To promote sustainable development and to bring down carbon emissions, the housing and urban planning department of Uttar Pradesh is going to come up with a code for green buildings. The real estate industry and construction business works on the building code specified by the regulatory authorities and so far Uttar Pradesh did not have a defined set of rules to incentivise the smart buildings.
The state was working on the general guidelines laid down under the National Building Code. Going forward the UP government will frame a specific set of rules and framework to recognise energy efficient buildings after floating specific building norms that have to be adhered to.
Principal secretary of the housing department, Nitin Ramesh Gokarn said, “We are going to draft the building code in a way that it promotes construction of green and efficient buildings in the state. Our officers are working on this front.”
While the housing department will start approving and compiling the list of the green buildings that adhere to the newly drafted framework, presently the Indian green building council provides ratings to such buildings in Uttar Pradesh. According to the officials close to 130 buildings in the state have been audited, examined and certified as green building projects out of which majority are situated in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
Saruf Alam, a green building consultant who has been active in Delhi – NCR and is pursuing further research in the field from Detroit, US said, “The upfront cost of converting a green building into a smart one in cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur and Noida ranges between Rs 200 and Rs 570 for a square foot. Through some technology interventions that are being followed in the developed countries, the smart building deployments could be achieved at affordable price bands.”
Cities where large scale development activities have to take place in the coming years, such as Ayodhya, have already been asked to incorporate the latest measures. Vice chairman of the Ayodhya development authority, Vishal Singh said, “Climate based layouts and designs have been planned to minimise energy consumption. Use of natural lighting, achieving recycling of waste water without external discharge are some measures that are going to be followed while allowing new commercial buildings in the temple town of Ayodhya.”
