Indian Green Building to be Tripled in 2014

Environment-friendly and energy-efficient buildings are increasingly becoming popular and may grow over three times in the next five years, thereby offering new opportunities to the beleaguered construction industry, a government official said on Friday.

"Today, India has close to 30 million square ft of green buildings; an amazing achievement given the fact that we had only about 20,000 square ft in 2003 when the movement started here," Ajay Mathur, Director General for Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Ministry of Power, said in a release here.

"Market estimates take the figure to over 100 million square ft in the next five years, opening big opportunities for the industry," Mr. Mathur said.

A green building uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for the people compared to a standard building, according to the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is adopting various mechanisms for reducing power consumption substantially in a bid to combat climate change.

BEE, which introduced star rating for determining the energy efficiency of electronic home appliances, has started a similar rating system for commercial buildings.

Source: The Hindu, 2009-08-14, Link

Hong Kong Lagging Behind in Green Building

Hong Kong is lagging the world in enforcing green building codes as arguments continue over whether developers should get incentives to adopt sustainable building practices, or do so out of social and corporate responsibility.

'We tend to talk the talk but we have very few true green buildings in Hong Kong at present,' said Nicholas Brooke, the chairman at Professional Property Services Group.

However, until market demand persuaded reluctant developers to "go green", a stick rather than a carrot in the form of incentives might be what was needed to force change, Mr Brooke said.

Source: PropertWeek, 2009-08-12, Link

High-Performance Green Buildings Conference Held in Malaysia

A Green Building Conference will be held this October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Please find the details in this link.

Develop 3C Company to Invest Rs.1,500 crore on Green Building Project

Noida-based green building developer 3C Company Thursday announced the launch of a Rs.1,550-crore green residential project in the national capital region.

Called Lotus Boulevard, the project will be funded by realty private equity firm Red Fort Capital, which in return will acquire 50 percent stake in the project. Red Fort Capital has already invested Rs.150 crore ($30 million) in the project.

'The project will be developed in various phases. The first phase would be ready for occupancy in the next 21 months,' said Brijesh Bhanote, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

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Source: India eNews, 2009-08-06, Link

How Green is the Green Building?

What is a ‘Green Building’? What makes it different from a conventional building? Why are corporates going in for these green buildings? How important is it for us to live in a green building? How expensive are these green building technologies? The list of questions around this buzzword ‘Green Buildings’ is significantly huge and the answers are not only simple but also provoke us to take a pledge to ‘Go Green’.

A number of organizations have recently been set up to promote this concept. Dr PC Jain, chairman of India Green Building Council (IGBC), recently said at a seminar, “Green building is a concept fast catching the fancy of people across the world, and India is no exception.

Although the concept has come in an entirely new avatar, it is not as novel as being considered by many. The biggest advantage of a green building is if it is designed well, this may accrue life-long benefits at small makeup costs. As socialists, our effort is to promote the concept of sustainable development that is in harmony with nature while keeping intact the traditions and practices of ancient India.”

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Source: Magic Bricks, 2009-08-03, Link