Use Of Green Building Constructions Environmental Sciences Essay

India is the Seventh largest country in the world and it has population of 1.24 billion as of 2012 according to World Population Review 2012. As of 2012 India experienced a growth of 5.5% in its Gross Domestic Product (Money Control, 2012). In the same year, the Construction industry Experienced a growth of 6.6%. During the year 2011, construction industry was valued at Rs.18.5 trillion (Reportlinker, 2012). Indian Green Building Council was started on 2001 by Confederation of Indian Industry. The aim of this council is to increase green building construction in India and to make India one of the leaders in green buildings of the world. Benefits from green buildings can be both tangible and intangible . Most important benefit from construction of green buildings are reduction in usage of water and energy costs during the construction of building. The tangible benefits by using green buildings are saving water sources at 30-50% and energy sources by 20-30%. The intangible benefits in construction of green buildings are clear vision of day lighting, health and wellbeing of the occupants, conservation of national resources and enhanced air and marketability of the project (Indian Green Building Council,2008). Indian Green Building Council is a system designed for rating residential buildings which include Gated communities, Residential apartments, Retrofitting of residential buildings with accordance to Indian Green Buildings Council (Indian Green Building Council, 2008). The increased growth in economic activities of any country is causing pressure on environmental and natural resources.

There is evidence that an irreversible damage is caused to global environment due to human activities, which have an impact on quality of life for future generations. This concern for environment due to global warming has caused governments to search for sustainable solutions. In India, the real estate industry is the main contributor for global warming due to emission of greenhouse gases released due to energy use from buildings. Hence, there is a necessity for developing sustainable green buildings and technologies in the construction industry. Compared to the world average growth of 5.2% in construction industry, India is growing rapidly with a rate of 10% and also 20% of total electricity is consumed by buildings in India (Lang and Meghraj, 2008). This shows that it is a great opportunity to instigate construction of green buildings or sustainable buildings in the country. In some cases developers have to face a lot of challenges since construction of green buildings will cost a lot for some cases.

Green Buildings Development:

Sustainable development is often defined as ‘Meeting the needs of the present generation without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.’ (Brundtland, 1987). Sustainable development is conceptually divided into three types. They are Economic Sustainability, Social Sustainability and Environment Sustainability (John Elkington, 1999). Performance of industrial economy is always been measured by financial outcome. Striking a balance between the above three constituent parts will be a key in achieving sustainable development. In India real estate industry is the major energy consumers and Greenhouse Gas emitters. 38% of global energy is being consumed by real estate industry and almost 3,800 tonnes of greenhouse gas is emitted every year, according to a report done by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change in the year 1996. This report has not included usage of any other resources such as water. Due to increased global warming, depleted sources and consumer pressures had pushed the need for sustainability in construction industry sector (Lang and Meghraj, 2008). Sustainability in construction industry is not limited to energy conservation also includes resource usage, working conditions and also neighbour surroundings. This situation has given rise to development of sustainable buildings. The green building usually emphasises reduction of environmental impacts on a integrated approach to land, construction strategies and building uses in a sustainable way. Usually a green building uses less amount of energy, natural resources and water when compared to other normal building. By construction of sustainable buildings less amount of construction waste is generated and it also helps in providing healthier environment for people living in it. Green buildings have sustainable features like sufficient use of water, energy and eco-friendly environment, usage of recycled materials, renewable energy, landscapes, effective building and control management systems (Lang and Meghraj, 2008).

The benefits of sustainable building usually depend on the extent at which they are used during the planning and design state. A green building will be successful only if it is included starting from the design state. The considerations that are taken into account in design of green building are supply chain starting from material sourcing, recycled resource use, civic amenities, modelling of energy and finally waste disposal for occupier’s education.

Sustainable Buildings in India:

In India, green building movement started with establishment of Indian Green Building Council in 2001, which was started by CII (Confederation of Indian Industries). The first sustainable building was constructed on July 14 2004 at Hyderabad named as CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (Lang and Meghraj, 2008). In India there are about 18 LEED certified green buildings with an area of about 110 million sq ft by the end of 2007 (CII-Energy Efficiency in Building Design and construction, 2010). In India, the construction industry is considered to be one of the biggest emitter of Greenhouse Gases. 20-25% of consumed electricity by government buildings is being wasted due to incapable design, according to a report submitted by Ministry of power in June 2004. This is the same scenario in private sector.

Merits and Cost of Sustainable Buildings In India:

The main difference between normal and green buildings are that green buildings have improved indoor environment and also operational savings. The economic advantages of green buildings will not be visible immediately, since the lifetime payback is higher compared to that of normal buildings which mainly come from cost savings, reduced carbon emission and higher capital or rental values. The social advantages are due to increased green buildings in the environment. It also helps in increasing tenants and decrease their health problems due to better working condition. In India, the payback of platinum rated building will range from 5 to 7 years where as gold rated and silver rated building have a period of 3 to 4 years (Lang and Meghraj, 2008). The common notion among Indian developers is that construction of green buildings is costlier when compared to normal buildings and it will take a long time to get payback on sustainable buildings. This reason is due to mainly following: green buildings are still in the stage of developing, not having enough technical information on green buildings, execution of sustainable buildings are still inept, preferring short returns instead of focusing on life term returns (Lang and Meghraj, 2008). Cost Premium of Green buildings in India ranges from 6-18%, it depends on the ratings (Confederation of Indian Industry, 2008). There are green building rating systems which give information about changes, effort by the owners invested on achieving a good performance sustainable building and environmental benefits of the land. The sustainable building rating systems are as follows:

– BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, used mostly in UK)

– LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, used mostly in US)

– Green Star (Used mostly in Australia and New Zealand have their own type of Green Star)

– NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System)

– LEED in India by Indian Green Building Council

– GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment)

Cost Analysis of Green buildings:

In words of Greg Kats Principal of capital (a consultancy focusing on clean energy), he says that there is big difference between operating cost and capital cost of sustainable building.

Why Did I Chose Green Building Constructions and Their Cost Efficiency in India:

Most people in India know about Green Buildings, but don’t know the procedure how to start and what are the methods to be taken care in starting a sustainable construction. We have lack of information on Sustainable buildings and Government of India must educate people on sustainable buildings. Construction of green buildings started in India recently during the year 2004 until then people where constructing residential buildings, non-residential buildings including government buildings in normal ways. My aim in choosing this topic is to show that even though green buildings are costly but in lifetime they can get their payback and also provide healthy environment to neighbours and occupants. Government should help in providing financial help for constructing sustainable buildings in India.