Kerala begins work on green buildings

The Kerala State Housing Board is set to launch limited scale commercial ventures to build 60 environment-friendly apartments in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Part of the Board’s latest initiatives , the apartments will be set up on land it owns in Panampilly Nagar in Kochi and Ambala Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Board has applied for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (Griha), the national rating system for green buildings developed by The Energy Research Institute and the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy. Though green houses cost up to 10 per cent more than conventional ones, they provide long-term benefits such as energy and water savings. The Kerala Government has allotted Rs 1 crore towards preliminary work on the project. When completed, these projects will be the first set of green living apartments in the State to be built by a government agency, Mr James Jacob, Housing Commissioner and Secretary of the Board, said. The Board is also planning to go to the market with detailed plans for the green building project to raise funds from potential buyers, he said.

Saphalyam sheme

Green buildings use resources efficiently and save on costs while creating a healthier environment. However, measuring how much is saved needs technical analysis, he said.

On the Kochi project, he said that 18 flats in nine stories having luxury facilities are coming up with the green building parameters. A swimming pool, a bio-mass reactor, paved yard , solar panel , rain-water harvesting, pedestrian walk way are the connected facilities. The built-up area will range from 1,890 sq. ft to 2,254 sq ft. The construction will be carried out under a newly formed division of the Board, he added.

Referring to other residential projects, he said the Board had also implemented ‘Saphalyam’ scheme in various panchayats in the State to provide residential flats to the poor. The objective of the Government is to provide 10,000 houses within a year.

For the poor

He said the government aims to construct houses for more than seven lakh people who do not have proper shelter. The market value of land has appreciated significantly in recent times, thereby burdening those who are financially weak and aspired to buy small plots, he said, adding that the Saphalyam Housing Scheme would enable such persons to own flats.

These units of Rs 2.5 lakh will come up in three-storied complexes with each unit approximately 195 sq. ft the super built-up area being 240 sq. ft. . The flats are slated to come up in 10 panchayats in Kottayam, Kollam, Idukki, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad and Thrissur districts.

The first set of apartments is estimated to cost around Rs 25 crore. In the second phase, the Board will build 700 more apartments under the `Saphalyam’ scheme. The State budget has set aside Rs 17 crore for the project, he added.

The Board is also going ahead with its project to build three hostels for women at Kattappana; at Muttam, near Thodupuzha; and at Kozhikode, near the Medical College. The hostels will come up on the Board’s own land. It also has plans to build units for government employees.

Meanwhile, the Board’s Rent-a-House scheme envisages construction of 12 units each at Kasargod and Devikulam. Besides, the Board is also in the process of developing houses for rehabilitating slums dwellers in Kozhikode. It is estimated that there were a total of 350 houses in the locality and the Board had started the work on renovating 218 units at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

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