This document outlines the terms of reference for an environmental impact audit of the MEET-BIS Vietnam energy efficiency and water saving project. The audit will (1) calculate potential CO2 reductions from energy efficient and water saving products sold to SMEs, (2) verify product usage with SME interviews, and (3) assess stakeholder awareness of environmental impacts. The consultant will develop a methodology, conduct a desk study and SME sampling, consult stakeholders, and produce draft and final reports summarizing the audit's findings. The audit aims to establish the project's environmental impacts from 2013-August 2013 in Vietnam's Hanoi region.

1. Terms of Reference
MEET-BIS Vietnam
Environmental impact audit
Duration: From May 2013 – August 2013
1. Country/ Region
Vietnam, mostly urban areas in and around Hanoi
2. Background
2.1. Introduction
Over the past 4 years MEET-BIS (Mainstreaming Energy Efficient Technology through Business
Innovation Support) Vietnam has been implementing an Energy Efficiency and Water Saving program
for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This project is funded by the EU Switch Asia Programme,
switching Asia to Sustainable Consumption and Production. Partners in the project are ETC
Foundation, Triodos Facet and Aid Environment in the Netherlands and RCEE and IBCI in Vietnam.
The project has been supporting suppliers of energy efficient and water saving products to sell in the
SME market. This market had been largely neglected thus far, since it has been easier to sell to large
companies. Through support from the project, and leading by showing the suppliers have started or
increased their sales to SMEs. The SMEs are in the Hotel, Restaurant, Office Building, Textile/
Garment and Food processing sectors.
For more information please see our website: http://meet-bis.vn
2.2. Rationale for this assignment
The Energy Efficient (EE) and Water Saving (WS) products that have been sold during the years of the
project's operation, are assumed to have a positive impact on the environment, as they intend to
reduce the amount of electricity needed by the SME, and/or the amount of water used by the same.
The exact level of reduction varies per EE/WS product. , The EE/WS products that are most common
in our project are:
Light – LED, T10-T8-T5, compact
Solar Water heater
Solar battery
Heat Pump System
Variable Speed Drive
Energy Monitoring Software
Water saving showerheads, cranes (with an impact on energy via hot water reduction)
Double button toilets
Energy Audit Services
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2. This study will assess the potential / indicative impact these products & services have on Energy and
Water savings and thus on the environment. This is measured in Co2 reductions.
2.3. Geographical focus
The SMEs (appr- 400 direct, and some extra indirect) that have bought EE and WS products are
located in and around Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hai Long, Hung Yen, Nam Dinh. Some of them
(representative ones)should be visited; it is however envisaged that the evaluation will be largely a
desk study. The project office is located in Hanoi.
2.4. Target group orientation and stakeholder involvement
The target audience of this study are the project partners, Switch Asia (the network facility) and the
EU.
Stakeholders that will be involved in this study are the SMEs, that have installed EE/WS products,
SMEs that have attended our activities/or have been reached by our newsletter and did not buy EE
or WS products, policy level stakeholders that have been involved in our activities and other projects
that we have cooperated with.
3. Objectives
The goal of this study is to:
 Establish the potential environmental impact of the energy efficient and water saving products
that have been sold under the MEET-BIS project.
The specific objectives towards this goal is to:
 Calculate the potential CO2 reductions these EE and WS products have
 Verify with some SMEs whether these products are still in operation and used correctly
 Establish the impact of our project with regard to knowledge about EE and WS on other
stakeholders
4. Scope of Work
4.1 Task 1: Theoretical framework/methodology development
The study will start with developing the methodology and theoretical framework for the assignment.
The exact method and formula used for calculating the potential CO2 reductions from the energy and
water saving products will have to be developed and verified by the external expert on CO2
calculations. The project team will recruit someone to do this verification.
4.2 Task 2: Desk Study
Based on the number of sales and the product types that have been sold, the potential CO2
reductions will need to be calculated. Where possible the project team will provide specific
information about the products that have been sold, of this is not available the consultant will be
asked to take a sample of some of these sales in order to establish the most common product type.
Assumptions need to be defined how the formula to calculate the potential Co2 will be applied on to
total database of SMEs bought EE/WS products, based on the representative sample of SME’s
4.3 Task 3: SME sample
After the desk study, a sample of SMEs will be interviewed/visited in order to establish whether the
projects are still in use, and if they are actually as energy and water saving as has been calculated.
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3. This is verify the results of the desk study, and at the same time to establish the actual use of the
products in practice.
4.4 Task 4: Stakeholder consultation
During the project period many people have been reached with information on EE and WS benefits,
and have been informed about the effect on the environment. For those people that have not
actually bought products, it is interesting to assess whether the project has influenced their level of
awareness about the positive impact EE and WS products have on the environment. This is more of a
qualitative aspect of the study, and the goal will be to see whether their knowledge about this topic
has increased as a result of their involvement with the project. The stakeholder consultation will
have 2 components; (1) Associations, Other projects, Policy level stakeholders and (2) SMEs that have
participated or have been reached by our activities, but have not bought any energy efficient or
water saving equipment.
4.5 Task 5: Draft Report & Peer Review
Based on the information gathered above this will be presented in a report to the project partners
and a reference committee for peer reading. Feedback from the review process will be incorporated
into the final report.
4.6 Task 6: Final Report
The final report will be the draft report including the processed feedback from peer reviewers and
also includes all information from the preceding steps as annexes to the report. Also a latest updated
number of SME’s that bought EE/WS products during April - June period (and provided midst July)
need to be incorporated in the final calculations The consultant will also make a short summary of
the final report, and a power point presentation of the summary. This will be used by the project
team to present the findings in meetings, and should therefore have a professional design.
The Potential environmental impact need to be totalized and split per product and per technology
supplier.
Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Methodology
Desk study
SME sample
Stakeholder consultation
Draft report and peer review
Final report
Note: we will have 2 steps: the initial calculations based on the April consolidated view, and then an
update based on the July numbers. I.e. in August the calculations need to be refreshed to incorporate
the April-June sales numbers.
5. Deliverables
The consultant will be required to deliver the following project outputs:
Task 1 Item 1 Inception report –incl. proposed changes to the scope of work, 25 May 2013
theoretical framework/methodology
Task 2 Item 2 Results desk study 29 June 2013
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4. Task 3 Item 3 Results SME sample 29 June 2013
Task 4 Item 4 Results stakeholder consultation 29 June 2013
Task 5 Item 5 Draft Report 20 July 2013
Task 6 Item 6 Final Report 16 Aug 2013
6. Coordination and Reporting
The consultant will report to the responsible project team member of the MEET-BIS project, to be
announced at a later point in time. All documentation is to be provided in English.
Consultants are encouraged to form consortia to combine expertise.
7. Profile of the Expert/s: Experience and Qualifications
Proposals will be accepted from either individual consultants meeting all of the requirements below,
or from a consulting firm which is able to field a team of specialists meeting the same requirements.
The consultants’ team should include experts with:
 Masters degree or equivalent in Environment, Energy or related fields;
 Extensive experience with CO2 calculations;
 Extensive experience with evaluations of energy and environment projects;
 Experience/knowledge about EE/WS in Vietnam;
 Fluent in English and Vietnamese.
8. Proposal submission
The proposal should clearly indicate the proposed approach and include a work plan, as well as
CVs and a budget. Maximum number of pages for the approach and work plan is 5 pages.
The proposal should be send to Ms. Van Anh, by email: anh.do@meet-bis.vn.
Questions can be asked latest 7 April 2013
Deadline for sending the proposal is 14 April 2013.
Planned schedule of shortlisting is April 15-16, Notifications on 17 April and presentation of
proposals on Thursday 18 April. Please keep this date available
Starting date of the project is scheduled on 1 May 2013
9. Other Provisions
Funding from EU Switch Asia should be acknowledged in relevant project-related documents and
publicity (consult with the project team concerning issues and use of logos and corporate
design).
The MEET-BIS project team will provide the consultant with a format for the evaluation report
and the power point presentation.
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