Green Buildings – A Review (original) (raw)

Today we all have heard the term " Green Building " more and more often just because the Green Movement is getting more and more popular with each passing year. A green building is the one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building. The " built " environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, human health, and the economy. By adopting green building strategies, we can maximize both economic and environmental performance. Green construction methods can be integrated into buildings at any stage, from design and construction, to renovation and deconstruction. In the year 2001, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), formed by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is continuously striving towards wider adoption of green building concepts in our country. It has licensed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Standard from the U.S. Green Building Council and at present certifies the LEED-New Construction and LEED-Core and Shell buildings in India. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched by the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) as a guide for energy efficiency standards. The Green Building movement spearheaded by CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad since 2001 has come a long way. With a meagre green building footprint of 20,000 sq.ft in 2003, today over 400 million sq.ft have been rated by IGBC. India ranks third among the top ten countries for LEED and in 2016, nearly 650 projects in India earned LEED certification. According to a recent USGBC survey, 87 percent of Indian professionals anticipate that use of LEED in India increasing overall, with nine out of ten industry senior executives in India anticipating that their LEED related work will increase over the next several years. The effective use of the natural resources is the need of present days. The Indian green building movement is surging ahead and well poised to reach greater heights, in the years to come.