What's The Green Quotient Of Your Home?

The average temperature in Bengaluru, the Karnataka capital, has risen over the years and the city now is far more warmer than its otherwise 'hill- station-like' temperature. This is ever since the city saw the growth of IT sector which further spurred construction, both commercial and residential. The change in temperature has also been observed in Pune. Here, too, the construction has been growing rigorously. There are many more such examples across the country and even the world, that reduces the original appeal of an area after it is fully-constructed. While nothing much can be done about putting a full-stop to the making of concrete jungles, there are certain green building techniques that can help reduce the burden we are putting on our resources.

What is a green home?
A property constructed on the concept of recycle and reuse could be defined as a green home. In such constructions, natural resources like water and energy are used in the most economical manner, using building eco-friendly building material and sustainable techniques.

Techniques commonly used in green projects in India are:

• Radiant-cooling technology
• Solar air-conditioning
• Solar heating
• Rainwater harvesting (when treated, the water can be consumed, or otherwise used for watering plants)
• Power generation using wind or solar as alternate resource (this requires large spaces)
• Insulation and hypo-thermal glass
• Optimised design to ensure minimal use of conventional energy

Why home buyers prefer green homes?
Building a green home can be 10 per cent more costly when compared to building a conventional home. This is due to increased cost of designing as well as special material or techniques used. Actually, the costs are not too high when you compare it with future returns. And, while a home owner with a 'green' choice already begins to save with the process of careful construction, he would also save a lot on water bills and electricity bills.

Home owners in India, both in the premium and affordable category, are now ready to shell out more for an environment-friendly living space, which will not only help them reduce carbon footprints, but also keep their energy bills low. Well-planned and constructed green homes can be naturally cooler. For instance, a few home owners convert their terraces into gardens to cool down the first few floors below, which otherwise tend to heat, and cut down on air-conditioning costs.

Moreover, when talking about lifestyle, people living in green homes that use natural methods, lead a much healthier life. For instance, use of natural sources of ventilation allows more fresh air into homes.

Certification criteria
What remains undefined at present is that certain developers tag their projects as 'green' without incorporating any eco-friendly techniques in the process of construction or in the end-product. To counter this, India now has three primary certification and rating systems that analyse the buildings and provides green ratings based on parameters, including building material used, ventilation provided, the total energy efficiency of the building and management of water and wastewater. The three primary rating systems are Indian Green Building Council (IGBC - LEED), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA).

Certification by IGBC: IGBC defines that there are different levels of green building certification that are awarded on the basis of total credits earned. So, home owners planning to build a green home, check on the certification you plan to apply for as certain parameters are mandatory and non-negotiable by IGBC. IGBC, in India, adopts USGBC's LEED system for certification. Under LEED certification, the project earns points on the basis of six credit categories which include:

• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy & atmosphere
• Materials & resources
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation in design

The threshold criteria for certification/pre-certification levels are as under:

To apply for this certification, IGBC levies a registration and a certification fees which starts from:

• Individual dwelling: Rs 10,000 (registration fees) and Rs 15,000 (certification fees) 
• Multi-unit dwelling: Rs 25,000 (registration fees)*, Rs 1,50,000 (pre-certification fees) and Rs 1,40,000 (certification fees)*

*The registration, pre-certification and certification fees of multi-unit dwelling are different for the members of IGBC and the non-members. It also varies with the area of the project.

Certification by GRIHA: GRIHA is the national rating system of India conceived by the Center for Research on Sustainable Building Science (CRSBS), TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Buildings which are spread in more than 2,500 sq m of area, except for industrial complexes, and are in the design stage, are eligible for certification under GRIHA.

GRIHA has 34 criteria which broadly classified into four categories:

• Site selection and site planning
• Building planning and construction
• Building operation and maintenance
• Innovation

The fees charged by GRIHA is subject to the area of the project and is shared with individual project owners once the information form, available on their website, is filled and submitted.

Certification by BEE: The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), under BEE, was Indian government's move to promote energy efficiency in the building sector. This code certifies and even gives training programmes. This code is applicable to buildings or building complexes that have connected load of 100 kW or greater or a contract demand of 120 kW or greater. It is applicable to the building envelope, the mechanical systems and equipments, water, lighting and electrical systems in the building.

Green homes and real estate
There has been a phenomenal impact of increased demand for green homes on real estate in India. Though commercial real estate has been faster to imbibe green buildings and its techniques, around 40 per cent of such construct is residential. Techniques that the high-rise residential projects in India are incorporating include vertical gardens along the length, solar panels on the roof and others as an alternate source of power generation.

(Katya Naidu has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities)