The Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced two national contestsfor effective energy management in buildings and by industries and amedia award for energy efficiency.

The Competition for Energy Efficient Buildings is divided into threecategories — new and existing buildings, tropical buildings, andretrofitted buildings.

Tropical buildings refer to thosewith only 50 percent or less of its gross floor area havingair-conditioning, gross floor area of more than 500 square metres andthat are 15 years old or less.

The first prize is worth 5million VND in each of them, while the second and third prizes are worth4 million VND and 3 million VND.

The Energy Management inBuildings and Industries Competition is open to all buildings andindustrial facilities that have operated for at least two years andconsume at least 1 million kWh of power a year in case of buildings and 2million kWh in case of industrial facilities.

The firstprize in each of the two categories is worth 3 million VND while therewill also be a prize worth 3 million VND for innovative energymanagement.

Buildings and industries account for half ofthe country's total energy consumption, Phuong Hoang Kim, deputy head ofthe ministry's Science and Technology Department, said.

Effective energy management in buildings and industries, which couldsave 20-35 percent of power, helps them cut costs and aids the nation'senergy security, he added.

Journalists can participate inthe media award for energy efficiency by sending in written, pictorial,audio, and other electronic entries related to energy and energyefficiency.

The annual competitions are organised by theministry's Energy Conservation Office along with the HCM City EnergyConservation Centre and Hanoi Energy Conservation Centre to promoteenergy efficiency./.