IGBC Green Building Congress initiates mission 50@50

The 20th edition of the Green Building Congress was organised at HICC-Novotel, the 3-day flagship Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) event received an overwhelming response and saw large participation from the green building community with over 3000 delegates from around the world. 

India’s largest green expo being organised in conjunction with the Green Building Congress 2022, showcased over 1,000 green building products, services, and technologiesacross 100+ stalls and was visited by over 6500 visitors.

To Further Spread the Green Footprint, IGBC Announced the Launch of:

•  IGBC NEST, a one of a kind rating programme for self-developed housing projects to go green, was launched at the event.

Updated versions of the following Ratings were unveiled:

•  IGBC Green Factory Rating System,

•  IGBC Green Affordable Housing Rating System and

•  IGBC Green Resorts Ratings System were launched at 20th Green Building Congress 2022.

To Promote a Green Built Environment the contribution of ‘Green Pro’ ratings was highlighted and

•  Green Pro Standards for Copper Tubes & Automotive Steel to support Green Built Environment were released.

It was announced at the event that the green buildings are supported by over 5400 products rated by CII’s GreenPro rating system which helped reduce the carbon footprint by 6.5 million tonnes, making it the fastest-growing ECO Label in the world.

The conference was inaugurated by Shri Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister who urged all state governments and urban local bodies to proactively offer incentives to IGBC-rated Green Buildings to ensure wider adoption of green building concepts throughout the country. He emphasized the urgent need to conserve water and help India build water security for the future and congratulated IGBC on its good work being done for the country.

According to Mr. Gurmit Singh Arora, Chairman, IGBC, “Promoting Net Zero – Built Environment and Buildings is the need of the hour and IGBC would set the mission to achieve 50@50, having 50 billion square feet of green buildings by the year 2050. To enable the mission IGBC would broaden and update the rating systems to consult and direct the built environment toward the goal. The Green Pro rating system for Green Products would be an enabler towards the objective as going green is no longer a choice but a mandate. To facilitate the Green movement, ‘GreenPro experience centres’ need to be set up to give a hands-on look at products before and after they turn green.”

Mr. C. Shekhar Reddy, Chairman IGBC-Hyderabad discussed, “IGBC has taken numerous activities to accelerate the Green Building movement towards Net Zero by 2070. Telangana is at the forefront of this movement and Hyderabad bagged the prestigious ‘World Green City Award 2022’ beating Paris, Bogota, Mexico City, Montreal, and Fortaleza in Brazil. To further proliferate the Green Movement IGBC has signed an MOU with Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) to develop a framework and consultation for developing sustainable new industrial parks. Most of the new buildings under TSIIC have applied for IGBC ratings. Even Hyderabad Metro Rail has committed to attaining carbon neutrality by 2040 and already have 23 metro stations that are IGBC Platinum-rated buildings. The new Police Command and Control Centre in Hyderabad is IGBC rated. Even South-central railways have adopted Green Movement, with The Secunderabad and Hyderabad Railway stations being Platinum-rated projects. To achieve 50@50 we need to encourage all stakeholders in the city to be part of the movement and expand the footprints to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.”

Mr. V Suresh, Chairman, of IGBC Policy and Advocacy Committee & Government Relations said, “The vision of Indian cities going green needs a holistic approach. There is a need for the building market not only in Tier 1 Cities but also in Tier 2 and 3 cities to get aligned with Green or Sustainable practices to enhance their green footprint in the country. More avenues for cheaper funding of Green Projects across the board will further incentivize the green movement. The various stakeholders in the movement including the government, factories, small-scale industries along with the offices, banks, and the ecosystem as a whole should strive to promote green buildings amidst urbanization at a rapid rate keeping in mind the well-being of future generations.”

Mr. B. Thiagarajan, National Vice Chairman, IGBC says, “We are happy that more stakeholders including builders, factories, and government bodies are opting for IGBC Green Ratings. Besides the manufacturing ecosystem is exploring innovative ways to provide cost-effective green building materials.”

Outlining the developments various stakeholders contributing to the green building movement highlighted:

According to George Menezes, Advisor- Sustainability, Godrej & Boyce, “Setting short-term objectives and outlining long-term vision routes is crucial for the industry in order to meet the milestones established at the Glasgow COP 26. It is essential to have such forums as they provide platforms to industry and policymakers for open discussion wherein we can discuss the opportunities, and challenges and try to overcome them. Without short-term goals and actions, long-term targets lack purpose. It is important to build an organization’s capability for doing things that actually matter. Godrej & Boyce and CII, together have been leading the Green Building movement in India since 2004. We have built and established the first green building in India and will continue to work together to build a more sustainable future. Godrej & Boyce is committed to ensuring that one-third of our energy requirements are fulfilled by renewables. We have voluntarily participated in the EP100 and Science Based Target initiative under which we are committed to doubling our energy productivity and reducing our emissions.”

Dr. Bejay Jayan, Technical Director, Pidilite Industries Limited mentioned “The importance of Envelope Insulation of buildings as 50% of the energy consumed in a building is by HVAC and poor insulation can lead to energy losses, increasing the consumption. The Smart Wall Masonry Panel System is a unique wall insulation system by Pidilite, that has two parts that interlock together to form the masonry wall.”

Mr. S Yuvaraj Murthy, Head of Technology, Schneider Electric, speaking at the session on The Energy System for Smart Cities says, “The Smart Grid and Smart Buildings and Homes are essential for making the grid more efficient & reliable and to maximize the energy efficiency. To assist in this, Schneider has launched new services such as GreenNext and GreenYodha, the new sustainability initiatives to support the Green Built environment.”

According to Mr. Tushar Sinkar, Director R&D Nippon Paints, “To achieve the Net Zero Objective it is important to select the right paint with appropriate VOC content, and other technical parameters in paint selection for interior building applications. Our range is ‘Green Pro’ rated and has a product for all the requirements to provide the right materials for the Green Built Environment.”

Mr. Anand Santhanam, National Head – Sales and Marketing, Saint Gobain India Pvt. Ltd. stated “The benefits of the good glass facade, which can be used to reduce carbon emissions. Green Buildings will greatly benefit by increasing the recycled glass content from 18% to 40% in lighting and building environment. The innovation – SG Imagine, gives a virtual trail glass experience, cutting off the carbon emissions related to trail glass samples and their transport to the clients.”

The Green Building Congress 2022 also devoted a day to CleanTech startups offering solutions for Building/Industry Sector. The ACE Program was a one-day technical session where enterprises working on clean technologies shared solutions that help buildings and industries achieve their net-zero targets. Technologies on IOT-based energy and water metering, monitoring, and control systems were showcased with new-age automated algorithmic optimization. Additionally, renewable Solar and WHR systems, biogas generation and management systems, zero electricity water filtration systems, high-efficiency fans, etc. were discussed. Cross-industry exchange of technologies and solutions took place to help achieve the mission 50@50 .

for more info visit : https://igbc.in/igbc/

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