Chennai has dropped several places in the list of having the most number of green buildings in the city. Lack of state policies, especially from the energy sector, has impacted the sector.
While buildings go for energy-efficient lighting to get a green building certification, several criteria such as procurement of materials locally, creating net zero emission, light and heat absorbing glass, concrete and coatings to make the buildings heat resistant, rain water harvesting structures, etc., are required for Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) certification.
Even as two of the biggest green buildings are going to come up on the GST Road, there are still miles to go. Right now, only about 334 buildings exist of which 164 had to be retrofitted to get certified. Metros such as Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have thousands of such buildings.Recently, all builders have begun appointing special consultants and are advertising to make all new buildings green in the city.
With global companies insisting on green buildings from offices and clients, especially for carbon credits, slowly the demand is going up, architects said. W Anand, an architect said they recently appointed consultants to help get certifications for green buildings. “Many have begun appointing consultants for this purpose as slowly the demand is going up,” he said.
Lack of policies and support from the state government are a major reason for the decline in green buildings, said Ajith Chordia, chairman, CII-IGBC, Chennai. He said, “The risks posed by climate change to property assets are significant and result in huge expenditures. MoEFCC and 11 state governments from across the country have considered IGBC Green Ratings for incentives such as faster clearances, additional FAR and property tax rebate helped it grow in other metros.
Similar policy support from our state for green-rated buildings will ensure that the green building movement gains greater strength and deeper penetration among the real estate community and the masses.”
The biggest struggle, he said, from the industry point of view is the perception that green buildings are expensive and that the process of design, construction and certification is complicated. “It’s actually the opposite as in a period of five to seven years, we tend to save more,” he said.