The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) plays an active role in promoting sustainability in the Indian construction sector. The CII is the central pillar of the Indian Green Building Council or IGBC.
CII catalyses change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialised services and global linkages. It also provides a platform for sectoral consensus building and networking. Major emphasis is laid on projecting a positive image of business, assisting industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with over 120 NGOs across the country carry forward our initiatives in integrated and inclusive development, which include health, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development and water, to name a few.
IGBC has licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the U.S. Green Building Council and currently is responsible for certifying LEED-New Construction and LEED-Core and Shell buildings in India.
There are many energy efficient buildings in India, situated in a variety of climatic zones. One of these is RMZ Millenia Park, Chennai, India's largest LEED gold-rated Core & Shell green building.[1]
IGBC, formed by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the year 2001, is continuously striving towards wider adoption of eco-friendly / green building concepts in the Indian Industry.
IGBC promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability, based on the principles of 5 elements of nature [the Panchabutas viz. earth, water, fire(energy), air & sky] by recognizing performance in the following five key areas:
Triggering off the green building movement in India is the first Platinum Green Building in India; CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad as per the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating system. This landmark achievement put India on the global map of green building movement, through support of all stakeholders from the construction industry.
With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2). green built-up area in the country in the year 2003, as on date, 1,429 projects in India have registered under the IGBC Rating programmes, with a total footprint of over 1.02 billion sq. ft.
These developments include various kinds of buildings like: Corporate offices, Hotels, Hospitals, Airports, IT Parks, SEZs, Townships, Gated Communities, Residential Buildings, Government Offices, Schools, Colleges etc.
Today India also has over 203 buildings – which are certified and fully functional. This has been possible with the support of all the stakeholders.
Indian Green Building Council’s (IGBC) has launched different rating programmes to suit variety of building types.
IGBC Green Homes: This rating system is designed for rating new residential buildings, such as Individual homes, Gated communities and High rise residential apartments, etc.,
IGBC Green Factory Building: This rating system is designed for new & existing factory buildings, such as manufacturing facilities, etc.,
IGBC Green SEZs: This rating system is designed for Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The rating meets the guidelines of Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI).
IGBC Green Townships : This rating system is designed for rating integrated township developments
LEED India-New Construction: This rating system is applicable for those buildings where the design and operation is fully in the scope and control of owner or the developer, such as, Corporate office, Institutional building, etc.,
LEED India-Core & Shell: This rating system can be used for projects where the developer controls the design and construction of the entire core and shell base building including MEP/FP systems, but has no control over the design and construction of the tenant fit-out. Such type of developments include: Retail Malls, IT Parks, etc.
Abridged versions of the above mentioned rating programmes can be downloaded from http://www.igbc.in/site/igbc/abrid.jsp .
The council, now in its 10th year of operation, has crossed significant milestones, as highlighted below:
The Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) had launched the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) on February 2007. The code is set for energy efficiency standards for design and construction with any building of minimum conditioned area of 1000 Sq mts and a connected demand of power of 500 KW or 600 KVA. The energy performance index of the code is set from 90 kW·h/sqm/year to 200 kW·h/sqm/year where any buildings that fall under the index can be termed as "ECBC Compliant Building"
More over the BEE had launched a 5 star rating scheme for office buildings operated only in the day time in 3 climatic zones, composite, hot&dry, warm&humid on 25 February 2009.
IGBC rated green buildings are also able to meet or exceed the ECBC compliance. The CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre is a BEE 5 star rated building.
The Reserve Bank of India's buildings in Delhi and Bubaneshwar in Orissa have already been rated 4 star and 5 star respectively.
List of certified green buildings in India Energy Conservation Building Code Solar power in India
Indian Green Building Council CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre