24 September,2009 09:29 AM IST | | Nolan Pinto
The city lags behind others when it comes to certified green buildings
Yesterday was World Green Building Day. MiD DAY spoke to energy experts on why the time is now ripe to fasten this process.
There are 410 green building projects all over the nation with a built-up area of 275 million sq ft of green footprint. But Bangalore has only 3 LEED-rated (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green buildings, two new constructions and scores zero in Core and Shell for 2009.
"Green buildings use traditional architecture along with modern technology in a sensitive way," says M Anand, senior councillor and green expert, CII Hyderabad. The conceptualisation of a green building begins at the start.
"All the stakeholders are involved right from the design stage," he says adding, "The keyword here is integrated design."
Experts say the benefits are enormous. "People do not want to work in sophisticated jails," says Anand, adding that the human minds need connectivity with the external world while doing a job from the workstation.
"Grundfos in Chennai is an example whose productivity went up by 36 per cent once it shifted into a green building," he added.
From the cost point of view, though these buildings are 2-4 per cent costlier than conventional buildings, the returns on investment is fast. "A company working 24/7 can expect to get their returns in less than 15 months," Anand said.
There are many factors that hinder people from going for green buildings. Bangalore-based Ashwin Sabapathy, a green building expert with Enzen Global Solution, says, "Client perceptions that the costs will shoot up, time in terms of design and the effort that goes into designing," are but a few of the problems. However, he feels that validating the savings is a difficult process from the ROI point of view.
Leed factor
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-INDIA) Green Building Rating System is a nationally and internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
It recognizes performance in the following five key areas: Sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoors environmental quality.
What's a green building?
A green building is one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building.
