Why get a Green Building Certification in India?
The IGBC Green New Buildings rating system has been implemented in the construction industry to address the most important priorities, such as water conservation, waste management, energy efficiency, reduced use of fossil fuels, less reliance on virgin materials, and occupant health and well-being. This grading method necessitates the use of national standards and other codes such as the ECBC, NBC, MoEF guidelines, CPCB guidelines, and others. The ultimate goal of this accreditation is to outperform national requirements, hence setting new benchmarks.
To get a Green Building Certificate in India, you must certify that your building projects comply with all applicable norms and GBCI standards, for which you may contact Corpbiz today. Corpbiz has been supporting companies in complying with various rules and meeting all necessary requirements by offering realistic business solutions and unique insights.
What is a Green Building?
According to the World Green Building Council, a green building is one that, by its construction, design, or operation, minimizes or eliminates negative effects on our climate and natural environment while also having the potential to produce positive ones. Green buildings assist in preserving vital natural resources and improve our quality of life.
Who Needs Green Building Certification in India?
Green Building Certification in India is related to buildings. Hence, it is intended for enterprises and firms working in the construction industry to assess the feasibility of attaining green buildings and sustainability objectives. It is the most widely used grading system in India's construction sector for evaluating and analyzing efficiencies, particularly those related to energy efficiency and carbon footprint.
Green Building Certification in India was introduced with the goal of encouraging construction companies to produce outstanding projects that promote greener buildings for a more sustainable future.
Benefits of Green New Buildings for Businesses
Green New Buildings provide enormous tangible and intangible advantages. The most obvious advantages are a decrease in water and energy usage beginning with the first day of building occupancy; energy savings might range from 20% to 30%, and water savings can range between 30% to 50%. Green new buildings provide intangible advantages such as enhanced air quality, tenant health and well-being, good daylighting, security benefits, and the protection of rare national resources. Aside from this, the Indian government offers many incentives to encourage firms to get green construction and LEED certifications in India. Several of these include:
Tax Benefits
The Income Tax Act of India provides a few tax incentives to project developers of LEED-certified buildings or GBCI-certified projects. The project developers may claim up to 100% depreciation on the whole cost of green construction assets such as solar panels, waste management systems, and rainwater harvesting systems.
Loans Benefits & Fast-track approvals
The Indian government has assured that low-interest loans are disbursed via the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for green-certified construction projects. These projects are also eligible for additional advantages such as faster permits, reduced construction fees, and accelerated inspections.
State-level Subsidies
Various states support green building certification in India via their own plans and regulations, granting subsidies and/or tax breaks to encourage energy-efficient buildings and renewable energy projects.
Environmental Benefits
The government also gives subsidies and/or tax breaks that encourages the use of renewable energy in the nation, indirectly promoting LEED-certified buildings that assure a balance or net-zero use in basic factors such as carbon emissions, water and energy consumption, waste creation and treatment. This contributes to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and assures a decrease in pollution generated by building operations.
As a result, these incentives and advantages are intended to make green construction projects in India more financially or commercially feasible, as well as to encourage private sector participation and sustainable building methods.
Know All About Green Building Certification
India is seeing unprecedented development in the building and infrastructure sectors. The Indian construction business is one of the greatest commercial activities, rising at an annual pace of 9.5%, compared to the world average of 5%. With such fast expansion, environmental protection measures become both more vital and hard.
IGBC
In pursuit of this goal, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) was formed to represent the building sector, with over 1,900 dedicated members. The Indian Green Building Council promotes builders, owners, architects, developers, and consultants to design and construct structures that may be classified as green buildings, hence enhancing their economic and environmental performance.
As a result, the IGBC has led the Green Building Movement in India since 2001 by raising awareness among stakeholders, and the Council has been instrumental in enabling 3.84 billion square feet of green buildings throughout the nation.
This has made a significant contribution to the market transformation of green construction materials and technology. IGBC has been working tirelessly to develop essential tools in the construction industry that would assist the implementation of green building techniques across India.
To meet these industry concerns, the Indian Green Building Council launched the IGBC Green New Buildings Rating System. This new building grading scheme is simply a tool for designers to adopt green principles in order to reduce environmental problems.
Green Building Certifications by GBCI in India
In India, LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification, is a globally recognized certification for recognizing green building projects, with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) serving as the only provider of LEED certification in India. Aside from LEED certification, GBCI also administers a variety of additional certifications in India, such as
IGBC Green New Buildings Rating System
The IGBC has formed a Green New Buildings Core Committee to develop the rating scheme. This group is made up of several stakeholders, including builders, architects, developers, owners, manufacturers, and other industry professionals.
The IGBC Green, New Buildings rating system is a consensus-based program designed to facilitate a holistic approach to creating environmentally friendly buildings through architectural design, effective waste management, water efficiency, energy efficiency, sustainable buildings, and a focus on building occupant comfort and well-being. This ranking system addresses some of the following key aspects:
Scope of IGBC Green New Buildings Rating System
The IGBC grading system was mainly created for new buildings (both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned). New buildings include offices, banks, shopping malls, hotels, airports, hospitals, stadiums, educational institutions (colleges and universities), libraries, and so forth. Other IGBC rating initiatives will include residential, industry, school, and integrated townships.
The IGBC ranking system evaluates green characteristics in the following categories:
The criteria outlined under each obligatory criterion and credit allow for the construction of new structures of various sizes and kinds. Different levels and types of green building certification in India are granted based on the total number of credits obtained.However, every green new building must be able to satisfy some basic standards that cannot be negotiated.
Process for Green Building Certification in India
The process of obtaining Green Building Certification in India starts with registering their projects under the IGBC Green New Buildings rating system on the IGBC website (www.igbc.in) under the 'IGBC Green New Buildings Rating System' category. This facilitates access to the essential paperwork and templates, as well as other relevant information. To guarantee conformity with the rating system's standards, the certification application must be submitted together with all essential documentation. Applicants must then pay the relevant certification costs.
Step-by-Step Process for Green Building Certification in India
Step 1: Online Project Registration
Step 2: Preliminary preparation for IGBC review.
Step 3: Review by IGBC 3rd Party Assessor.
Step 4: The project accepts ratings.
Step 5: IGBC conducts a site visit
Step 6: Project Team Submits Final Preparation.
Step 7: IGBC gives plaques and certificates showing the certification level.
Criteria For Green Building Certification
In order to get a Green Building Certification in India, five basic requirements must be met. The requirements are:
Sustainable Design
The building project will be built in a sustainable manner, and its development will not disrupt the current ecology.
Water Usage
When fully functioning, the building will utilize water effectively while also attempting to save water via the water cycle process. Water preservation strategies, such as stormwater tanks fitted with on-site water filtering technology and the preservation of adjacent hydro-ecosystems, are recommended.
Energy Efficiency
Maximum efforts to decrease carbon footprint and use renewable energy sources are recommended. Some possibilities include adopting green technology, such as solar panels, to power the building's electrical devices and using smart appliances, such as Smart Grid refrigerators, to significantly reduce electrical energy use.
Comfort indoors
The structure should offer optimum and enough creature comforts, good air quality, and a suitable temperature in response to changing weather and ventilation, as well as sufficient sunshine for electrical energy saving.
Materials
Non-renewable construction materials must be utilized sparingly or not at all while constructing the structure. Environmental design will be prioritized, with an emphasis on using recyclable, eco-friendly building materials wherever possible.
Why Do We Need A Green Building Certification System?
An appropriate certification system is required to encourage the practice of developing 'green' architectural structures. The certification method assesses a building based on a variety of characteristics and features and provides an evaluation based on the laws. The whole system lends financial legitimacy to the project, while the structure itself supports the habitat around it in ecologically favourable ways.
Adhering to the certification norms and practices not only significantly increases the value of the building, but also increases the building's resale value. Additionally, because the building is compliant with the certification norms and practices, the building's maintenance costs will be significantly lower, making the building much more viable and easier to modify in response to the ever-changing climate and surrounding ecosystem.
Who Certifies A Green Building In India?
Certifying agencies are the most prevalent in India for issuing a certificate for green construction; there are four major agencies that give assistance and necessary support for the same and were purposely developed for the same goal.The four major agencies are:
Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment
This agency, usually known as GRIHA, is India's rating system, which was designed from the ground up by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. The GRIHA national rating system is used to develop and assess new building constructions. There is a checklist of over 30 criteria organized into four essential categories for meeting GRIHA requirements and obtaining Green Building Certification.
Indian Green Building Council
This agency, also known as IGBC, is a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry. IGBC is a quasi-governmental organization dedicated to the development of sustainable green building construction in India. IGBC analyzes buildings on four levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Certified; accreditation is valid for three years after receiving the certificate.
Energy Conservation Building Code
This institution, sometimes known as ECBC, was founded by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The primary goal of this institution is to establish a standard that determines the degree of efficiency in terms of energy consumption and design prior to building construction.
Leed India
This organization, also known as Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is one of the world's most well-known green building certification bodies. It is regarded as the gold standard among recognized criteria for sustainable green building designs.
Description
Building Standards
A standard is a collection of principles and criteria by which a product may be evaluated. Organizations such as ANSI, ASTM, and ASHRAE use consensus methods to develop common standards for construction practices. The International Standards Organization (ISO) supports the governance of standards and certifications by defining and developing global standards that often become legislation or serve as the foundation for industry norms. The definition of a standard according to the International Standards Organization (ISO) is "a document, established by consensus, approved by a recognized body that provides for common and repeated use as rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results."
Green Codes
Green building regulations are still being created and accepted throughout the world in order to raise the bar for building design and construction to new heights of sustainability and efficiency. Codes are classified into two types: prescriptive and performance-based, with outcome-based emerging as a third alternative. The prescriptive road is a quick, clear, and conservative approach to code compliance. Materials and equipment must fulfil certain levels of stringency, which are measured in tables. Performance-based codes are intended to accomplish certain outcomes rather than achieving predefined standards for individual building components. Outcome-based codes, for example, specify a target energy usage level and require energy use monitoring and reporting to ensure that the finished building meets the specified level.
Green Product Certifications
A certification confirms that a product satisfies the established requirements of a standard. The ISO defines certification as "any activity concerned with determining directly or indirectly that relevant requirements are fulfilled."
Green product certifications are designed to specify and certify that a product fulfils a certain standard and provides an environmental benefit. Many product labelling and certification programs certify items based on life-cycle criteria, resulting in multi-attribute programs. These criteria include energy consumption, recycled content, and air and water emissions from manufacture, disposal, and use. Others concentrate on a specific feature, such as water, energy, or chemical emissions, which have a direct influence on indoor environmental quality (IEQ).
Green Building Rating and Certification Systems
Both standards and product certifications will help determine a product's degree of sustainability or performance. However, each must be evaluated as part of a bigger process and included in the overall project objectives to guarantee the project's sustainability.
Green building rating or certification methods shift the emphasis from the product to the project as a whole. Rating systems are a sort of building certification system that assesses or rewards relative degrees of adherence to certain environmental aims and standards. Rating and certification systems are sometimes used interchangeably.
Goals and benefits of building certification
All certification rating systems aim to give tools and procedures for assessing a building's environmental and resource efficiency. The primary aims of such tools are
Furthermore, the outcome of such an examination is a certificate confirming that the building has met the specified performance and quality standards. Some advantages of certifying a structure or property are
Documents Required for Green Building Certification
The Necessary papers required for green building certification are mentioned below
Growth of Green New Buildings
The growing concern about sustainability has resulted in rapid changes in the construction industry, where policies, laws, and regulations around the world require the adoption of sustainable innovation in the form of processes to encourage more sustainable and green buildings with a zero-carbon footprint. The building industry is one of India's fastest-expanding industries. Increased urbanization and growing income levels are causing unprecedented development in this industry, particularly in cities. According to the most recent projections, 70% of urban India would still be under construction by 2030. As a result, development will be on a massive scale in the next decades.
At the same time, the building has a significant influence on climate change. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), buildings currently account for 40% of world energy consumption and 25% of global human-induced CO2 emissions. In India, the building industry accounts for one-third of all carbon emissions, which has long been a source of worry. Given the tremendous expansion expected, the construction industry has enormous potential to help reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. In this environment, encouraging the creation of green buildings is critical.
Government Incentives for Green Buildings in India
The Indian government has adopted a variety of initiatives to promote green buildings, including the introduction of new green laws and regulations, as well as the reform of current rules to integrate green building techniques and ideas. As a result, it has become critical to not only develop policies requiring all existing buildings and new construction to meet new green building standards but also to enact related rules and regulations to ensure that such policies are effectively promoted, adopted, and implemented. The Indian government announced the following to stimulate the development and usage of green and energy-efficient buildings
Some key government projects for green building in India are
National Missions
India announced its National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008 to find actions that support development goals while also providing advantages for successfully tackling climate change. This strategy primarily addresses climate change, mitigation, energy efficiency, and resource conservation. The 'National Mission on Sustainable Habitat' and 'National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency' are two of the eight national missions that have been implemented. They primarily aim to promote green and sustainable development. The former is part of the national climate change action plan and aims to make towns and states more sustainable by improving energy efficiency in buildings and solid waste management, whereas the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency seeks to encourage the energy efficiency market by fostering innovative policies and effective market instruments.
Energy Conservation Act, 2001
The Energy Conservation Act was enacted to provide a framework for energy efficiency and conservation in India. It contains a legislative framework and a regulatory system at both the central and state levels to achieve energy efficiency in India. The five key provisions of this Act pertain to:
As a result, the legislation compels big energy users to satisfy energy conservation criteria, large commercial buildings to meet energy construction codes, and appliances to fulfil energy consumption standards and labelling.
Environment Impact Assessment
The Indian government, via the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), implemented the 'Environmental Clearance' method for projects going through central or state committees for construction and township projects. Projects that have passed environmental impact assessments have less negative environmental consequences.
The Environmental Protection Act of 1986 mandates environmental impact assessments for large-scale operations, including structures larger than 20,000 square meters. It is essential that you seek environmental permission before beginning construction.
Get Green Building Certification in India with Corpbiz
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So, if you have any more questions regarding Green Building Certification in India, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Green buildings assist in decreasing negative environmental effects by conserving water, energy, and other natural resources, eco-friendly materials, using renewable energy sources and lowering emissions and waste.
By choosing to live in IGBC-certified buildings, you can reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, and improve indoor air quality. Furthermore, such dwellings often bring advantages such as lower energy expenditures, increased thermal comfort, and better living environments.
Getting green building certification may result in several advantages for building owners. These include tax breaks, visibility of commitment, higher sales and leasing rates, improved interior air quality, and a broader understanding of what sustainable construction entails.
Buildings that are 80% occupied (by carpet area) and have been operating for at least a year are eligible for certification under the IGBC Existing Buildings Rating. Campus developments with many buildings might be treated as a single project for registration and certification.
Green buildings promote occupant health and well-being by improving indoor air quality, increasing natural light, and reducing exposure to chemicals and pollutants. According to research, people who work in green-certified facilities report better levels of happiness, productivity, and general well-being.
TERI created GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), which was accepted by the Indian government in 2007. It is a grading mechanism that measures a building's performance against nationally accepted criteria.
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is India's premier certifying authority, located in Hyderabad. IGBC is a founding member of the World Green Building Council, which addresses global concerns at COP and other global venues.
LEED certification is a globally recognized benchmark for environmentally responsible building design, construction, and operation. LEED certification in India not only helps to create a more sustainable future, but it also benefits companies and organizations.
The IGBC grading system includes areas for green building features such as site preservation and restoration, site design and planning, water efficiency, energy savings, resources and substances, and innovation and design processes.
The IGBC Green New Buildings grading system aims to allow a holistic approach to creating environmentally friendly buildings, including architectural design, water efficiency, efficient waste management, energy efficiency, sustainable structures, and an emphasis on occupant comfort and well-being.
