Green Building : Green Abode

Over the last decade, as the Indian economy underwent liberalization with
multinationals making their way into the country, India saw a boom in
infrastructure development especially with the real estate sector growing
phenomenally. However, in the wake of development, conserving the environment
was a challenge which the real estate sector had to address. According to the
Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj study, the real estate industry is one of the biggest
emitter of green house gases in India. The study goes on to mention that as per
a report by the Ministry of Power in June 2004, 2025% electricity consumed in
government buildings was wasted due to inefficient design.

The green building movement gained tremendous impetus over the last six
years. With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq ft green built-up area in the
country in 2003, today more than 300 green buildings with a built-up area of
over 230 mn sq ft are being constructed all over India, says S Srinivas, senior
counsellor, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center.

Defining a green building, Dalip Sharma, MD, Delta Electronics says, Green
building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed,
built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient
manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as
protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy,
water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to
the environment.

While from the exterior there is no visible difference between a green
building and a conventional one, the difference is in the approach, concern
towards the environment, and a conscious effort to cut down the use of resources
like energy, and an attempt to provide comfort and safety to occupants.

Standards Play

According to the theme paper of Green Building Congress 2008, an important
development in the growth of the Green Building Movement has been the
indigenisation and launch of LEED-India Green Building rating system for New
Construction and Core & Shell. LEED India rating system has been designed to
suit the Indian construction industry context.

To facilitate the adoption of green building practices relevant to the local
climate and regional practices, the IGBC is also working on the development of
new rating programs. While most environment experts have been focused on making
commercial buildings green, IGBC has introduced a welcome program for making
homes green as well. The IGBC Green Homes launched in May this year is the
first rating program developed to address the residential sector in the country.
More than sixty-five buildings with a built-up area of about 88 mn sq ft are
being designed as per the IGBC Green Homes rating criteria.

Meanwhile, LEED is not alone, so as to say. The Energy Resources Institute
(TERI) has also come out with a certified process named as Green Rating for
Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), which has been adopted by the Government
of India. It is a 100-point system focused on design efficiency, rather than
just upfront usage of technology, addressing peculiar Indian issues like the
underground water table, etc. Over 30 GRIHA certified projects are in various
stages of construction, from a Center for Environmental Science in Kanpur to
Fortis Hospitals in different cities. GRIHA could be the homegrown challenger to
LEED.

But whatever be the outcome one thing is certain that, in the coming days one
will be able to see and work in a lot of these green buildings. That is not only
good for the employees, and the employers but also for the nation at large.

Government Intervention

While some believe that proactive measures on the part of the government is
required to encourage the construction of green building, Srinivas differs. The
concept of green building is based on the premise of companies opting
voluntarily for it. Therefore to expect the government to incentivise is
incorrect, he says.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj study, the government did launch the
Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) under the National Building Codes and
Standards. This code is voluntary and is applicable to buildings or building
complexes that have a connected load of 500 KW or a contract demand of 600 KVA,
whichever is greater.

On the design front, traditionally consultants were appointed in the due
course of the project, leading to no interaction between the various designers
who worked on the project. However things have changed for the better today, as
an architect can contribute in various aspects like orientation, envelope design
and selection of materials leading to energy efficiency.

Many doubts have been raised over the cost efficiency of a green building
vis--vis a conventional building. Even though the cost of a green building
could be higher than a traditional building, yet this has to be seen in a
different light because the baseline cost for all comparisons needs to be
similar.

The incremental cost is always relative and depends on the extent of
eco-friendly features included in the design stage. The incremental cost would
appear small if the baseline design is already at a certain level of good
eco-design; it would appear huge if the base design has not considered green
principles. Moreover in any other building, the operating cost would work out to
be 80-85% of the capital cost while the one time incremental cost is only about
8-10%. But in a green building, reducing operational costs leads to reduced
total cost of ownership.

Since its inception in 2001, the concept of Green Building has gained
tremendous popularity not only among the environmentalists but also the
developer community and corporate as well. And an indication is the growing
number of LEED-certified green projects. IGBC also undertook a unique initiative
of Green Home rating program for certifying green homes. Perhaps in times to
come, the Indian real estate with active participation from all stakeholders
would see the proliferation of green buildings in India.

Stuti Das

stutid@cybermedia.co.in