India is witnessing tremendous growth in infrastructure development. Hence, the need to minimise use of natural resources for the buildings construction and their associated impact on environment. A green building is one ?which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building.?
The green measures adopted by the recently constructed green buildings include preservation and reuse of fertile top soil, reduced building footprints, central courtyards, day lighting, ventilation, roof gardens to reduce heat-island impact, use of treated grey water for irrigation and air conditioning cooling water makeup, root-zone treatment for wastewater, efficient envelope, use of energy efficient air-conditioning systems, on-site renewable energy, wind towers, monitoring procedures, post-occupancy, careful handling of construction waste, use of materials with recycled content, resource reuse, use of paints, sealants and adhesives with low VOC and resource reuse.
The Green Building movement in India is pioneered by the CII- Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). The vision of the council is to usher in a green building movement in India and to become one of the global leaders in green buildings by 2012. With a modest beginning of 20,000 ft2 green built-up area in the country in 2003, today 436 green buildings with a built-up area 312 mn ft2 are being constructed all over India, of which 54 are certified green buildings. Prominent ones include the CII-GBC, Hyderabad, ITC Green Centre, Gurgaon, Grundfos Building in Chennai and Wipro in Gurgaon among others.
Green buildings also offer great business opportunities. The increase in demand has brought down the cost of products, services and materials making green buildings affordable. Stakeholders now are demanding for green buildings from consultants and architects. This has resulted in increased demand for green building materials and products. The adoption of green building materials is increasing over the years. As a result, there has been a reduction in costs of green buildings and so also the green materials. A classic example of the cost of a product decreasing is the waterless urinal. The waterless urinal cost Rs 14,000 when the CII Godrej GBC building was constructed, today it is available for Rs 6,000 .
Many new materials and services have been introduced in India as a result of this movement. These include high performance glass, wall and roof insulation, CRI certified carpets, FSC certified wood, high albedo roofing material, fly ash blocks, eco-friendly chemicals, high COP chillers, CO2 sensors, root zone treatment plants, wind towers. Earlier most of these materials needed to be imported.
This is indeed a testimony to the fact that green makes business sense. The future belongs to those who think ?green? and ?go green?. CII-IGBC, through the constant support and cooperation of its nine local chapters and all other stakeholders are in the forefront in spearheading the green building movement in India.
The day is not very far, when going green and constructing green buildings will be the norm of the day and green buildings will play a catalytic role in addressing issues of climate change.
Future prospects
CII-IGBC envisions the following for green buildings in India in the near future:
* 1 bn square feet of registered space by 2012
* 1,000 green buildings registered by 2010
* 5,000 CII?IGBC Accredited Professionals by 2010
* Facilitate tapping green building materials market of $40 bn by 2012
* CII-IGBC has localised and launched indigenised versions of LEED New Construction and LEED Core and Shell to suit the national priorities
* The Council has launched the IGBC Green Home rating programme and IGBC Green Factory rating programme.
Other rating programmes in the pipeline include:
* IGBC Existing Buildings
* IGBC Green SEZ Development
* IGBC Green Cities
* IGBC Green Schools
* IGBC Green Landscape
The writer is Chairman, IGBC