Inaugurating the Summit, Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI and President, GRIHA Council, said considering that two-thirds of infrastructure that will exist in 2030 is yet to be built, it presents us with a huge opportunity to ensure that all new buildings are ‘green’. Dr A K Tripathi, Advisor/Scientist-G , Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, congratulated the GRIHA team for creating a 100 per cent indigenous green building rating system. He said that out of the 100,000 MW solar power goal of India, 40,000 MW will be in the form of rooftop solar power, which translates fully into the building stock, which directly relates to green buildings. He also highlighted that the cost of renewable energy at Rs.4.50/unit as compared to that of electricity from the grid at Rs.5.25/ unit, removes any question of its unviability.

Setting the theme of the GRIHA Summit 2016, Ms Mili Majumdar, Secretary cum Treasurer, GRIHA Council  said that GRIHA has evolved in the last seven years and has grown from 30 projects to 700, covering almost 28 million sq. m of green footprint. Although there is still a long way to go, substantial impact has been made thus far. GRIHA is recognized and incentivized by many urban local bodies and was recently acknowledged as a tool to achieve the climate change goals in India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Conference of Parties 21 held at Paris in December 2015.

Talking about the ideology of cities of the future, Dr Bimal Patel, President & Acting Director, CEPT University said that our capacity to predict the future is very limited, and this uncertainty must be taken seriously and cities must not be subjected to rigid policies. He also pointed out that there is no cost involved in formulating the codes but there are huge costs involved in implementing them, which ultimately leads to difficulty in enforcing them.

Commenting on the waste management systems in India, Ms Bharti Chaturvedi, Director, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, stated that citizenship is the right to belong to a city and this citizenship needs to be maintained respectfully. Ms Poonam Bir Kasturi, Founder, Daily Dump, highlighted the need to segregate household waste. She suggested ideas that would ensure that landfills in India would not become toxic hubs of the city. She talked about Daily Dump’s products, which convert organic waste into manure and can be put to use in various other ways. Mr Ashok Behera, Vice President, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited, discussed low-density aggregate (LDA). He suggested the use of fly ash for making LDA. He shared his experience of using LDA in industrial and residential projects, which he claims is more eco-friendly and sustainable. He also claimed that the product would be used widely once the BIS approves its implementation with reinforcement.

Different levels of certification to projects were awarded that have maintained the standard for sustainable habitat according to GRIHA norms. A total of seven projects were felicitated, including three 5-star ratings, two 4-star ratings, and two 3-star ratings. Projects with 5-star ratings were Manipal University, Jaipur; Infosys Pocharam, SDB 4 & 5, Hyderabad and Institute of Public Enterprise, Shamirpet, Hyderabad. Chandigarh Airport and AJC Bose Road Residential Project, ITC, Kolkata were recognized as 4-star rated projects. Ansal Esencia, Gurgaon and Ganga Cypress, Pune were recognized as being 3-star rated. GRIHA Council also awarded three SVAGRIHA rated projects. IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Ropar were felicitated as GRIHA LD (Large Developments) rated projects.

The Council recognized projects from diverse fields of building and construction for their exemplary work on promotion of sustainable habitats. These nomination categories were health and safety, site management, passive design, energy, materials, and water management. The projects included IIT Hyderabad and High Court, Goa.

Dr Ajay Mathur congratulated all the projects that received GRIHA rating and exemplary awards. Mr Ashok Chawla, Chairman, TERI Governing Council, emphasized the linkage between economic growth and environmental responsibility and said that one cannot exist without the other. He highlighted the importance of green buildings in the Indian context and its role in mitigating climate change. He also congratulated the GRIHA rating system for mainstreaming the green agenda in the country.