The kick-off conference centered around reliable and functional solutions for the large-scale implementation of energy-efficient and sustainable building practices in Vietnam. Prof. Hartwig Künzel from Fraunhofer IBP emphasized how different the general conditions in Vietnam are compared to Germany and that particular consideration must be given to the hygrothermal properties of building materials. It is essential that building systems are developed in line with the tropical conditions; in the past, new and innovative building systems only resulted in building damage, thus discrediting energy-efficient building practices.

Dr. Le Trung Thanh, Director General of the Vietnamese Institute for Building Materials, said that while builders in Vietnam want to build sustainably, reliable solutions are needed. To implement the existing energy standards for buildings, the Ministry of Construction is currently planning to set up building physics test laboratories. Vu Thi Kim Thoa, consultant at the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, explained the importance of stressing the advantages of innovative solutions to customers and that these can be implemented effectively at little additional cost. In this context, the export of German masonry products or their manufacture locally could also be an interesting option worth examining in the course of the project. Dr. Bui Hong Hue, Rector of the College of Urban Works and Construction, underlined that - in order to implement innovative construction methods - craftsmen also need the relevant training. The implementation-based research project CAMaRSEC combines these fields of action and promotes German-Vietnamese cooperation in the field of building research and design.
 

The project partners

Together with the Vietnamese Institute for Building Materials VIBM - an institute belonging to the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction - Fraunhofer IBP is now going to erect a building physics laboratory as well as an open-air test site similar to Fraunhofer IBP’s facilities in Stuttgart and Holzkirchen, respectively. TAURUS Instruments AG will be supporting the project in the role of industrial partner.

To ensure that the necessary building standards are implemented correctly, the project partners Bau Bildung Sachsen e.V. and the College of Urban Works and Construction in Hanoi are developing training programs for Vietnamese craftsmen which are adapted both to the materials used and the local requirements.

The University of Hamburg will conduct extensive user surveys to ascertain the general climatic and use-specific conditions in Vietnam. These will be supported by indoor climate measurements carried out by the University of Stuttgart, the National University of Civil Engineering in Hanoi and Ton Duc Thang University in HCMC. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart are assessing the life cycle of building systems and are also developing in collaboration with VIBM a system for labeling building materials on the Vietnamese market. Dr. Dirk Schwede from the University of Stuttgart is the manager and coordinator of the project.

The project “Climate-Adapted Material Research for the Socio-Economic Context in Vietnam” (CAMaRSEC) being funded as a “CLIENT II - International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovations” project. It forms part of the framework program “Research for Sustainable Development - FONA” funded by BMBF to the tune of approximately 2.1 million euros under the funding code 01LZ1804A-E which will run from 7/2019 to 6/2022.