(VNF) - The Green One UN House (GOUNH) is the first building in Viet Nam to be awarded a provisional Gold Lotus Rating from the Viet Nam Green Building Council.

Secretary - General Ban Ki-moon and Viet Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh inaugurated the Green One UN House on May 23^rd 2015—first green certified UN House in the world.

Thanking the Government of Viet Nam for its continued and unwavering support in making this building possible Mr Ban said: “The UN House in Viet Nam is the best possible eco-friendly and energy efficient office building in the region and is a testimony to UN coherence, inter-agency cooperation and teamwork.”

Secretary - General Ban Ki-moon (Source: CPV)

The UN House forms part of the wider effort to green the UN in response to the call from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in June 2007 of ‘using energy more efficiently and eliminating wasteful practices’. It was built through the adaptation, re-use and recycling of the structure of a pre-existing building which reduced the demolition works, cost and waste materials;

UN Resident Coordinator to Viet Nam, Pratibha Mehta said “In years to come the Green One UN House will help the UN both Deliver as One and Deliver Green. This means that we will deliver development results together in a much more coherent, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way.”

High-standard construction materials and insulation enables a high standard of air control and indoor air quality, contributing to a 25 per cent reduction in the energy demand. Measures are in place for staff to adopt green behavior which includes reducing the amount of printing; recycling paper, plastic and glass; turning off lights before leaving rooms; and cycling or walking to work.

The Green One UN House has been a core element of UN reforms in Viet Nam from as early as 2005 with the vision of bringing UN organizations together from ten locations across Ha Noi into a single modern and efficient building.

The House has been designed to increase collaboration through an innovation known as ‘functional clustering’ where staff from different UN Agencies sits together according to the issues that they work on in order to deliver cross-sectoral results.

The House will also set new standards for integrated Common Services with a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ delivering the same level of administration, IT and facility management services across the different organizations.

Renovation of the GOUHN began in early 2013 with over USD 9 million in financial contributions from Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Saudi Arabia.

This is the Secretary-General’s second visit to Viet Nam in five years in order to inaugurate the UN house. He will also meet with Viet Nam’s Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung and President Truong Tan Sang to discuss issues of climate change and green growth./.

( Complied by VNF )