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The green building councils of India and US said that they will strengthen their partnership and will work together for certification.
The relationship between Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and US Green Building Council (USGBC) is further being strengthened to work on increasing the uptake of green buildings in India.
The licence agreement that IGBC had signed with USGBC in 2004 comes to an end in June 2014 and a new agreement is being signed for the next 10 years to work in the areas of advocacy, knowledge exchange and market transformation.
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of CII, recently crossed the milestone of 2 billion sq. ft built-up area of green building projects registered with the Council. The larger plan and strategy of IGBC is to have 10 billion sq ft by the year 2022 when India will be 75 years post-independence.
The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) India projects which are already registered with IGBC will be certified by IGBC till end of 2018.
Starting July 1, 2014, LEED projects in India will be registered and certified directly by GBCI, the certification institute appointed by USGBC.
IGBC will continue to certify projects under IGBC Homes, IGBC Townships, IGBC Factory buildings, IGBC SEZ and IGBC Landscaping.
Prem C Jain, Chairman, IGBC said, “LEED India rating, which is for commercial buildings, forms about 25 per cent of total built-up area registered with IGBC, for Green Building projects in India. Very soon rating systems for green schools and affordable housing segments will be launched.
In light of the increasing volumes of green building projects that IGBC is handling, IGBC feels it will be better managed if the LEED rating is handled by USGBC. Hence IGBC has agreed with USGBC for them to directly handle the LEED certification”.
Mahesh Ramanujam, Chief Operating Officer, USGBC and President, GBCI said, “Over the past 10 years, IGBC has been instrumental in mobilising the green building movement in India and helping establish LEED India as a key driver for market transformation. We are grateful for IGBC’s early support of LEED India and its ongoing leadership in India.”
Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, CII-Godrej GBC, stated that energy and water efficiency across all sectors of the economy is of paramount importance to India and IGBC would give a major thrust in these areas.
Mr Godrej added that, by 2030 the power deficit will be more than 12 per cent in peak load. To meet such demand, we need to add a 500 MW power plant every week for the next 10 years. This looks unlikely considering the capacity additions that have taken place during the preceding 5-year plans. IGBC and the CII will address this aspect through demand side management in the energy intensive industries, green buildings, schools, homes, affordable housing etc., he said.
IGBC applauds the new thrust on renewable energy by the Govt of India and several State Governments.
“The decreasing trend in the cost of RE power is an encouraging step in the right direction. IGBC would work on private sector investments by the building sector so that the share of renewable energy by 2022 is 25 per cent or more,” said Godrej.
Godrej further added, “ Besides the development of rating systems, the larger vision of IGBC is to put India in the International map of green buildings by offering services through advisory, demonstration of net zero-energy buildings, collaborate with bilateral and multilateral agencies on projects, training & capacity building, promote green products and technologies, showcase green products at our Technology Centre in Hyderabad, incubation of green building entrepreneurs, provide networking platform for members, and offer world-class conferences and exhibitions.”
S Raghupathy, Executive Director, CII-Godrej GBC, highlighted that the partnership with USGBC has been extraordinary and highly productive, since the first MoU was signed in 2001. Both the organisations have been mutually benefitted. USGBC and IGBC would together continue the journey on advocacy, networking, knowledge exchange and working together in World GBC foray, through a new agreement, he affirmed.
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