Introduction to Green Buildings

Green concepts and techniques help address important issues like Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Consumer Waste, Conserving Natural Resources, Climate response, Efficient Materials, enhancing Occupant Health and Wellbeing, etc. When considered and incorporated from the initial design stage, such strategies offer significant benefits at no or little additional costs. Certified green buildings could save 30%-40% energy costs and 30% to 50 % Water costs.

• are leading the transformation of the built environment
• are built as designed and perform as expected
• have lower operating costs and increased asset value
• are healthy and comfortable for their occupants
• reduce waste sent to landfills
• conserve energy and water
• reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions
• demonstrate an owner’s commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility

Green Design Strategies

Green Design Strategies include the following

• Site Selection & Planning – which includes site selection, soil erosion and sedimentation control, use of alternative transportation, stormwater management, organic farming, urban heat island effect and light pollution reduction
• Water Efficiency – which includes reduction in building water usage, reduction in landscape water usage, rainwater harvesting, water recycling and reuse of treated water.
• Energy Efficiency – which includes building commissioning, optimization of energy performance, use of renewable energy such as PV panels and solar hot water collectors, elimination of CFC and HCFC and measurement and verification after occupancy.
• Materials and Resources – which includes storage and recollection of wet and dry waste, building and material reuse, materials with recycled content, locally available materials, rapidly renewable materials and certified wood
• Indoor Air Quality - which includes smoke control, outdoor air delivery monitoring, increased ventilation, air quality during construction and after construction, low VOC paints, adhesives, sealants,carpet and composite wood and adequate daylight and views.

Green Building Rating Systems

Green Building certification can be obtained from IGBC(Indian Green Building Council) under CII Hyderabad or by GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) from MNRE (Ministry for New and Renewable Energy ). IGBC and GRIHA both have different rating systems by project type. For e.g. Commercial Buildings, Factories, Residential Buildings, Townships, Institutions, Hotels, Hospitals, SEZ’s and so on and so forth.

In accordance with the Office Memorandum by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India, Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats (ADaRSH) and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) both have proposed a procedure that will enable fast track environmental clearance through GRIHA or IGBC precertification

Thus GRIHA or IGBC precertified buildings are eligible for fast track clearance from MOEF. Green Building Rating Systems also increase marketability of projects.

It is always beneficial to adopt green strategies and measures, irrespective of whether one wants to go for a certification or not.

Igbc Green Homes Certification Process

We have elaborated on one of the rating systems. The structure of each rating system will be same with some customized credits. The IGBC Green Homes rating system has been developed to help ‘design and evaluate’ existing and new residential buildings. A building is assessed based on its predicted performance over its entire life cycle – inception through operation. The stages of the life cycle that have been identified for evaluation are:

• Pre-construction stage (intra- and inter-site issues like proximity to public transport, type of soil, kind of land, where the property is located, the flora and fauna on the land before construction activity starts, the natural landscape and land features).
• Building planning and construction stages (issues of resource conservation and reduction in resource demand, resource utilization efficiency, resource recovery and reuse, and provisions for occupant health and well being). The prime resources that are considered in this section are land, water, energy, air, and green cover.

IGBC has a 100 point system for residential buildings. Different levels of certification (Certified to Platinum) are awarded based on the total credits earned. Certain mandatory requirements are compulsory.

• Certification (Best Practices),
• Silver (Outstanding performance),
• Gold (National Excellence)
• Platinum (Global Leadership)

Point Rating for IGBC Green Homes certification

Points scored	Rating
50 - 59	Certification (Best Practices)
60 - 69	Silver (Outstanding Performance
70 - 79	Gold (National Excellence)
80 & above	Platinum (Global Leadership)

Our company is an IGBC member in the category of Architects and Planners. As consultants we will evaluate all the possible points to be applied for, and register with IGBC. We will provide your necessary consultation and documentation for the purpose of certification.