EDGE Final shows investor’s commitment in implementing green criteria

Capital House has recently received the EDGE final certificate for A1 and A2 Buildings of EcoLife Capitol. Mr. Trinh Tung Bach, Director of Research and Development Division (R&D), tells the difference between the EDGE final certificate and the EDGE design certificate as well as its meanings for both the investors and residents.

Congratulations to you and Capital House on receiving the EDGE final certificate for A1 and A2 Building of EcoLife Capitol. As far as I know, the building also received a green certificate for the design previously, would you tell us the difference between the EDGE design and the EDGE final?
We are honored to receive the EDGE final certificate for the EcoLife Capitol project. This is our most enthusiastic project where our company also headquarters currently. Previously, the EcoLife Capitol has received four green certificates, including two EDGE certificates for the design phase. The EDGE final certificate is a complete step for this green project.
The first important thing that investors who want to build green building must ensure is the construction drawing meeting the green criteria. Green design certificate is just the beginning. During the construction, the investor may possibly change the drawings, or fail to follow the green criteria. The final green certificate received in phase of completion is the commitment for what the investor has done. That is the biggest difference.
Another difference is that during the design phase there are some sections that are not suitable or need improvement, then the final green certificate can prove these parts. On actual implementation, the investor can apply even better green criteria than the drawings to make the building perfect.
EcoLife Capitol, for instance, wall insulation was not in the basic design but during the construction, we noticed that the wall for the west side absorbs large heat, so we used the thermal wall insulation for the building. This helped to cool down the heat absorbed in the western wall.
Are you putting yourself in a difficult situation when not following the initial design that have been signed with customers?
Every change that Capital House made is for residents. The measures taken must minimize the negative impact on the people, so we only make it better, not worse. We know that no customer will object this if they were provided with full information. Customers always know what is good and what is not good.
All apartments in A2 Building of EcoLife Capitol face the West, so we decided to invest each additional over VND3 million for the wall insulation. Simply calculated, the construction costs have been added much when applying wall insulation for 34 floors. Besides, the area used in EcoLife Capitol is only 38.5%, lower than 40% of regulation. In fact, investors must sacrifice to some extent if they want to build green buildings.