Green homes for India's common man?

Enviromental pollution, which includes air and water pollution along with garbage problems, remains one of India's biggest challenges. And yet, India has the world's second highest number of green buildings after the US, showing the country's intent to tackle its environmental issues.

Swiss cement-maker Holcim, which bought one of India's largest cement companies ACC in 2004, has helped in taking the green building initiative in the country forward.

Since being bought over by Holcim, ACC has three instances of environment- friendly buildings to its credit.

Its headquarters in Mumbai, called the Cement House, now more than 73 years old, was transformed into an energy- efficient green building in 2010.

Giving details about the project, ACC's head of corporate communications R. Nand Kumar said: "The building received the Gold Shield from the Indian Green Building Council in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) under the New Construction and Major Renovations category.

"It is the first old building in India to be awarded green building status. Cement House also received a five-star rating awarded by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India."

Another old building, a 45-year-old apartment block called La Residency, was retrofitted and converted into a hostel complex for participants of ACC's learning centre. It received LEED Platinum certification.

The company's central control room building at its Chanda cement plant in Maharashtra is the first industrial building in India to receive LEED Platinum Certification by the Indian Green Building Council. A high proportion of recycled and locally available building material and accessories were used in the building while the main structure itself was constructed with fly ash-(a by-product of coal combustion) based cement and bricks.

According to Mr Nand Kumar, the green building movement in India has gained widespread momentum and there is a very high level of awareness in cities and among construction professionals There are two organisations that promote green buildings in India - the Indian Green Building Council and The Energy and Resources Institute, with independent rating systems.

However, Mr Nand Kumar rues that the common man in India does not see the forceful argument in favour of green buildings. He said: "The common man is not aware of the enormous potential to save electricity and water by going green; this in a country where these two resources are scarce and costly."

He added that very few people know that it does not cost very much more to build green. "Analysts estimate the differential cost to be no more than 3-5 per cent. If you factor in savings of 25-30 per cent in the water and electricity consumption bill in an average green building in India, the additional expense is not just recovered within five years but such buildings can be profitable," he said.

Most green buildings in India are non-residential commercial structures concentrated in a few of the big cities.

Mr Nand Kumar said the common man in the country still sees green homes as a luxury.

"There are many challenges to surmount before the average home buyer in India is convinced about green homes. The average home builder or home buyer's fundamental concerns are economy, durability, utility and comfort," he said.

Mr Nand Kumar said the need of the hour is to demystify the concept of green and sustainable housing so that it can be understood not as an ethical choice but as a superior style that blends aesthetic appeal with economic and eco-friendly advantages. A home where these qualities translate into benefits to the houseowner by way of monthly savings in water, electricity, maintenance and other resources. Citing the example of Singapore's approach, Mr Nand Kumar said the island nation's efforts in sustainability and green buildings have been quite unique and offer much to learn from.

"Here you see an example of a whole country where the leadership and planners are looking ahead to overcome present and future civic constraints in an integrated manner that can make an entire city sustainable.

There is also an effort to engage the citizens in this exercise," he said.

ankitav@sph.com.sg

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