Energy labeling for construction materials or promoting a new model - ESCO energy service company both contribute to saving and efficient use of energy, reducing emissions, protecting the living environment...
Discussing in the hall on May 28, 5, National Assembly deputies affirmed that the amendment of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy is very necessary and has very important political significance for the commitment to zero net emissions by 2025, contributing to ensuring national energy security, reducing social costs, improving competitiveness, and meeting the requirements of sustainable development in the new period.
CONSTRUCTION IS ONE OF THE MOST ENERGY-CONSUMING INDUSTRIES
Commenting on the addition of regulations on energy labeling for construction materials in the draft law, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan, National Assembly Delegation of Tra Vinh province, pointed out: construction is one of the industries that consumes the most energy today. According to the World Bank, this industry accounts for 36% of total global energy consumption and nearly 40% of CO2 emissions.
In Vietnam, more than 60% of electricity in buildings is used for air conditioning and lighting, mainly due to the use of inefficient construction materials. The delegate cited many times attending seminars at administrative buildings, although it was very cool outside, the air conditioning was still on inside the building. “If we use good insulating glass with standard energy labels, we will both save electricity and avoid wasting money,” the delegate said.
Delegate Tran Quoc Tuan, National Assembly Delegation of Tra Vinh province: Construction is one of the most energy-consuming industries today.
According to the delegate, countries around the world, the EU, the US, Singapore, and Japan have long applied energy labeling for construction materials, not only saving energy but also improving business competitiveness.
“However, when implementing this regulation in Vietnam, it will inevitably face difficulties such as lack of criteria and national standards for many types of materials, the small number of qualified testing laboratories, high testing costs and weak post-inspection mechanisms.”
Based on this reality, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan proposed that the Government should direct the implementation of regulations on energy labeling for construction materials. Accordingly, a roadmap for mandatory labeling should be issued for a number of construction materials that have a major impact on electricity consumption, such as construction glass, construction materials, and insulation materials.
Along with that, build a system of Vietnamese standards on energy efficiency for construction materials in sync with international standards; socialize testing and certification activities.
Delegates also recommended regulations on the application of QR codes and digital platforms in the production and trading of this type of material to trace transparent energy labels, helping consumers who do not need to be engineers to understand how good the product they are using is; at the same time, there should be a strict post-inspection mechanism and strict handling of intentional violations.
“If we can do this, I believe that energy labeling for construction materials will truly become a tool to promote sustainable, economical and civilized development of the construction industry,” emphasized the delegate of Tra Vinh delegation.
Delegate Do Ngoc Thinh, National Assembly Delegation of Khanh Hoa province.
Also interested in the content of increasing transparency in energy labeling, delegate Do Ngoc Thinh, National Assembly Delegation of Khanh Hoa province, stated: regulations on energy labeling and information disclosure are necessary but lack inspection, monitoring and compliance mechanisms.
Delegates proposed to add regulations on the responsibility of management agencies in periodically inspecting and handling violations of businesses that do not comply with energy labeling, especially on e-commerce platforms. There should be specific regulations on publicizing the list of violating businesses to protect consumers...
The draft law also mentions greenhouse gas emission reduction and green technology transition, but delegates said that there are no specific regulations on harmonizing international standards such as the Paris Agreement or commitments at the COP Conference. Therefore, "it is necessary to add a provision requiring the management agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction to develop a specific roadmap to synchronize technical standards and energy norms with international standards. This will help Vietnam meet international commitments and attract green investment", delegate Do Ngoc Thinh suggested.
RESEARCH TO MORE CLEARLY DEFINE THE BUSINESS MODEL OF ESCO ENERGY SERVICES COMPANY
Regarding the development of the ESCO model, Energy Services Company, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan agreed with the Government to develop a mechanism to support the development of the ESCO model. “This is a mutually beneficial model, the user saves on electricity costs, the investor gains more profit. Therefore, if we do not have an incentive mechanism soon, we will miss a great opportunity.”
In fact, there are currently about 25 countries in the world that have successfully applied the ESCO model, considering it a market tool and an important pillar to promote energy transition. In China, thanks to financial support and tax exemptions from 1996 to 2000, the ESCO industry has 6.000 enterprises generating revenue of more than 82 billion USD, leading the world and helping to reduce more than 100 million tons of CO2 per year.
In Korea, there are over 300 ESCO companies operating strongly thanks to the state Energy Saving Fund. In the EU and the US, there are standard EPC contracts with tax incentives and green credits accompanied by clear, transparent, paperless independent audits.
In Vietnam, there are currently about 200 small businesses operating under this model. However, delegates said that there is currently a lack of financial support and credit guarantees for ESCO businesses, and a lack of an independent measurement and monitoring system.
Therefore, the delegates proposed that the Government urgently direct the establishment of a credit fund to promote the use of energy saving and efficiency as stipulated in the draft law. The fund allows ESCO enterprises to access capital and receive green credit guarantees, issue green bonds, and reduce taxes for high-performance projects, while also developing a set of international verification and measurement criteria and socializing monitoring activities, thus creating trust in the market.
Delegates affirmed that energy saving is an invisible source of income and developing the ESCO model is not only a technical issue but also an important shift in management and investment thinking.
Delegate Tran Van Tuan, Bac Giang delegation expressed his opinion.
Also contributing to this content, delegate Tran Van Tuan, National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang Province, emphasized the need to supplement regulations on Energy Service Companies. This is a new and effective business model in many developed countries, but in Vietnam, this company model is not popular, and its spontaneous operations are facing many difficulties.
However, according to delegates, the regulations on the business model of energy service companies and energy efficiency contracts as in the draft law are still unclear and inappropriate.
Specifically analyzing the business model of the company, the draft law stipulates that the energy service company has a business model that uses efficient and energy-efficient contracts. According to the delegate, when talking about the operating model of a company, it is talking about the way of organizing, operating and managing resources such as human resources, finance, and materials to create products or services to achieve business goals.
Each company can choose different operating models depending on its business sector, scale and development strategy such as parent company model, subsidiary model, direct sales model to consumers, model of providing products and services to other businesses, energy is only a legal tool in business activities, it should not be considered as the company's business model.
Therefore, "it is necessary to study and specify more clearly in the draft law on the business model of energy service companies or assign the Government to make specific regulations," the delegate suggested.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long.
Speaking to clarify some issues raised by delegates related to the establishment of a Fund to promote the use of energy economically and efficiently, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long said that this content has been oriented in Resolution 55 of the Politburo.The Deputy Prime Minister cited that, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the past 10 years, there has been about 300 million USD from various funding and credit sources, but there has not been a centralized mechanism to exploit and effectively use this resource. Therefore, there needs to be a centralized, unified mechanism to manage and use that capital and continue to attract financial resources for this activity.
Regarding the fund's operating mechanism, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the drafting agency's opinion is that the fund will operate according to the principle of entrusting credit operations to a bank. Regarding the opinion of the delegate requesting further clarification of the fund's operating mechanism, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government will develop a detailed project on the establishment and operation of the fund, ensuring effective and transparent management of capital resources.
Regarding energy labeling for construction materials and some other products, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, this content is currently in the law with a management mechanism, but the way it is done has changed.
Source: https://vneconomy.vn/can-lo-trinh-dan-nhan-nang-luong-bat-buoc-cho-mot-so-vat-lieu-xay-dung.htm
