Even as news of the merger of cement giants gains momentum, with Lafarge of France and Holcim of Switzerland set to create a $60 billion company, there appears to be a growing awareness of sustainable construction among young professionals and university students in India.

Holcim is eager to build concrete foundations with its Holcim Awards, which recognise innovative projects and future oriented concepts.

With 6,103 innovative construction projects from 152 countries vying for the $2 million (₹12 crore) award, a staggering line-up from India this year reflects the growing consciousness among its youth of the environmental and socio-economic issues affecting construction.

The competition is an initiative of the Switzerland-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. Edward Schwarz, General Manager of the Foundation, speaks to Business Line on the push provided by Holcim Group companies, ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements, to get youngsters from India cement their plans. Edited excerpts:

Why is it necessary for the world’s largest cement major to encourage sustainability within architecture?

The way we build today has a tremendous influence on the world future generations would experience, since the construction and operation of buildings and infrastructure is responsible for over half of all energy and resources consumed worldwide.

The World Green Building Council reports that the current global building stock produces more than 40 per cent of man-made CO2 emissions, and that green buildings can substantially reduce CO2 emissions, energy consumption, waste generation, and water use.

From the beginning, Holcim has been dedicated to the sustainable construction pathway. The company has been keen to cooperate with other interested parties and stakeholders.

What was the idea behind the awards? What have been the learnings over the years, especially from the Asia-Pacific region?

The Holcim Awards was first conducted in 2004 and operate on a three-year cycle. Winning projects exemplify the cutting edge of sustainable construction, and the competition builds the international notoriety of the winning architects. The Holcim Foundation (HF) sees itself more as a network for sharing information. We want to promote exchange of knowledge and experience and to support cross border innovative examples of sustainable construction.

The competition has two categories: the main category is for projects that have reached an advanced stage of design with high probability of execution, while the Next Generation category is meant for young professionals and students between 18 and 30 years of age, who have bold ideas.

This year, there was high interest in the topic of sustainable construction within India and across the Asia-Pacific region. From more than 6,000 entries in the competition worldwide, 750 entries were from professionals and students in India, which is almost twice the number of entries from any other country.

India provided the highest number of entries in the Holcim Awards main category with 494 submissions, and 256 submissions in the Next Generation category.

Can you explain India’s growing interest in HF’s Next Generation award category?

The growing number of submissions in the Next Generation category proves the awareness of the topic among young professionals and university students.

Another reason for attracting a growing number of entries in this category can be found in the local representatives. HF relies on the support of Holcim Group companies. The enthusiastic support by Holcim Group companies, ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements, has boosted awareness of the competition in India.

Given that this year has seen sizeable entries from India, what does it say about the potential in India? Do Indian companies understand the whole idea about sustainable construction?

Indian cities are already full of sites that demonstrate the use of world-class construction technologies and India has skilled manpower. Your construction sector, equipment and building material industry are all robust; you have a cement industry that is the world’s second largest and a benchmark for high standards of quality. But, there are still wide gaps to be filled between the cities and towns.

Last year, HF held its global symposium on sustainable construction, the Holcim Forum, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) in Mumbai. This event emphasised the great diversity of construction of contemporary India: from the probably most expensive and tallest detached residence on earth, alongside countless people with hardly a roof.

There is also great diversity from the crowded urban contexts of the megalopolis, to rural communities across the nation’s 650,000 villages and 8,000 towns. Therefore, future trends are diverse, and it will perhaps be the localisation of global trends that will provide the greatest impact.

Can you elaborate on the potential in India?

There is enormous scope to improve the sustainability performance of the built environment in India, from basic building materials to technical elements including air-conditioning, solar energy, lighting, fixtures, furnishing and indoor requirements.

India already has the second largest stock of green buildings in the world and this is increasing quite rapidly. There are two green labels in India which define the requisites for green products quite comprehensively.

In addition to the growth of green products, it is through careful implementation in design that their sustainability is best leveraged. There is the matter of addressing the building needs of the semi urban and rural population. Holcim’s group company ACC has set up a green building materials centre in a rural area in north India. There is huge scope to make green affordable products available across the country.

The Foundation has been working with partner universities across the globe, including IIT Bombay. Could you give us some details as to what has been the outcome of these tie-ups?

Through its activities, HF has developed a close knit global network of stakeholder groups, and has grown to assume the role of an information hub. The universities play a critical role in the effectiveness of HF’s initiatives, due to their capacity to strengthen the network and also enhance the understanding of regional implications and priorities, with regard to sustainable construction.

IIT Bombay played host to the 3rd Holcim Awards jury for the Asia Pacific region in 2011, and India also hosted the 2nd Holcim Awards ceremony for Asia Pacific held in New Delhi in 2008.

The partner universities are an invaluable component of the HF’s network. It is likely that the network of universities will be expanded in view of the next Holcim Awards cycle, perhaps also in India.

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