Bengal Gets its Green Building

Just when West Bengal seems to have taken a back-seat in terms of IT
expenditure and project developments in its premier Salt Lake Sector V area,
Infinity Infotech Parks, the leader in IT infrastructure development in the East
has taken the lead founding Bengals second green building in the IT space.

An IT and ITeS office complex, christened Infinity Benchmark, the building
has been awarded the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Platinum level certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED
Green Building Rating System is USGBCs leading rating system for designing and
constructing the worlds greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing
buildings.

Excited about the project, Pulak Chamaria, executive director, Infinity,
says, We are proud and happy to receive the LEED Platinum certification. It is
the highest recognition to the continuous efforts put in by our team in creating
this unique infrastructure and placing Bengal in the global green map. Our
engineering, design and architecture team has worked extremely hard to ensure
that we qualify to achieve the stringent guidelines set by USGBC and reach
superior standards.

Infinity has claimed that their new project, Infinity Benchmark, is the
second building outside USA and seventh in the world to get a Platinum rating by
USGBC, under LEED Core and Shell version 2.0.

Spread over an area of 5,60,000 square feet across twenty storeys, the
building has a multi-level car parking facility, a multi-cuisine food court of
international standard, a business center, a retail area dedicated for IT
related products and office support facilities and other ITeS divisions.

Commenting over the project and elucidating the need for green projects in
the IT space, Ravinder Chamaria, CMD, Infinity says, With this project in
place, one can have a monthly savings of Rs 5 per square feet. We have incurred
an extra capital expenditure with the cost of the building soaring high by 20%
so that our clients and the environment are benefited by the practice of green
IT.

In the landmark project, Infinity has claimed that it has installed a crucial
carbon-dioxide monitoring system in its facilities with a 30% water saving
feature ensuring 100% recycling of the water used in the complex. Besides, the
building has been constructed ensuring that usage of natural sunlight is
maximised in its premises.

Godrej Waterside, a joint venture between Infinity and Godrej Properties,
situated on the banks of a serene water body, Munshir Bhery in Sector V near the
Webel center, is our forthcoming green IT infrastructure. We are in the process
of constructing India Design Center there, the countrys first green
semiconductor hub in Kolkata, Chamaria adds.

Besides these domestic projects, the company is also on its way to foray into
international markets with its green projects.

Speaking over the development, Chamaria says, Soon, we are coming up with a
major green IT project in Sri Lanka where we will set up an IT Park in Malabae.
So long, Sri Lanka has been lagging behind in IT in the sub-continent region and
we hope that when the proper IT infrastructure is put in place there, the
country will take a lead in the realm of IT.

Avishek Rakshit/CIOL

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