It came to my attention that one of the main challenges being faced by developers in India is the availability of green raw materials, is this true? Also, can you list the top 10 green building developers in India?

Advice provided by: Yusuf Turab, InHabit and Buildscape

Databases of Green Buildings in India:

You can also use databases of green building projects to find their developers.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has listed all the IGBC certified green buildings on their website.

ADaRSH, Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats has listed all the buildings that have been certified through the GRIHA rating system.

I hope this helps!

I am a student doing final year architecture in India, I am interested in practising sustainable architecture. i would like to know about the details of the extra cost incurred and the payback period for residential projects. is there any minimum built-up area so that the sustainability can be practised in residential level?

Advice provided by: Yusuf Turab, InHabit and Buildscape

First of all, congratulations on making the smart decision of pursuing green architecture. I think that this term is more accurate than “sustainable architecture”. A building requires a great deal of materials and processes to meet its most basic function, which is human comfort. No building can truly be sustainable unless we go back to the Stone Age.

The idea of green building is to limit the impact on the environment without compromising human comfort. Green building aims to achieve more with less, which is what makes this sector so interesting. I have been consulting for just over a year now and it is very satisfying to see that some of our ideas make a meaningful difference.

The Growth of Green Building

I recently received the following statistics from a World Green Building Council mailer. It says, "In 2003, only 24% of construction firms worldwide were significantly involved with green building. In 2013, 94% of the firms are expected to be significantly involved with green building; more than half of the firms will be largely or exclusively dedicated to green building”.

While this is great for the sector, it also means that there will be increased competition, copying, green washing and lack of differentiation in projects. Therefore, one’s success in the industry will depend on how one can differentiate him or herself and the pace at which he or she innovates.

The report has many other interesting statistics that indicate trends in the green building sector. For the convenience of readers, I have made the report available here for download under “Statistics on Green Buildings”.

Costs and Payback Period of Green Buildings

Since this question is asked often, most green building professionals will simply state that most green buildings have an added cost of 5% - 15% (compared to a conventional building) and that the payback period is usually 3 - 5 years.

While this is true in many cases, I personally believe the cost of going green is relative and cannot be accurately quantified. I know developers and building owners who always use high performance building design and materials, efficient lighting and HVAC, wastewater treatment, rain water harvesting, waste management and other green building materials and techniques. They simply believe that it’s common sense to build that way. For such builders, the cost of going green is minimal or nonexistent, since they would have spent this additional amount anyway.

That being said, many developers do not automatically incorporate green building strategies. The following list indicates some of the features and building practices that might require an investment that is significantly greater than those for conventional buildings practices in India:

Advice provided by: Yusuf Turab, InHabit and Buildscape

You raise some fair points and they have been raised a few times before. The issues you have raised are related mainly to politics, culture and economics of a place and its people.

Firstly, you have to appreciate the fact that LEED or for that matter none of the Green building rating systems are perfect. They have never claimed to be and will probably never become in the future either. But they are the best we have got and I believe every project does have to go beyond rating systems to truly deliver value to stakeholders and protect the environment along the way. This is already happening in many projects in India where promoters have brought in the concept of Green living within plain old LEED certified Green buildings. I recently wrote a blog on what I believe is the true difference between the term Green and the term Environmentally friendly. You can read it by following the link here.

Coming to your point about restricting the space based on the expected number of full time occupants; this is already happening as building is an expensive exercise and no one wants to build more that what they need.

In some cases it is always better to build a little bit extra as it is almost impossible to predict exactly how many people will use the building and how the building will be used 10-15-30 years down the line. Many have tried and failed miserably. A promoter is always required to plan for the future and it is also better for the occupants if a building can absorb changes without any additional construction.

Secondly, it is not the job of a rating system like LEED to teach one moral ethics or tell how much one should build, this should be done by the government planning authority when any plan is sent for approval. LEED was never designed to teach people how to live more responsibly, how to consume smartly or how to make a positive impact on the environment on a daily basis. Such things require high levels of awareness and a massive cultural change and do not happen overnight. The purpose of LEED is to inform the building owners, users, occupants and other stakeholders that the building has been built in an environmentally conscious manner and has taken account of their health, comfort and well-being.

The point about over consumption in the US is a separate issue. Over the last century the US economy has been built around consumption using cheap credit and this model has been tremendously successful in economic terms. The world is a little different now and this is changing slowly with people consuming more responsibly. The change is going to take a few decades and the emissions in the US will eventually come down to at least the European levels.

Your point about restricted and unrestricted LEED might require more deliberation. But at this point I do not see why a customer would want to buy space in a restricted LEED building over an unrestricted LEED building especially when they might be priced exactly the same. The more important change LEED needs right now is of combining its rating systems. USGBC needs to consider making it mandatory for all LEED New Construction buildings to go in for a LEED EBOM rating after every 5 - 7 years of occupancy. If buildings do not comply they should lose their LEED NC rating all together. Maybe there could be other incentive attached like paying only half for the LEED EBOM certification. This will ensure that a building remains green throughout its life and the promoters do not keep bragging about their building's green credentials well after it is all the technology within it is completely outdated.

Let me know what you think.

What is Sustainable Architecture?

In his enormously successful book Design with Nature, published in 1969, Ian McHarg argues that:

"If one accepts the simple proposition that nature is the arena of life and that a modicum of knowledge of her process is indispensable for survival and rather more for existence, health and delight, it is amazing that how many apparently difficult problems present a ready solution".

The key to architectural sustainability is to work with, rather than against, nature; to sensitively exploit and simultaneously avoid damaging natural systems. Architectural sustainability mirrors the view that it is necessary to position human activities as a non-damaging part of the ongoing ecological landscape, with a belief that 'nature knows best'.

Any green building architect should identify places with intrinsic suitability for agriculture, forestry, recreation and urbanization. Designing with nature at a building level is about recognizing sun paths, breezes, shade trees and rock formations that can be used to create something that people can inhabit comfortably, while recognizing that natural features such as trees, animal tracks, habitats and natural drainage systems must be 'protected'.

For example, if one were to choose a device with high shading coefficient in the summer and a low shading coefficient in the winter, a vine may be used in place of a mechanical system. The vine shades the building when (and only when) it is needed, and the building provides a home for the vine. Thus both the building and the 'component' of nature are sustainable. By adding rainwater collection, reed beds for sewage and perhaps wind or solar power for electrical energy, the building can be independent of imported service and exported waste, keeping its environmental footprint within the footprint of the site. The final archetypal visual image is one of an isolated, self-sufficient building dominated by its surrounding landscape.

Green Building in India

It goes without saying that the version of architecture that I described above is rarely practised in India, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. The latest market-driven surge in green building has had some success at bridging the gap between current building practices and true sustainability.

As stated in some of my previous articles, India is now the second largest market for green buildings. This trend is completely market driven and has been achieved with very little government support.

While this sounds fantastic, there is an urgent need in India to extend the technological understanding of sustainable architecture and to incorporate socio-cultural aspects in its production. The need emerges from the fact that Indian architects have failed to recognize the significance of the social dimension in facilitating the sustainable development.

One challenge to India’s acceptance of sustainable architecture is the gap between technology and economic status. On one end, sophisticated technology-based solutions have been developed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, but they require a high initial investment that very few can afford. On the other end, affordable, low-cost technologies, such as mud architecture, are already available; however, these do not fit in with the aspirations of the upwardly mobile urban population. Affordable technology-based solutions are thus seen as the only means of addressing environmental degradation.

India and Energy Efficiency:

In India, environmental agendas and green buildings are often based on the precedents of developed countries. The 2004 draft for the National Environmental Policy of India received heavy criticism for this reason.

The issue of energy efficiency is more relevant for developed countries where one-third of the total energy is utilized for heating or cooling of buildings. When energy efficiency is used as the main criterion for green buildings in India, several critical issues tend to be ignored. For example, the issues of water and sanitation are more critical than energy efficiency in India. Studies indicate that at current rates of population growth and consumption of water per capita, there will be a shortage of drinking water in Indian urban centres within the next decade.

That being said, the western model of sustainability works very well and has measurable benefits. However, economically speaking, I am not entirely convinced it is the best solution for India. Instead, I believe that we need home-grown solutions that propagate self-sufficiency and contemporary regionalism while maintaining decentralized approach to sustainability.

My personal view is that the debate on sustainable architecture cannot be restricted to quantitative environmental sustainability. It is essential that relationship between social, economic and environmental sustainability should become a critical consideration for the design of India’s built environment. There is little sense in spending millions on the best technology to create the greenest of green buildings if very few Indians can associate with them and even fewer can afford.

Deepika Mathur of the University of Melbourne has rightly pointed out that:

"By limiting itself to sustainability that is dependent on technology for solutions, sustainable architecture in India fails to incorporate the critical dimension of social and cultural sustainability without which it may not work in the Indian context. To be environmentally sustainable, architecture would need to also register the social, political, economical and cultural context of India and offer solutions that are sensitive to its particularities. This precludes universal technological solutions in the form of models of environmental sustainability derived directly from the West".

Good Luck!

Most amenities are just tools used by promoters to make a development look attractive to home buyers as these aspects of a development are visible and can be felt. But the real good qualities of any residential development lie in the bits not visible to us and require a little probing and prodding on the home buyer’s part. Here is a list of questions a home buyer should really be asking and these should be the areas of primary focus when buying a home:

Due to the constant demand supply gap, India is likely to remain a severely energy deficient country in the foreseeable future. When screening potential realtors, ask them how much they know about home energy performance and other environmental issues that matter to you. You can tell a lot just by taking a careful look around. Take a gander at the windows, and check if they're single or double-paned, and at the doors, to see if you feel a draft coming through around the edges. Never buy homes that are not fully day-lit or have too much direct sunlight coming into the home (in warm climates). Insist on energy efficiency measures like appropriate shading, cool roofs, high performance glazing, efficient lighting, controls etc. Power outages are here to stay and it is always better to have a home that can be comfortable without too much dependence on electrical appliances.

Have an understanding of the equipment on offer; inefficient lifts, pumps, motors, sewage treatment and RO plants are irreversible maintenance costs that hurt in the long run. It might even be worth bringing an energy expert to analyse these for you before making an investment.

Most parts of our country are inevitably heading towards a major water crisis in the coming decade. It is only wise to insulate oneself form this oncoming crisis. Hence, one should never invest in a project that does not have a proper water management plan and seems unlikely to be prepared for drought situations. Check if the project is harvesting the maximum rainwater possible and is treating all its waste water on-site. Stored rainwater and treated wastewater can easily be reused for landscaping, flushing and external uses. The project must have installed water efficient low flow fixtures in bathrooms and kitchen. Water and energy are intrinsically linked so saving water saves energy as well. These measures can take care of up to 70% of your water needs leaving you to only worry about 30% in case of a sustained drought.

Does the home ensure a healthy indoor environment?

On average Indians spend more than 80% of their time indoors and the quality of the indoor environment has a huge bearing on our health, well-being and productivity. Never invest in a home that does not have enough fresh air ventilation and cross ventilation. Insist on fully operable windows and check if the window area is at least 13%-15% of the floor area. Look for exhaust systems in bathrooms and kitchen. Get a list of all the paints, varnishes and adhesives to be used in your home and ensure that these chemicals are eco-friendly and free of toxic Volatile Organic Compounds. These chemicals may off gas for as long as five years and when coupled with poor ventilation, it causes the sick building syndrome. Never make compromises here as problems related to indoor environmental quality are very expensive to fix.

How do I operate the house?

It never ceases to amaze me that a new house doesn't come with an owner's manual. You wouldn't expect a new car to come without guidance how to operate and maintain it; shouldn't we expect the same with something we're spending ten or twenty times as much money on? This owner's manual should explain in English, such issues as how to operate and maintain heating and cooling equipment, the importance of cleaning out gutters, what homeowners' need to know about the various comfort features of a home, the names of products and materials used in constructing the house, and how to inspect for termites or other problems. A homeowner's manual is also a great place to aggregate all the information that comes with appliances, cooling equipment, and any other systems in the house.

One of the best and perhaps the least technically challenging method of judging a home is to check if the project has been certified GREEN. Today any developer has the option of getting their project certified GREEN from the Indian Green Building Council or The Energy Resources Institute. These certifications come with varying slabs which inform a home buyer how energy & water efficient the home really is. These certifications also require the project to have sustainable site planning, enhanced indoor environmental quality, use of non toxic environmentally friendly materials and onsite waste management. All these aspects are well documented and can be made available to the home buyers to ease the painful process of choosing the best home.

There is nothing to say that a project that does not have a certificate is not high performance, the fact is that there are many uncertified developments that take a stronger approach towards environmental performance than certified one's but who is to check this? It the duty of developers and promoters to help home buyers lead a comfortable, affordable and hassle free lifestyle. Any project must enable and encourage its residents to live in an environmentally responsible manner. It is the duty of the home buyers to buy responsibly, put in a little extra effort gathering project information and demand highest performance achievable within a budget.

Muhammed asks: Hello, I am a business development manager in a company that provide building materials to Africa from Dubai and china. Part of our CSR we would like to consider the environment when building. So our company wants to expand its horizon to start providing consultancy services about LEED and green buildings to respective people in Africa. So I am asking the requirements and steps to be a company that provide consultancy to contractors, architects and all.

Advice provided by: Yusuf Turab, InHabit and Buildscape 

Firstly, you need to be careful not to mix up your CSR (corporate social responsibility) message. While being environmentally responsible in your projects is a valid CSR initiative, providing LEED related services is a multi-billion dollar business today and has very limited CSR value. 

Green construction industry alone is going to be worth $60 billion this year and a lots of people are becoming very rich while claiming to save the environment, so any such CSR message has to be very carefully planned so as not to send the wrong message to your customers.

Secondly, in my personal opinion environmental consideration in business is a little old fashioned way of demonstrating CSR. Environmental consideration is more on the mandatory side of things these days.

Green building consulting has proved to be a lucrative business model and it has worked brilliantly for many architecture and building contracting firms around the world. In your case you need to first examine if the LEED standard is accepted in the markets you work in. I know South Africa has a a rating system called Green Star SA but I do not think any other African nation follows any particular green building standard. This makes it very hard to market or command a premium on green buildings in the continent.

In any case to provide Green building consultancy, an organisation needs to have thorough understanding of the rating systems they plan to work with. Assuming you plan to work with LEED, your organisation needs to train its staff in the LEED NC rating system and then maybe branch out to the other rating systems within the LEED suite. You can also employ experienced LEED Accredited Professionals. Most LEED APs have thorough understanding of the standard and usually come with sufficient project experience to start taking up projects immediately. LEED APs also tend to have a good understanding of various building products and are good judges of what is considered to be a Green material and what is not. There is also plenty of paperwork involved in filing submittal documentation for each credit attempted. So you will also need admin staff with some understanding of the rating system.

Once you have such a team in place, your company needs to start concentrating on learning latest green building practices. Try to gain knowledge of the latest building materials, fixtures and their environmental credentials along with latest technologies in the form of lighting, controls, automation, renewable energy, greywater systems, green roofs, glazing, heat pumps, HVAC etc. You will also need to create strategic partnerships with manufacturers so that you can source these materials for your clients easily. Just ensure you carry out a very strict evaluation of these manufacturers and their products before you recommend it to your customers.

Along with all this your organisation will need to have the ability to carry out advanced simulation for energy and lighting consumption in building designs. Find courses that can help your staff gain this knowledge and encourage them to practice till they can perfect it. Or you can also simply outsource this part of the job to freelance energy modellers, whichever suits your business model.

None of this is going to happen overnight, it can take many months to a year until you can create all the above and claim to be a full service green building consultancy. Once you have achieved this, you only need to do these three things, marketing, marketing, marketing.