New Delhi : ADaRSH, a platform to facilitate a pan-India, ongoing interaction 
Speaking at the inaugural session and urging the private sector and major developers of the country to adopt more and more green building technologies, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, said, “Time and again, whether it was an earthquake or a landslide or shortage of electricity, traditional buildings have proved more reliable than contemporary buildings. ‘GRIHA’ the national rating system is to prevent the end of the time-tested architectural practices, remove the myths about green buildings and to support everyone involved in the green building industry. Through this platform, organized by TERI and MNRE, I seek the cooperation of the private sector in achieving energy security and ecological security of this country through green and sustainable construction activities.”
In his address, Mr. Deepak Gupta, said, “I am happy to inform you that so far, 85 projects have already been registered for GRIHA rating certification with 3.95 million sq. m built up area out of which 70 projects from various Government Departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSU), Educational Institutions including All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, with a total 2.70 million square meter built up area have been registered for the construction based on green rating norms for acquiring GRIHA Ratings. Our ministry in consonance with TERI is promoting green buildings by providing incentives for registration and professional guidance to ADaRSH, an independent society created for this purpose, which is also organizing trainings for the concerned professionals regularly.”
He further added “I am confident that this workshop will certainly benefit the architects, planners and engineers and sensitize the builders towards green building construction in future and they will take full advantage of it. I assure that our ministry, ADaRSH and TERI will provide all possible support in this endeavor to ensure any building in future to be as green as possible.”
Explaining the importance of green buildings, Dr. R K Pachauri, said, “There is a building boom in India that is only going to accelerate. Thus there is a need to build in a way that does not get locked in inefficiency. To bring about a major change, ratings based on solid scientific principles, architectural techniques and methods that stand the test of times are essential. TERI has been at the forefront of this and is fortunate to get MNRE’s support and encouragement in this process.”
He further added that “GRIHA rating is tailor made to any conditions than any other overseas ratings, which makes it suitable and practical to be used in India. The uniqueness of this rating, gives an opportunity to be replicated in the building sector across the globe too.”
The sustainability of our building industry is crucial to the economic, social and human development of our country. The annual growth rate of our construction industry is far higher than the global average. Further, it contributes significantly to our GDP. Direct employment generated is second only to agriculture; with indirect employment generation in ancillary industries, as high as 5 -10%.
More than 70% of the infrastructure needed for a developed India is yet to be built and that gives great opportunity to build green. The scale and pace of construction in India is unparalleled and at this scale, cost of green building materials, renewable energy systems and design services can all be brought down for everyone’s benefit.
Green Rating systems for buildings emerged in various countries to strike a balance between development and environment preservation. India has maintained this balance for centuries and can fallback on its architectural heritage and traditional wisdom to maintain this balance. Green Ratings can help sustain it by combining time-tested wisdom with scientifically rigorous validation procedures available today.
GRIHA emerged out of a protracted exercise involving researchers at TERI, policy makers at the highest level, practicing professionals and concerned citizens. Most development decisions are taken at the building project level and the first version of GRIHA is decision making tool for any developer to gauge and achieve sustainability in his project.
This year’s conference expands on the themes of the previous conference and focuses on the following:
• Innovation in architectural design, systems, planning, structural design etc
• The importance of adopting integrated design in economics, environment and education
• How to make affordable and low cost housing green?
• Importance of conservation
• Strategies to be adopted to reduce the environmental impact of existing buildings and to make them green.
The two day conference also hosted an exhibition on the sidelines to showcase green building products, energy efficient solutions and new technologies & services available today to build a sustainable habitat. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Farooq Abdullah, MNRE Minister.
Prominent and responsible corporate entities committed towards building a sustainable environment exhibited a range of energy efficient products, which will help lower energy costs, provide comfort as well as enable building a greener future. Some of the exhibit highlights included; AIS Glass Ltd. and Saint Gobain’s insulated glass units (IGUs); UTC’s (United Technologies Company) clean technology solutions for air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration; Bayer’s expertise in systems engineering, ranging from domestic hot water and central heating to air-conditioning and renewable energy solutions; Everest’s green building solutions for Roofing, Ceiling, Wall, Flooring, Cladding, Door, pre Engineered steel buildings for Industrial, Commercial & Residential sectors; Armstrong’s numerous green building solutions for designing instant hot water taps that would restrict the flow of heated water and are virtually maintenance free.
The list of 20 exhibitors at the National conference for Green Design: Buildings & Habitats are: Armstrong. AIS Glass, BASF India, Saint Gobain, Everest, Lloyd insulations, Termex, Dow Chemicals, Tehcnoform, Surmount, UTC (united technologies company), Bayer, Sohom Fenstertech, Owens Corning, Daily Dump, Veejay Trading, Synefra, Desiccant Rotors International as well as TERI and MNRE technologies.
The annual conference provided a platform for exchange of ideas and thoughts for various stakeholders in the industry. Also four organizations were awarded provisional GRIHA Rating plaques for their actions and commitment towards green building technologies that they have adopted. They were: Suzlon, Police Training School, Sangli Maharashtra, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh New Delhi, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd.