About half of the Indian companies (48%) see business opportunities in green buildings arising out of climate change. More top-100 companies (61%) than others are gung-ho about the opportunity, according to the trends emerging from the FE-EVI Green Business Survey. The inferences are based on the responses of more than 200 companies in India.
The building sector is estimated to consume 30-40% of the global energy used, according to the Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme. Most of the energy (80%) is consumed during day-to-day operations. Reducing energy use and improving energy efficiency in buildings can result in significant gains. Besides, it can also help fight global warming. It?s projected that green buildings offer the opportunity to reduce 1.8-2 billion tonne of carbon dioxide. The Kyoto Protocol?s total target is only one third of this figure across the board.
The survey analysis also points out that more power companies (75%) and real estate (71%) companies than others smell profits in green construction. There is a small difference in the number of MNCs (48%) and PSUs (44%) that see green bucks in the segment. Indian private companies (49%), MNCs (48%) and PSUs (44%) fare almost at par. So do manufacturing sector (49%) and services sector (47%) companies.
The survey is being conducted by The Financial Express (FE) and Emergent Ventures India (EVI), a climate change mitigation advisory firm, to map the greening of Indian businesses.