Future of Green Building
Recently Indian Green Building Congress was held in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
source:IGBC
About Green Building
• Green buildings usually refer to the use of environmentally friendly construction materials, processes, operation, and maintenance.
• The concept of a green building is driven by incentives to reduce the cost of energy and waste management considering global warming and environmental degradation.
• Some innovative solutions in green construction include Cool Roofs, Geothermal Heating, Smart Grid refrigerators, vegetated rooftops, etc. For example,
o Agrocrete is a carbon-negative building material made of crop residues such as paddy straw, wheat straw,
sugarcane bagasse, etc.
o Carbon Craft Tile is made with upcycled carbon by using recovered carbon waste as a resource.
• The global green building materials market is projected to grow from $422.27 billion in 2023 to $951.15 billion by
2030, at a CAGR of 12.3%
• Green buildings are different from Energy-efficient, and Net-zero carbon buildings.
Advantages of Green buildings
source:IGBC
• Emission reduction: The building and construction sectors contribute about 38% of the greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and account for 35% of the total energy consumption.
o LEED-certified green buildings consume 25% less energy than traditional buildings.
• Economic benefits: Green budlings have lower operation and maintenance cost.
o Also, they improve occupant productivity and optimize life-cycle economic performance.
• Social benefits: Enhance occupant comfort and health, by ensuring clean air and water and less exposure to toxins and volatile organic compounds.
Steps taken for green building promotion
• Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC): Introduced in 2007 (revised in 2017) by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
o ECBC establishes minimum energy standards for new commercial buildings with a connected load of 100 kW or
a contract demand of 120 kVA or more.
• Eco-Niwas Samhita 2018: launched by Ministry of Power Eco-Niwas (Energy Conservation–New Indian Way for Affordable & Sustainable homes) Samhita 2018 is ECBC for Residential Buildings.
• Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA): Jointly developed by The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), GRIHA uses a five-star rating, valid for five years.
• Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED): An internationally recognized certification system for green buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
o Recently, India outperformed USA and China in LEED net zero certifications.
• Star Rating of Commercial Buildings: Launched by the Ministry of Power, for assessing energy usage in the building on a 1-5 scale (5-star labelled buildings being the most efficient).
• Faster clearances: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) offers fast-track environmental clearance for green building projects which are Pre-certified by IGBC.
Challenges in adoption of green buildings
• High initial construction cost: The high initial construction cost of green buildings also results in higher rentals, making it challenging to attract investors and tenants.
• Issues in construction: The green building construction sector is fragmented around the world which may lead to uncertain supply of green materials. Also, there is a limited access to design and skilled worker.
• Governance issues: Extension of project schedules, lack of research and developmental works, poor building code enforcement, high payback period are key hinderance.
• Limited Awareness: There is a lack of awareness, information, and education about the benefits of green building both private and public benefit.
Way ahead
• Economic Incentives: Finance Commissions & Local bodies should encourage green buildings through tax incentives and other measures.
o Green projects need long-term investment, which banks can support through the issuance of green bonds.
o Banks can also offer construction loans with lower interest rates to incentivize developers.
• Policy measures: Fast track clearance for green buildings, enact legislation mandating green building standards for new constructions.
o Additionally, require the retrofitting of existing buildings to adopt environment friendly practices and become
more sustainable.
• Training and Capacity building: Develop training modules and conduct training session for various industry
stakeholders, including government officials, green rating agencies, architects, etc. to promote the adoption.
• Awareness Campaigns: Creating awareness on green buildings at school, college, and university levels.
o This will enable educational institutions to develop Industry-ready professionals trained on green concepts and
facilitate industry – academia linkage.
About Indian Green Building Council
- IGBC is India’s Premier certification body, headquartered at Hyderabad. IGBC is also among the 5 countries who are in the board of World Green Building Council discussing global issues at COP and similar global platforms.
- Green building movement today is a Pan India movement with over 10,930 projects with green footprint of over 10.26 billion sq.ft., making India the second country with largest green building footprint in the world.
- IGBC is working closely with Government of India on green building projects for more than 1000 projects across the country.
- Today, more than 90% of green buildings in the country is being facilitated by IGBC and more than 3,480 projects are certified & fully operational.
- IGBC rated green projects are encouraged by Central and State government incentives in 12 Indian states. IGBC is National by Choice, and Global in Performance.