22 May 2015 Ha Noi – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Viet Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh were welcomed by dancing dragons and beating drums as they entered the gates of the Green One UN House (GOUNH) to inaugurate the official opening of what is the first green certified UN House in the world.
The official ceremony was attended by over 60 high-level Government delegates and diplomats from missions in Hanoi including those from Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Saudi Arabia who are key donors to the building of the GOUNH.
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.
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. 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’.
Following the inauguration ceremony, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and guests took a walking tour of the GOUNH to visit first hand how the house 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.
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.
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.”
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