Within the framework of the Green Office Project, on November 2nd, 2018, at Saigon Prince Hotel, Asian Institute of Technology in Vietnam held a conference, “From Grey to Green”, with an initiative to “upscale and mainstream Green Office lifestyle in Vietnam.”

Cao Thang Technical College is one of the eleven offices in Vietnam to be certified as Green Office level 1 and 2.

Each faculty and office has one volunteer who was supported by the project to take part in a training program, after which these pioneers could develop appropriate initiatives to “change human behaviours, aiming towards the Green Office,” first by changing staff’s behaviour towards sustainable consumption.

Training activities by groups of volunteers from Cao Thang Technical College

Through inspirational training activities, practical work, assessment, maintenance and standardization, staff’s consuming behaviors were established and maintained to achieve specific objectives:

• Reduce offices’ operating costs
• Reduce environmental impact
• Create a healthy and professional working environment
• Establish a sustainable living and working culture

After more than one year of implementation, by specific actions, the project has recorded positive results on the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and operating costs. The following chart shows some notable results.

The figures above indicate that Green Office is becoming one of the managing and operating tools, resulting in a decrease in operating costs due to reduced electricity / water / paper consumption, as well as reduced environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh - Vice Rector of Cao Thang Technique College received Green Office Certificate from the Project Director

As an institution of vocational education, in parallel with ensuring training quality in accordance with international standards, greening the educational environment is not merely a motto of all faculty of the college. Rather, they set an excellent example for students in reducing carbon footprint and emission impacts on the environment. Especially, lecturers and students of Cao Thang Technical College have proved that changing behaviours towards sustainable consumption is very effective without any requirement of financial investment.

By Binh Ngo