In 2010, Vietnam Green Building Council (VGBC) introduced LOTUS (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Local Operation Unit), the first green building rating system that considered Vietnam's building regulations, climate conditions and construction practices. The latest version is LOTUS for New Construction V3 (LOTUS NC V3), released in April 2019.

LOTUS is the only certification program that fully complies with Vietnamese building codes, while accepting international standards and best practices in its criteria-setting work. The goal is to establish baselines and benchmarks compatible with advanced systems such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Mark.

LOTUS pays attention to projects that use nature-based solutions or green solutions to address the health needs of users, LOTUS standards believe that project ownership using scaled investment, good planning, community-oriented design, and development of many green areas are important, compatible with other technical aspects.

However, LOTUS has not been legislated. Vietnam laws on construction do not regulate, but encourage the construction, development, evaluation and certification of energy-efficient buildings, resource saving buildings, and green buildings. Government's Decree 15/2021/ND-CP, elaborating on certain regulations on the management of construction projects, defines "Green Building" as:

…a building that, in its design, construction or operation, meets the energy- and resource-efficient criteria and standards; ensures amenities and quality of life inside the building and protects environment outside the building.

Although there are no legal regulations or preferential policies, over the past 10 years, there have been nearly 150 projects evaluated and certified Green Buildings by LEED (USA), Green Mark (Singapore), LOTUS (VGBC) and Edge (IFC). These are projects with domestic and foreign capital, with the investor's awareness of the benefits they bring throughout the project's operation. Practice in Vietnam shows that the construction cost for green buildings may increase by about 1%-3%, and the benefits would last throughout the life of the project.