08-10-2012, 12:59 PM
Green Building
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Abstract
Green Building refers to a structure and using a process that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building’s lifecycle. Since buildings consume nearly 50% of World’s Total Energy, Green Buildings, on the other hand, consume minimum amount of energy with the use of energy efficient materials. Hence, location of green buildings in the close proximity would create a green zone and providing much healthier environment with minimum heat island effect. In India, there are 2 primary rating systems for green building: GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment); LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have adopted a national rating system-GRIHA which was developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). It evaluates the environmental performance of a building over the entire life cycle and hence subsequently awards the points. It is a 100 point system where the points are allotted as per the ability of the project to successfully meet the criterion standards of construction listed by GRIHA. This point bracket specifies the star allotted to a particular building. GRIHA takes into account the provisions of the National Building Code 2005; the Energy Conservation Building Code 2007 announced by BEE and other IS codes.
The LEED Green Building Rating System developed and managed by the USGBC, is the most widely used rating system nationally and internationally. Buildings are given ratings of platinum, gold, and silver or “certified”, based on green building attributes. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) founded by the collaboration between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the private manufacturer Godrej, has taken steps to promote the green building concept in India. LEED-India rates buildings on environmental performance and energy efficiency during design, construction and operation stages.
Green Building when compared to a conventional building seems same externally and in building use but differs in the operational savings and concerns for human comfort and indoor environment. Green Buildings enjoy the benefits of saving 40-50% energy by reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. It also saves about 20-30% water by using rain harvesting or grey water reuse techniques. It also reduces VMT (Vehicles Miles Travelled) by choosing the location near by public transport and conveniences which helps in reduction of gasoline consumption. But on the other hand, green buildings face many barriers like the high initial investment required for construction, Split incentives, whereby , the benefits of investing in a green building project is enjoyed by the people who actually use the building and not by the person investing on its construction cost. The financial institutions face major hurdles of low financial returns, credit risks, uncertainty and difficulty in evaluating the added financial value of green buildings. Since green buildings save approximately 50% of the energy, so the annual power consumption is also reduced significantly thus saving the electricity bill. Green buildings are also cost effective in terms of CER issued by the Executive Board of the CDM of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change against 1 ton each of the CO2 emissions saved. Sale of each CER would help earn a company 12 Euros each.
CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad is considered to be the first centre of excellence for green buildings, energy, environment, water, renewable energy and climate change activities in India.