WALK THE GREEN MILE

Industry insiders say that the next ten years are key towards transforming our real estate from just concrete to earthy.

A walk through the Garden of Eden, over the lilies of the valley and across the land of milk and honey - that’s what we can have if India ensures that its real estate industry sticks to its guns and builds the next 70 per cent of real estate with mother earth in mind.

Currently, India has only five-six per cent of its real estate built, taking into account the adverse effects of cement and concrete on land. The complete lack of awareness about the positives has been cited as one of the major reasons why the developer community has been hesitant to take on the mantle of building green.

Anuj Puri, chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultant, says, “The general awareness of such homes is minimal in our country. Thus, there is a dire need on the part of the government to create awareness, and above all, incentivise developers. At the local level, state governments have been pushing to make certain mandatory rules favouring sustainability. For example, the BWSSB in Bengaluru has made it mandatory for all buildings (built on and over 1,200 sft of area) to have rainwater harvesting structure within the premises. Similarly, all new buildings with more or equal to 20 flats need to have a sewage treatment plant in the project, while in case of old projects, only those with 50 or more flats need to comply with this rule. Despite these policies, a few builders and societies have been flouting rules to avoid it since it comes at an extra cost, plus there is no proper follow-up done by government bodies. So, while the growth numbers talk big, it is important to keep sustainability in mind.”

As per the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), nearly 6.63 billion sft of green building footprint has been achieved in India (as on November 2018) spanning 4,981 green projects. Sadly, these numbers represent only five-six per cent of the total building stock in the country.

A few buildings in India which went green:

Suzlon One Earth, Pune - designed by Christopher Charles, which received LEED Platinum rating;

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad-India’s sixth busiest airport, which is situated in downtown Hyderabad;
Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi;
Infosys Limited, Mysore; ITC Maurya Hotel, New Delhi;
I-Gate Knowledge Centre, Noida;
Bank Of India, Goa;
Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) had been selected for the Champion of Earth Prize - 2018, the highest environmental award instituted by the United Nations, for being fully powered by solar energy