Application of new technologies - Making green materials in construction

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong, Director of Bac Ninh Viglacera AAC JSC introducing the ALC Panel production project.
 

The reporter had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong, Director of Bac Ninh Viglacera AAC JSC (Viglacera Company) on the application of new technologies at the Company to create quality products with competitive prices in the market.

Reporter: In order to get the current quality products and brands, what specific supports does the Company have from Government agencies?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: In the past time, in addition to promoting the internal strength of the Company in particular and the Corporation in general, we have received significant support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Construction, especially the technical consultancy activity on “Improving production efficiency and energy use for Viglacera AAC Brick Plant, Bac Ninh” of the NFB Project Management Unit (PMU). This is one of the important technical consultancy activities to improve production efficiency, energy saving and to protect the environment for non-fired building material production businesses.

In addition, Viglacera also received the support of scientists in the field of building materials, energy audit with simple solutions, suitable to the actual conditions of the business; Training support, not only received support in the production, but also support in training so that users know, use products and provide instruction in construction works. This has brought many positive effects based on the conditions and resources of the business.

Reporter: Could you tell more about the specific support?
 

     

Cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the Science and Technology Project “Researching and manufacturing the AAC brick production line with the capacity of 200,000m3/year”. 
 

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: In addition to benefiting from the direct support of the National project with research funding, equipment design and manufacture of AAC bricks with a capacity of 200,000m³/year, Viglacera also received many technical advices to improve production efficiency and energy use, Viglacera also benefited from the support of the Project for AAC industry as providing funding to review and issue 3 standards for light weight concrete: TCVN 7959:2017 (Light weight concrete - AAC products - Technical requirements) and TCVN 9030:2017 (Light weight concrete - Test methods) .

Especially, the Project also provided funding for implementing the activity “Developing scientific and practical bases to identify technical criteria and testing methods of reinforced AAC wall panels manufactured in Viet Nam” as a basis for drafting 3 standards for AAC wall panels: Product standard, test method standard and construction & acceptance standard - These are the key and potential products for development of Viglacera Company, if these standards and technical norms are slow to issue, it is very difficult to apply in construction works.

Reporter: How does the effect impact?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: The implementation results are very effective and practical for Viglacera Company through consulting technology solutions. From the beginning, the PMU assessed, surveyed the state, properties of the material source as well as the technology and practical conditions of Viglacera Company from which to advise on the investment process and material mix that helped us choose and deliver the best mix of materials for the products.

After a long time of testing and producing test results, the leading functional agencies and research institutes in Viet Nam have evaluated the product quality of Viglacera Company to meet the quality standard of TCVN 7959:2017 as well as European standards. Viglacera's products have been widely used in the market, especially high-end hotel projects in some provinces such as Flamingo Cat Ba, high-class resorts in Quy Nhon, and high-rise and trading building projects in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and provinces such as Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, ... Especially, investors and large contractors in construction in Viet Nam such as Coteccons Group, TSQ Group, Anphanam, ... all affirm the superiority of the products, bringing many benefits such as increasing the net area, sound insulation, heat insulation, reducing the load on the foundation, high fire resistance, saving construction time, ... for the use of panel products, AAC bricks. In particular, Viglacera's products have been exported to a number of abroad markets such as Australia, Singapore, Taiwan ...

In addition, the consultants of the Project also advised and proposed energy saving solutions during the implementation process, especially to help reduce energy and save steam because AAC bricks in the production process must use a certain amount of steam that helped save Viglacera's energy up to 20%.

Also, the policies of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Construction have been supporting Viglacera Company through encouraging the use of green materials (NFBs) to contribute to environmental protection, supporting policies on training construction workers.

Reporter: So how can NFBs in general and AAC panels, AAC bricks in particular continue to be used more widely?
 

Mr. Nguyen Van An, Consultant Team Leader reporting the results of the technical consultancy activity “Improving production efficiency and energy use for Viglacera AAC Plant, Bac Ninh”.
 

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: I think that in order to develop NFBs in general and wall panels, AAC bricks in particular, first of all businesses need to bring the best products to the market combined with enhanced communication, fully develop guidelines for use of products for investors ... besides continuing to receive further support from the Government, relevant ministries and agencies for the promulgation of Viet Nam's standards on panel products, economic and technical norms, acceptance standards ... and special support policies for businesses producing NFBs in general and AAC bricks and panels in particular.

The Government’s orientation to develop NFBs has been implemented, but actual implementation and control are still limited. In addition, the use of traditional bricks (Red bricks) by people has been a habit for many years. However, we all know that producing red bricks will have to use a lot of soil resources and the process of fired products causes great air pollution, so limiting and eventually banning the production of red bricks is essential.

At present, the policies and orientations of the Government are clear, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Construction are very enthusiastic, going into a fierce battle with many policies to support the development of the NFBs, but in my opinion, there are not enough strong sanctions to check, monitor the implementation of the policies, or consider whether the implementation is correct or not.

In addition, the NFB sector is very wide, to develop the overall NFBs, the Government should orient and focus on key products, this is also an advantage but it cannot focus on potential, cannot choose the best products of the country to put into the national and key construction works.

Looking around the world, Europe used AAC bricks more than 100 years ago, in China 100% of construction works used NFBs in general and most AAC bricks and panels. This is a product that has been selected and we also need to consult to choose the right direction and focus of NFB development.

Reporter: So, in your opinion, what is the biggest difficulty for the businesses producing NFBs now?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: In my opinion, capital and technology are not decisive factors, but the decisive factors here are policies, standards, communication and dissemination for people to formulate their needs and habits in using NFBs in general and AAC bricks, panels in particular, accompanied by sanctions, checking the implementation of policies and guidelines those have been issued.

In addition to promoting the communication of the advantages of NFBs for the public, red bricks are no longer dominant (Properties can be good, convenient, easy to use), but in overall, national, global scale, we need to change, we have to be determined to stop producing and using red bricks. Conversely, if we still go in parallel, people will still look to red bricks to use, this is the "Golden key" to create the breakthrough development for NFBs.

Reporter: What do you expect about the production and use of NFBs?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong: Currently, the regulations on economic and technical norms have not been issued fully and detailed to instruct and train the construction teams, to obtain the optimal skills that have not been universalized therefore we have to take the initiative in "on the job training" for the teams directly working in construction projects. However, large projects, large construction areas, large amount of materials will be a difficult problem for us on human resources. NFB is an indispensable development trend, cannot be changed, only sooner or later, maybe the implementation is still limited somehow, lack of key NFB products, but in my opinion, NFB products including AAC bricks and panels will be the leading products for the national NFB industry in the near future.