In India, the Green Building Code is a mix of many of codes and standards contained in the by-laws of the National Building Code, the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and in the norms set by the ratings programs, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-India (LEED-India), the standards and guidelines put down for the residential sector by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), TERI-GRIHA and other such certifications as well as Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Basic and general guidelines for efficient energy usage in the National Building Code (NBC) do exist but they are merely guidelines.
1. LEED/ IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Green Ratings:
The beginning of Green Building Movement was done by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2001. They formed the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) in the same year but the Green Building movement in India started gaining momentum in 2003 and received a major impetus when, CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre Building in Hyderabad became the first green building in India & was awarded with the prestigious and the much coveted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council (USGBS) and also became the world’s greenest Building in 2003.
Now, a green building is one, which uses less energy, water and other natural resources, creates less waste & Green House Gases and is healthy for people during living or working inside as compared to a standard Building. Another meaning of Green building is as a structure which provided clean environment, water and healthy living. Building Green is not about a little more efficiency. It is about creating buildings that optimize on the local ecology, use of local materials and most importantly they are built to cut power, water and material requirements. It is also known as a sustainable or high performance building. Usually their performance is based on sustainability criteria which focuses on sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, indoor environmental quality.
Green building laws and codes in our country are voluntary. Till date, India does not have an effective and comprehensive green building code unlike like The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) which established LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification for a building using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics, such as resource utilization, reduced CO2 emissions, improved indoor environmental quality. The green indicators of LEED have been adopted by as many as 57 countries, and are considered benchmarks. The LEED benchmark has been recognized and accepted by most developers, builders, architects and users for constructing core or shell buildings as well as for furnishing buildings in India.
Post June 5, 2014, when GBCI began managing the certification process for all LEED rating systems in India, including the LEED India rating system, which was previously managed by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), standards have been customized according to Indian conditions, in terms of the design, construction and operation of buildings for environment-friendly performance. Its rating system is amended regularly to address not only the Indian environmental and climatic conditions but also the sustainability issues of buildings.
2. GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute):
The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, conceived by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India has been adopted as the national rating system for green buildings by the Government of India in 2007 providing basic prerequisites for green buildings in terms of predefined parameters.
3. IEP (Integrated Energy Policy):
In January 2016, the Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) was formulated by GoI providing a roadmap to develop energy supply options and increased exploitation of renewable energy sources. In addition, for promotion of Renewable Energy, Government has amended the National Tariff Policy for electricity in January 2016.
4. BEE Star Rating:
To create a market pull for energy efficient buildings, BEE developed a voluntary Star Rating Programme for commercial buildings which was launched by Ministry of Power 2009 which is based on the actual performance of a building, in terms of energy usage in the building over its area expressed in kWh/sq. Energy Star-rated buildings in India earn substantial benefits compared to non-green buildings; in particular 40% greater energy efficiency compared to standard buildings and significant lower operations costs. Based on industry data, approximately 85% of Energy-Star rated buildings use a system with energy management controls and 50% use lighting system motion sensors to qualify for the Energy-Star certification.
5. GEM (Green & Ecofriendly Movement):
In 2017, ASSOCHAM launched the “GEM Sustainability (Green) Certification Program” with the objective to promote environment friendly green building design and construction. GEM Sustainability Certification Rating Program is based upon BEE ECBC 2017 and NBC 2016. It aims to address the sustainability of a given development throughout its lifecycle from design through construction to operation.