement of all vendor details with contacts of key persons for approaching client for
any kind defect created, prepare of completion certificate based on all documents & drawings, Assist in finding
suitable facility Manger, Hand overall documents and giving basic guidelines about the project to facility
manager. Certainly, implementing sustainability post construction does provide a certain number of benefits.
(DinaSalem, AliBakr, ZeyadEl Sayad – 2018)
In this case, we used to study was a private building in Pittsburgh, PA, from a construction materials and
vitality utilization angle, along three life cycle phases: Construction, occupation, and disposal. The
demonstration takes into thought life cycle costs and normal impacts considering facilitate and circuitous
associations among economy components considering 50 years lifetime. The results come in Figure below: [2]
The Table appeared to show how post-construction considered to be a vital portion in construction life cycle,
and how compelling it could be coming to any alter in the impacts of this phase. Long term plan using
sustainability when stakeholders and developers put in their mind its weight in future.

12
Additionally, applying sustainability in post-construction phase also provides some of the lesser-known
benefits such as gaining reputation since apply sustainability in post-construction stage would be a
humongous challenge for any construction company and it obviously can reduce the material cost and the
waste it produces throughout the processes.
It is undeniable that applying sustainable construction to maintenance is the total benefits not only for the
workers and the contractors but also beneficial for the end users. From the data which we gathered from the
survey – which we asked many workers in many construction fields to participate.
Half of the answers we got from the survey stated that the main advantage of implementing sustainability will
gain tremendous benefits in health. While not only beneficial for the workers but also end users of the
building beneficial from implementing sustainability to construction. It is obviously undeniable that
environment and health is the biggest gains when implemented sustainability. Since the sustainable
construction has a plethora of benefits in every stage of a construction project. Improved health due to safer
materials, better surroundings, and more efficient noise protection, (Environmental Protection Agency)
According to Environmental Protection Agency, outdoor air is two to five times less polluted than indoor air.
Building and furnishing materials, such as paints, cleaning productions and carpets, can be dangerous for
human health. The use of sustainable building can help with the purification of the air, thus proven the point
of bettering health of the users applying sustainable construction.
Second to health we got major replies which indicating the second-best benefit of implementing sustainability
is to be contributing a better environment. (Doug – 2019) By the virtue of using sustainability, the project
entitled to reduce in energy usage, for instance, using more energy efficient machinery in the building will lead
to experiencing a drastic reduction in energy demand. Thus, more efficiency in the building also lead to less
waste and the thus also lead to less pollution and it also mean lowering the total cost of the project.
Another benefits we also gain from implementing sustainability is to be contributing productivity and better
living environment, As reported by the Guardian, the environmentally friendly workspaces help employees
perform better while reducing absenteeism. The better the environment, the easier it is to concentrate and
work effectively toward the completion of tasks (Tanya Ha -2019) It has long been established that
environments make a significant impact on residents’ health. And sustainable building prevents many of
illness-building symptoms.
Other benefits we also got from the survey is cost reduction, Construction is a $10 trillion industry, but its
financial struggles can’t be ignored. With its efficiency and rework rate up to 30 percent, smart and functional
alternatives are more than necessary. Sustainable construction can provide great help in that direction.
Overall, a green building costs less than a normal building because fewer resources (e.g. water and energy) are
required for the completion of the project. Simply put, the value of the property is significantly increased with
sustainable building. (Anastasios Koutsogiannis - 2018)
5.Data description conclusion (Kha)
In summary, from this article, we synthesize, and research based on four main themes. The first topic
focuses on data collection from perception and acceptance of response sustainability. The second topic
focuses on what it means to understand sustainability in both employees and customers. This helps us
know where we are now and tap into our potential for future growth. The third theme concerns the
problems of defining the concept of sustainability later when it is important to realize its full potential
along with the difficulties that exist today, when organizational units are still quite new to this issue. In the
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future, to build sustainable development, it is necessary to have a lot of support from the state and the
cooperation of businesses. Finally, the final theme highlights the advantages of eco-friendly construction.
Because it will have a direct impact on the interests of each individual, mass, or state organization.

IV: Conclusion:
The concept of sustainability held no new concept for worker in construction and project managing industries.
Known for its variety offer in benefits in the long run. It is undeniable that sustainability in building is certainly
beneficial. However, there are still difficulties in implementing that many companies have to struggle from.
While is clearly proven through the data we gathered from the form and supporting articles. It is undeniably
obvious that by implementing sustainability, a whole lot of benefits is certainly gained such as: durability,
easier maintenance, better working site, greener material and ultimately, increasing the health and workplace
for the. Sustainability may be widely known but not every companies are formally training their employees for
the task. nor the contractor and the project manager has the control over the decision of using sustainability
in the building or not, it is the client’s wish whether to use sustainability or not, and some of the client does
not totally support the idea of implementing sustainability, And their decision is understandable. While
sustainability may sound too good to be true, while it offers a wide range of benefits it also brings along some
drawbacks that the client must consider before applying it. Preliminarily, if someone decide to use the
sustainability, it has to be implementing from the start of the project since the design stage, which means a
major change from the start and it can result in a drastic changes in the end result so it may cost more than
normal building initially. Secondly, sustainable building is involved in using better materials, machineries,
better performing technologies which can result in a tremendous rise in the total cost of the project. This is
mainly the reason why the client sometime rejects the idea of implementing sustainability. However, by using
sustainable building, all the parties involved in the project must acknowledged that using it is totally beneficial
in the long run. While the initial cost may be a lot more than normal building. But it is better for the residents
of the building and it also proven cost a lot less in maintenance fee and lowering the waste in any form the
building emits. Thus, this is a total win in a long run. The concept of sustainability itself may seem advanced
for now, but it is not anywhere near perfect, this means sustainability has room and potential for growth.
There is no refute in the possibility of the future where sustainability became more advanced and affordable
more than ever. Only then, sustainability will be welcomed by everyone.

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V: Bibliography(team)
1.References
Bao Bui

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Maintenance: A path towards sustainability, Malaysia (P47 - P49)

 Author, A.I. Che-Ani, Chohan A.H, Yahaya. H, Mohd-Tawil. N, M.F.M . Zain (2009). Sustainability in
Building Maintenance: The Design Responsibility, Malaysia. International symposium in Developing
economies: commonalities Among Diversity (P41 - P44)

 Author, M.H Hermans (2000). Sustainable Building Maintenance. Damen consultants Rotterdam, The
Netherlands (Appendix 3 to Appendix 5)

 Author, Hung Kit Lai, Francis W.H. Yik, 2006, Knowledge and perception of operation and maintenance
practitioners in Hong Kong about sustainable buildings, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

 Author, Jasim Aldairi, M K Khan, and J E Munive-Hernandez, 2015, Knowledge-based Lean Six Sigma
maintenance system for sustainable buildings, Emerald Insight

Khang

 Author, Bon, R., & Hutchinson, K. (2000). Sustainable construction: Some economic challenges.
Building Research & Information, (28(5–6), 310–314.)
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Building Research & Information, 28(5–6), 310–314.
 Author, Mulligan, T.D., Mollaoğlu-Korkmaz, S., Cotner, R., Goldsberry, A.D., 2014. Public policy and
impacts on adoption of sustainable built environments: learning from the construction industry
playmakers. J. Green Build. 9 (2), 182–202.
 Author, Nguyen, H. D., Nguyen, L. D., Chih, Y. Y., & Le-Hoai, L. (2017a). Influence of participants’
characteristics on sustainable building practices in emerging economies: Empirical case study. Journal
of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(8), 05017014.
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22(4), 2979-3003.
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  Author, World Bank. (2016). Vietnam 2035: Toward prosperity, creativity, equity, and democracy.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/23724/VN2035English.pdf
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Education Programs.
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and concepts. International Journal of Emerging Sciences, 2(4), 570. Lambrechts, W., Gelderman, C. J.,
Semeijn, J., & Verhoeven, E. (2019). The role of individual sustainability competences in eco-design
building projects. Journal of Cleaner Production, 208, 1631-1641.
 Author, Peter O. Akadiri, Ezekiel A. Chinyio, Paul O. Olomolaiye (2012) Design of A sustainable building:
A concept Framework for implementing sustainability in the building sector

Kha

 Author, Akanbi Olusayo Oyebanji, Champika Liyanage, Akintola Akintoye (2017) Critical Success Factors
(CSFs) for achieving sustainable social housing (SSH), Science direct: International journal of sustainable
built environment
 Energy & Sustainability V – WITPress, H.H. AI Kayiem, C.A. Brebbia, S.S. Zubir

 CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE - Assoc. Dr. TRAN CHUNG, Institute of Construction Science and
Technology

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BUILDINGS-Rui Calejo Rodrigues, Patricia Fernandes Rocha, Professor, CEES, Gequaltec/Construct,
FEUP. (PORTUGAL) Architect, researcher, CEES
Thuan

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Sustainable design approach, Elsevier: Alexandria Engineering Journal (2)
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Environmental Impact Analysis. (3)
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 2.Mindmap: (Bao)

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 3.Appendix:
Question collect from the survey:
Question 3: How many years of experience do you have in the construction industry?
Question 4: By means do you approach sustainable construction?
Question 5: Does your company have a formal sustainability program?
Question 6: What are the barriers to process of developing sustainability strategies in your company?
Question 7: In your opinion, what is the percentage of applying sustainable construction to buildings at the moment?
Question 8: Has your company been involved in the design, construction, management and operation of any works that
have considered the overall elements of the building in sustainable construction since January 2020?
Question 9: Why did your company decide to implement sustainable construction?
Question 10 Your personal opinion about your company’s use of sustainable construction?
Question 11: From scale 1 to 5, how important is the sustainable construction understanding to people. Work in the
construction to people work in the construction industry. And explain why?
Question 12: From scale 1 to 5, how important is the sustainable construction understanding to users? And explain why?
Question 13: Are there any sustainable construction methods to improve post-completion maintenance?
Question 14: If yes, what is the different between implanting sustainable construction before and after finish stage of
the construction?
Question 15 What does the application of sustainable construction at the post-occupation stage help business or
companies achieve?
Question 16: What benefits do users gain from applying sustainable construction to maintenance in the early year after
work is done?

Figure:

Figure 15.: Economic and environmental impact analysis for Pittsburgh case study

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Figure of question 4:

Figure of question 5:

Figure question 6

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Figure question 7:

Figure question 8

Figure question 9:

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Figure question 11:

Figure question 12

Figure question 13:

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Figure question 16:

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