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By S. Raghupathy
Senior Director & Head
Confederation of Indian Industry
CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
S. Raghupathy is a gold medalist in chemical engineering from Annamalai University and has 18 years of experience in consultancy and energy audits for industries.
He has worked 15 years with CII and is a LEED accredited professional.
The building sector is growing at a rapid pace and is the third largest consumer of energy, after industry and agriculture. Environmentally benign technologies and practices in this sector can address sustainability issues and contribute to conservation of national resources, besides saving on the operating costs.
The world over, today, the focus is on constructing green buildings, which addresses environmentally sustainable issues in a holistic manner. A green building could be defined as one, which encompasses the use of clean energy, renewable energy, efficient use of water, use of recycled or recyclable materials and provide healthy indoor air quality for building occupants.
In the developed countries the energy consumption growth rate is only marginally higher compared to the population growth rate. For example, in USA, energy consumption is projected to grow at 1.3% while the population growth rate is projected at 0.8%.
In contrast, in developing countries like India, population growth rate is expected at 1.3% while the energy consumption rate is expected to grow at 4.3%.
This trend would strain the energy sector to a large extent. The building sector being a major energy consumer can contribute to a large extent to address this issue. Green buildings have the potential to save 30-40% energy.
There is a tremendous potential for construction of green buildings in India. The overall investment towards urban building construction in India is estimated at Rs.5000 crores annually (as per NICMAR data). Even if 5% of this could be diverted for construction of green buildings, the potential is huge. This could open up a plethora of opportunities for several stakeholders like construction industry, architects, material and equipment manufacturers etc.
The projected growth potential for green buildings in India is shown in Table 1:
| Table 1 : Growth potential of green buildings in India. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Estimated annual potential for Urban Buildings
@ 4 % growth rate (Rs Crores)* |
5400 | 5625 | 5850 | 6084 |
| Annual potential for Green Buildings (Rs Crores) |
380 | 510 | 585 | 730 |
| % share of Green Buildings | 7% | 9% | 10% | 12% |
| *As per NICMAR (National Institute of Construction Management and Research) | ||||
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Going for green buildings has tremendous benefits, both tangible and intangible. The most tangible benefit is in the reduction of operating energy and water costs right from day one during the entire life cycle of the building. A summary of the benefit is given below :
There have been buildings, which adopt one or more green features. To recognize the extent of green features that a building adopts, rating systems have been evolved and have come of age in the US and Europe. These rating systems are playing a pivotal role in market transformation of the green building industry. The prime objective of these rating systems is to bring in a change in the market wherein the user demands green products. One of the popular rating systems being adopted in the US is the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) System of the US Green Building Council based in Washington.
Sri Lanka, Canada, China, India and Spain already have building projects, which have registered for the LEED rating.
Australia, France, Hong Kong and Japan have been evincing keen interest in adopting the LEED rating system.
The approach to a green building is holistic in nature in the sense that it addresses varied issues right from construction to occupancy. Some of the typical green building features are shown in the sidebar.
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The CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre is the center of excellence on clean energy, green buildings, environment and recycling, water management, renewable energy and climate change activities in India. In line with the philosophy of the services being offered from the center, it is being housed in a state-of-the-art green building located at Hyderabad.
The building has been awarded the coveted “Platinum Rating” of USGBC, the first building in India and third building in the world to get this rating.
The building has incorporated many green features and some of the major ones are listed below:
Sustainable site features
Water efficiency
Optimum energy efficiency
Materials and Resources:
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Some Green Building Features
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The awareness of green buildings in India has begun and caught the attention of many major corporates. Capacity building in terms of knowledge and innovative ideas can make a difference in approach to the construction of such buildings.
With the building industry in India poised for a major growth, green buildings will be the mantra of the building industry in the near future. The government and the entire building industry including corporates, architects, contractors, consultants, equipment and material manufacturers have a major role in creating a market transformation.
Green buildings address ecological and environmental impacts in a holistic manner and at the same time offer tremendous economic benefits.
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