NEW DELHI Mar 12: Leading professionals from the government, academia, civil society organisations, builders, architects and engineers participated in the sixth GRIHA Summit held in New Delhi today. Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is the national rating system for green buildings in India and is the first indigenous attempt to address sustainability issues in the Indian construction sector.
The Summit provides a platform to showcase the rating’s potential to achieve better performing buildings through its variances. More than 700 representatives from the construction industry participated in diverse discussions on breakthroughs in the urban and rural habitats. The Summit is being organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and is supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
Delivering the inaugural address, Dr Rajeev Gowda, Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, said that “while negotiating with other countries on environment and climate change issues, we emphasise that India is a low-carbon impact society. However, things are changing and adversely. But we can still pre-empt this kind of future. We can distill the knowledge of our ancestors, build a bridge between the ancient wisdom and our cutting edge technology.”
Amit Kumar, Adjunct Professor, TERI University and Vice President, GRIHA Council voiced his concerns on the need to introduce changes in the construction sector. Sharing the latest achievements of GRIHA he mentioned the fact that over 21 million square metres have already been registered for GRIHA certification. So far 575 projects have been registered, and it is expected that more than 150 projects will be further added in the year ahead.
Dr Leena Srivastava, Acting Director-General, TERI who set the theme for the Summit with her welcome note, also stressed on the rapidly-changing environment and the need to involve all stakeholders. She said that “climate, as we know it, is changing. While we want people to occupy green buildings, and there are more energy service companies that are stepping in with services required to facilitate this, it is important that the end-users are empowered to make informed decisions and understand that the economics work in their favour. The need for concerted action on enhancing energy efficiency is much higher today, both for global and domestic reasons. This Summit is taking forward the initiatives started earlier and it should succeed in offering a number of solutions and ensure action in a systemic, holistic sense.”
GRIHA Council also felicitated seven professionals and organisationsfrom diverse fields for having done exemplary work on promotionof sustainable habitats. The three-day Summit will host eminent speakers such as representatives from the government, architecture, construction, education talk about their experiences and vision to drive India towards a greener future.
It comes in the wake of a revolution in the Indian construction industry. According to the 12th Five Year Plan, almost 600 million people would be living in urban areas, which may result in the emergence of about 60-70 cities with a population of more than a million by 2030. Green buildings are fast becoming a development imperative, as India is set to become the third largest construction market in the world by 2025.
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