The Hindu Business Line : Hyderabad to host Green Building Congress in Aug

GIVING a big boost to the green building movement in the country, Hyderabad is holding two major events, World Green Building Council (WGBC) meet and Green Building Congress (GBC), in August.

The WGBC conference, being held for the first time in India, would have representatives from the US, Australia, Spain, Japan, Canada and Brazil. The two-day meet would begin on August 25 at the CII-Godrej GBC.

"The objective is to bring experts from all over the world to India and demonstrate India's capabilities in this area," Mr C.N. Raghavendran, Vice-Chairman of GBC, told Business Line.

"We are targeting different stakeholders such as architects, builders, green building product manufacturers, consultants and financial institutions," he said.

Mr Raghavendran said the second edition of GBC had a three-pronged agenda. While creating awareness on the need for constructing green buildings, the meet would focus on networking and promoting business opportunities and facilitating market transformation.

The first GBC was also held in Hyderabad in 2001.

Citing lack of awareness as one of the major hurdles, Mr Raghavendran said people thought that it (going for a green building) was a costly affair. "But statistics prove otherwise. In the US, it used to cost 35 per cent more 10 years ago. But it's only 2 per cent less than what they spend on normal designs. What we should look at is the paybacks it would offer in the long run," he said.

"Green buildings not only yield power savings up to 50 per cent, they also result in healthier environment. Besides, you are paying back to the society," he added.

Stating that the green movement made strides in the last three years in the country, Mr Raghavendran said the GBC wanted to be the global leader in green business by 2015. An expo of green products and services would also be held concurrently.

Mr David A Gottfried, Founder of WGBC and US Green Building Council (USGBC); Dr Kath Williams, Vice Chair at USGBC; and Mr Che Wall, Chairman of WGBC, would speak on various issues in the green building arena.

New Chapters: Identifying the need for spreading the word, the CII-Godrej GBC, is going to fan out to other parts of the country this calendar year.

"We are going to have chapters in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai by the year end," Mr Raghavendran said.

Women to be invited: Recognising that it was women who ultimately decide how their homes should look like, the upcoming Green Business Congress (GBC) has decided to invite women to take part in the daylong seminar on `Green Homes'.

TheCongress would dedicate the last day to discuss green homes.

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