The Hindu Business Line : CII, Govt of Victoria tie up for jt research

Mr John Thwaites, Minister for Environment and Water, Victoria, Australia, videographing the water-less toilets on display at the Godrej Green Business Centre (GGBC) where he participated in an interaction meeting with the CII in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Air Commodore (Retd) S. C. Kumar, Advisor to the GGBC, is seen explaining the concept to him. — Sivakumar P.V.

Hyderabad , Feb. 8

THE Government of Victoria, Australia, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote and conduct joint research in issues related to green buildings.

The pact would facilitate sharing of information on Government policy and other programmes that encouraged efforts to achieve sustainable building practices. The MoU was signed by Mr John Thwaites, Minister for Environment and Water in the Victoria Government, and Mr ParasuRaman R, Chairman of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), and Vice-Chairman of World GBC. The CII would take part in the pact through its arm CII-Sohrabji Green Business Centre (CII-GBC).

The alliance would encourage visits of business delegations and exchange of information from both the sides to understand the latest trends on the green business buildings front and explore business opportunities. It would also work on managing intellectual property, assessing benefits from green buildings, incubating green building products, and promoting green building technologies in India and Victoria.

The findings of joint research would be submitted to a global meet scheduled to be held in Australia in 2008.

Earlier, addressing a gathering of CII-GBC representatives, Government officials and industry executives, Mr ParasuRaman said a LEED rating system to suit the Indian requirements would be operational in a few months.

The rating system, most of it adopted from the US system, would comprise certain modifications, fine-tuned to suit the Indian requirements. Issues such as safety and emissions would be addressed.