Ministry of Housing and IGBC to collaborate on greening metros, cities and affordable housing: Hardeep Singh Puri

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, recently inaugurated the 16th Green Building Congress 2018, India?s premier green buildings event organised by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Delivering the inaugural address on the theme of ?Green Built Environment for People and the Planet?, Puri said, ?While we are all celebrating India?s presence among the top five nations in terms of green building footprint, we should have a larger target. India?s 4,500 cities and towns must all be green for India to grow in a sustainable fashion. The government, building sector, and stakeholders must all work together to provide green solutions.?   

The growth of urbanisation in India will only increase, he said. ?By 2030, 40 per cent of our population will be living in cities and by 2050, this will rise to 50 per cent. Therefore, it becomes imperative to plan and conceive these cities as green, right from the initial stages.?      

Commenting on the importance of sustainable green development, Lisa Bate. Chair of the Board, World Green Building Council, said: "On a global scale, buildings today produce 33 per cent of GHG emissions and consume 40 per cent of energy. Two to five times more pollutants are found inside buildings as compared to the outdoors. The World Green Business Council is working on creating better places for people, shifting the spotlight from buildings to occupants. This approach can lead to tremendous benefits in the productivity and health of people.?

Delivering the theme address, V Suresh, Chairman, IGBC, said: "IGBC has facilitated 6.33 billion sq ft of green footprint, which has put India tall among nations pursuing the sustainable development goals. The council would work to achieve 10 billion sq. ft by 2022, when India turns 75. The council would further work on enabling the green building movement as a people?s movement. IGBC is also working on training and capacity building so as to have 10,000 green building professionals by 2022.?

Outlining CREDAI's role in India's green building movement, Jaxay Shah, National President, CREDAI, said: ?We consider sustainable development as the core of our approach to housing and habitat. We have entered into an MoU with IGBC to accelerate advancing green building footprint in India. We will reach out to CREDAI members to promote the usage of IGBC-certified green materials and work on green affordable housing standards, at no cost to developers and occupants."      

India?s first Green Building Rating System for net zero energy buildings (NZEB) was launched during the inaugural. The ?Net Zero Energy Buildings Ratings System? is the first step toward implementing Net Zero (across water, energy, and waste) buildings in India. This is being done in collaboration with the World Green Building Council and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The minister also inaugurated a three-day exhibition which showcases over 100 green building products and technologies related to homes and commercial buildings.  

The inaugural session concluded with an awards ceremony, in which Dr Prem C Jain, the immediate past chair of IGBC was recognised with ?Hall of Fame Award? for his phenomenal contribution to India?s green building movement. A few prestigious and unique green building projects received awards from the minister. These include the Harni police station; ICICI Digital Village; Delhi Metro Rail Corporation; Chennai Metro Rail Corporation; Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation; Hyderabad Metro Rail; Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Technology (Andaman and Nicobar), and Savvy Strata, Ahmedabad (Affordable Housing).