The bigger challenge

In the 18th century Amber fort in Rajasthan, you'll find landscaped gardens, shaded arcades, light finishes, thermally massive walls, jali walls for ventilation and to control daylight. Over the years\his traditional wisdom has been lost and we have become dependent on energy intensive air-conditioning, and lighting to meet our thermal and visual comfort needs.

Many buildings today are energy guzzling machines and consume copious quantities of water. India is fast seen emerging as a major global business giant. With over 40 million sq mtr of commercial and residential space added annually, our electricity and water demand per year is increasing by 5.4 billion kWh and 450 million cu m respectively.

It is at times like this that the concept of 'green' building appears to be the only way out. Application of energy efficient building design concepts, techniques and technologies in new constructions can save about 2 billion kWh annually. Appropriate water efficiency measures can save 135 million cu m of water in the building stock added annually.

Time has come where we can no longer ignore the benefits of green building practices that have major impact on environment. The government is taking appropriate steps to ensure that. The recently launched Energy Conservation Building Code 2007 and the appliance labelling programme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and the rating system for appraisal and clearance of large construction projects by the ministry of environment and forests are some of the significant steps towards green buildings.

Several corporate organisations and institutions have mandated use of green practices in their new buildings as well as in existing building upgrades. Teri too has been helping several institutes and organisations to design and operate green buildings, some of them being the Indian Institute of Technology, Fortis Healthcare, ITC Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, The Doon School and the Delhi Public School.

While providing immense environmental benefits in terms of resource savings, green buildings also offer ample business opportunities.

For example, the energy conservation building code 2007 has opened up a huge market for labelled appliances (refrigerators, air-conditioners, and lighting products) and efficient building products (insulation, high performance glazing, etc). Demand for low flow water fixtures and faucets, compact and environment friendly wastewater treatment systems is growing with increasing pressure on valuable water resources. Embodied energy reduction in building materials is another significant area with positive environmental impacts. e.g green buildings promote use of industrial wastes and hence use of blended cement and Portland pozzolona cement and use of fly-ash based bricks and blocks have seen significant penetration in the construction sector.

With estimated potential worth of green building market at $4,000 million in India, a balanced mix of policy and regulations with markets geared to cater to meet demands of fast growing construction industry is essential to reap full benefit of green design.