North marching towards green building concept

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11

Taking a cue from the western and southern region, North India is taking steps in developing green buildings. Out of 6,000-odd green projects coming up across the country, there are around 400 projects (excluding Delhi) being developed in the region with a majority of them concentrated in Gurugram. According to industry, few developers are opting for green projects because of low awareness and perception of high cost.

“There is low awareness among developers in the North as compared to the western and southern region. Secondly, many of the developers feel the project cost is much higher in comparison to conventional building. It used to be 20% higher at one point of time,” said M Anand, Principal Counsellor, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, CII.

However, he said in the past 10-15 years, the construction cost of green buildings has come down drastically and now it is around 5% higher than the conventional buildings.

The significant features of a green building are its energy saving and energy management. Green buildings reduce energy consumption through building design, envelope, glass, renewable energy, lighting systems, appliances, and energy monitoring. On an average, a green building saves energy to the tune of 30 to 40% and encourages designs and technologies which are ecologically superior and economically viable.

Also, the green building movement has created enormous demand for credible green building products, materials and technologies.

According to industry, Maharashtra tops the list with maximum number of green buildings followed by Delhi-NCR region (including Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram) and Karnataka.

As far as North India is concerned, as per estimates, around 284 registered projects are in Haryana (Gurugram having a lion’s share), 60 in Punjab and 18 in Chandigarh.

“Though the number of green buildings in North is small as compared to South, but with the passage of time, the awareness has increased and many projects have been registered to get green ratings,” he added.

To promote the green buildings concept in the region, all three state governments are offering extra floor ratio for the construction of green buildings.

For example, the Haryana Government has decided to reward commercial and industrial property owners opting for green buildings. Owners of green buildings across the state will get extra floor area ratio (FAR) of up to 15%. Similarly, Himachal Pradesh is offering additional FAR of 10% while the Punjab government has offered additional FAR of 5% for the green buildings.

Analysts feel increase in awareness coupled with government incentives will go a long way in promoting the concept of green buildings.

Prominent green buildings in region 

• National Institute of Food Technology, Kundli
• Godrej Eternia, Chandigarh
• Manav Mangal Smart World, Punjab
• A new building in PGI, Chandigarh

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