The green building councils of India and the US are strengthening their association for the next 10 years to focus on areas of knowledge exchange and work on the green building movement in India.

The licence agreement that Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) signed in 2004 comes ends in June and a new agreement is being signed for the next 10 years to work in the areas of advocacy, knowledge exchange and market transformation.

The LEED India projects that are already registered with IGBC will be certified by IGBC till end of 2018. Starting July 1, LEED projects in India will be registered and certified directly by GBCI, the certification institute appointed by USGBC.

Prem C Jain, Chairman, IGBC, said “LEED India rating, which is for commercial buildings, forms about 25 per cent of the 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.”

Milestone

CII Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has recently crossed the milestone of 2 billion sq. ft built-up area of green building projects registered with the Council. It plans to have 10 billion sq ft by 2022 when India will be 75 years post-independence.

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.”

Energy efficiency

Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, CII-Godrej GBC, said 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. “IGBC and CII will address this aspect through demand side management in the energy intensive industries, green buildings, schools, homes and affordable housing,” he said.

S Raghupathy, Executive Director, CII-Godrej GBC, said the two councils would continue the journey on advocacy, networking, knowledge exchange and working together in World GBC fora, through a new agreement.

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