A milestone for green building movement

KOCHI: The Indian Green Building Council, an organisation pioneering the green building movement, has reached a significant milestone of having 100 fully functional green buildings across the country.

The 100 certified green building projects amounts to over 26 million sq.ft. of green building footprint. Of these, over 20 green buildings have installed one or more renewable energy technologies like solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and onsite and offsite wind energy.

The functional green buildings will annually abate over 0.31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and save energy by 30-40 per cent and water by 20-30 per cent as compared to conventional buildings. Other intangible benefits include improved day lighting, enhanced indoor air quality and health and well-being of the occupants. Many of the 100 certified buildings are naturally-ventilated.

The 100 operational buildings of various types spread across six climatic zones include Legislative Assembly, government buildings, airports, corporate offices, educational institutions, hospitals, banks, IT parks, individual houses, factories and special economic zone.

This milestone has put India in the international map of green buildings, according to S. Raghupathy, head of the Green Business Centre, which has offices in various States.