Demand for green buildings on the rise

The green building movement is catching up fast, with India becoming second in the world in terms of green buildings, covering over 3 billion square feet area. According to experts, going by the encouraging results, the market potential for green products will reach about $300 billion by 2025.
The concept of green building is comparatively new in India. A green building appears same as a conventional building, but conserves natural resources, gives priority to human comfort, indoor environment and productivity. In terms of tangible benefits, a green building reduces operating costs and optimises the life cycle economic performance. A green building saves 40-50% energy and 20-30% water.
According to Arun Bhatia, chairman, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Delhi chapter, stakeholders today are convinced that green buildings make good business sense and in the process are embracing them as a way of life.  “The green building movement has enabled a wonderful market transformation in the country and we hope that by 2025, market potential for green building products and technologies would be about $300 billion,” he said.
The IGBC, a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), aims to enable a sustainable environment and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders. Though a new concept for India, the country has gained significant experience and technical expertise in the past few years. IGBC has a rating for the buildings to be declared ‘green’ after they fulfill certain criteria fixed by the Council.
The components which contribute to making of a green building are high performance glass, flyash blocks, wall and roof insulation, eco-friendly housekeeping chemicals. In terms of equipment, a green building has waterless urinals, high CoP chillers, CO2 censors, wind towers etc. S. Raghupathy, IGBC’s executive director, said the Council has so far facilitated 3,356 green buildings across the country with a footprint of 3.12 billion sq ft, covering various types of buildings like commercial, residential, hospitals, airports, schools and townships. Its over 2,000 members comprise all stakeholders of the construction industry, viz. architects, interior designers, builders, developers, product and equipment manufacturers and government agencies, he added.
Raghupathy said more and more builders are getting attracted towards the concept. “However, they want certain incentives. For example, they get rebate in terms of Floor Area Ratio in places like Noida, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Kolkata, for constructing green buildings. Such incentives should be given across the country,” he said, adding existing buildings can also be converted into “green buildings” with certain modifications. CII-Sohrab Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad was the first green building in India which got Platinum rating in 2004, after which many such buildings came up. Some of the upcoming IGBC Green Cities include Mahindra World City, Chennai, Ramky Discovery City, Hyderabad, Wave City Centre, Noida, Raheja’s Aranya City, Sohna and Godrej Panvel Township, Navi Mumbai. Besides, there are as many as 41 projects registered with the Council, involving 626 million sq ft built-up area. Many aspects of the green building movement will be discussed during the Green Building Congress, being organised in Gandhinagar from 19-21 November.