There will be over 1,000 green buildings dotting the Indian skyline by 2010 saving energy and environment. Already 375 buildings are under construction. Indian industry will also be a key player in the $40-billion green building material business in the world. There will be over 50,000 accredited green professionals in the country to make India a leading player in green building business and technologies.
The green building goal is set by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). It envisages one billion sq ft of green building footprint to be registered for certification by 2012, 1,000 green buildings to be registered by 2010, a major share in the $40-billion market for green building materials by 2012 and training of 5,000 IGBC accredited green building professionals by 2010.
?With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq ft, green footprint in the country in 2003, today about 375 green building, including 77 houses, measuring over 25 million sq ft, are being constructed all over India under the IGBC Green Homes Certification programme??, C N Raghavendran, chairman, IGBC, Chennai chapter, said here on Monday. With the current growth rate, India would be one of the world leaders in green buildings and technologies, he said.
In his address at the three-day `Energy Summit 2008? – energy efficiency in buildings, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said, green buildings save up to 30% to 40% energy compared to other new buildings mainly through an integrated approach to design and construction. ? Up on completion, these 375 buildings going green now will result in a national savings of 2 billion units of electrical energy every year, which is equivalent to Rs 1,000 crore saved a year??, he said.
Raghavendran said to realise the IGBC goals, all sections of the building industry must keep pace with the market growth. There was greater need for trained manpower to carry out specialised services in energy modelling and simulation of green buildings. Another crucial area was commissioning of the complex and integrated energy, water treatment, fire suppression and security systems. The skills of the people managing the facilities have to be continually upgraded, he said. K Vasudevan, chairman, Energy Summit and director, Alstom Projects India Ltd, said , since 1994 the summit has been a biennial event with the eighth edition opening on Monday. Its primary objective was ?accelerating energy efficiency in India??. He said various studies by CII have shown that Indian industry has a energy saving potential of Rs 20,000-crore . ?The investment potential is equivalent to Rs 40,000 crore??, he told the Energy Summit.
Manikam Ramaswami, chairman of CII-Tamil Nadu said the Eleventh Plan energy saving target was 10,200 mw. ?Large number of technological measures are needed to achieve this goal in short, medium and long-term in energy-intensive industries like aluminium, cement, ceramics, glass, pulp & paper, sugar, textile, foundry,iron and steel, fertiliser and engineering industries.