Skip to main content

  • Good Shepherd International School
    IGBC Certified Green Campus - Platinum Rated

InHabit has successfully completed the facilitation of IGBC Green Schools and IGBC Green Campus rating for Good Shepherd International School, Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu.

We are proud to announce that Good Shepherd International School has been awarded the prestigious Platinum rating, making it the first certified green campus  in the region. With an aggregate score of 87 points out of 100, Good Shepherd is also India's greenest school.


The IGBC Green campus rating system is a unique system, in the sense that it addresses green education, health, hygiene and infrastructural facilities besides energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environmental quality and waste management. Aspects like nutrition, physical activity & safety are also addressed. Good Shepherd has performed exceptionally well in all the above areas while scoring points for innovation in organic farming and waste management. The school's performance has been tabulated below:



Green School Certification

Good Shepherd International School is an IGBC Green Schools - Platinum Certified School.


The School rating system is unique in the sense that it addresses eco-education, Health & hygiene besides the infrastructural facilities, energy efficiency, water conservation and waste management. Aspects like nutrition, physical activity & safety are also addressed.


IGBC Green Schools certification is something that parents and students can look for to readily identify campuses that have been third-party inspected, performance-tested and certified as truly green and healthy campuses that will perform better than standard campuses. Homebuilders using green homes certification are able to differentiate their homes as some of the best on the market.


Schools can have tremendous benefits, both tangible and intangible. The most tangible benefits are the reduction in water and energy consumption. 


Intangible benefits of green schools include enhanced air quality, excellent day lighting, health & well being of the occupants, safety benefits and conservation of scarce national resources, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and fewer problems with mold, mildew and other indoor toxins. 


For more information on the IGBC Green Schools program visit www.igbc.in

How Good Shepherd International School Achieved the Platinum Rating in the IGBC Green Schools Rating System

Embracing principles of sustainability from the project’s inception,  Good Shepherd School is the first IGBC Green Schools rated campus in the area. The project followed an integrated planning approach where all stakeholders were brought in at the project conception phase and the designs green building strategy were complete well before the construction began. Utmost care was taken in the planning stage to ensure every aspect of sustainable living is taken into account and incorporated in the project. Following are the features, strategies, techniques and materials used to ensure your home is as green as possible within the various constraints:

Sustainable Site Planning

  1. All required environmental clearances and government approval were obtained.

  2. Soil erosion and sedimentation control measures recommended in the National Building Code 2005 were followed, thereby reducing negative impact on the site and its surroundings.    

  3. The campus has well over 50% of its area under soft landscaping in order to minimise site disturbance, thereby reducing long term environmental impact.

  4. More than 75% of the paved area in Good Shepherd School is either shaded by trees or has been installed with open grid paving, thereby minimizing the heat island effect and improving water percolation.

Quality of Life

  1. Many basic amenities have been provided within the campus and almost every day household requirement is available within 1 Km walking distance from the site entrance. This ensures reduced automobile use and enhanced quality of life.

  2. Adequate parking capacity has been provided within the campus for visitor vehicles, thereby minimising disturbance on public roads.

  3. All buildings have been designed to cater to differently able. Features include, ramps, preferred car parks, toilets for wheelchair use, wide pathways and blindness friendly lifts.

  4. While all students and most staff live on campus, sufficient private transit buses have been provided to all staff commuting to the campus. Thereby minimising private auto-mobile use.

  5. This green policy has been created to ensure that sustainability remains at the core of all future campus projects.

  6. The school has a formal committee of students and teachers that identifies and implements environmental activities within the campus.

  7. The school encourages student participation in environmental competitions and also organises eco-tours for students.

Sustainable Water Practises

  1. Good Shepherd School is a zero discharge development. All rainwater from roof and non roof areas is harvested and reused for irrigation purposes.

  2. All flush and flow fixtures used in the campus are at least 25% more efficient in comparison to conventional fixtures available in the market.

  3. Large part of the landscape has been planted with native trees and local drought tolerant species of plants to reduce the water use for irrigation.

  4. Irrigation systems like central shut off, pressure regulating devices and drip irrigation have been used to use water more efficiently. 

  5. Good Shepherd School has a central sewage treatment plant which treats the waste water from the campus to tertiary standards and reuses the treated water for irrigation purposes.

  6. Water meters have been provided for wastewater reuse and groundwater use to monitor the major areas of water use.

Conserving and Harvesting Energy

  1. All cooling and refrigeration equipment used within Good Shepherd School is free of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).

  2. All fire suppression equipment is free of ozone depleting halons.

  3. Energy efficient lighting & fans and star rated appliances have been used to ensure maximum energy savings.

  4. The campus has a manual distributed power generation system which monitors the electric load and ensures that only the required numbers of generators are turned on at any time. Saving large quantities of diesel.

  5. Energy sub meters have been installed to monitor electricity used by external lighting, internal lighting, generator use and swimming pool equipment to track usage and take suitable action to enhance performance.

Waste Management

  1. The campus follows a robust waste segregation process. There is also a dedicated area to store metals, e-waste, lamps and batteries for recycling.

  2. All organic waste generated within the campus is vermi composted and the compost is used as a soil conditioner in the gardens.

Materials

  1. There is a policy in place to ensure during any renovation the total money value of all the recycled content used in various building materials in the project is over 10%, thereby reducing the environmental impact caused due to the use of virgin materials.

  2. Over 20% of all construction materials were manufactured within a 400 km radius of the campus site, thereby reducing the negative impacts of transportation.

  3. Over 2.5% of all materials were sourced from salvaged or reused materials.

  4. More than 50% of the wood used in the school is made of rapidly renewable material like sugarcane bagasse, composite wood like plywood or has been certified to be made from wood harvested from sustainably managed forests.

Indoor Environmental Quality

  1. The entire campus has been declared a no smoking zone.

  2. All spaces in every single building has been designed to allow optimum day lighting, thereby helping productivity of the students and providing a connect with the outdoors.

  3. Every regularly occupied living space has been provided with larger size operable windows to allow fresh air ventilation, thereby avoiding indoor air pollution caused by indoor pollutants.

  4. All kitchens and bathrooms within the campus have provisions for exhaust fans to ensure a better indoor environment.

  5. A green policy has been formulated to ensure; all paints, adhesives & sealants used in the buildings are low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds), thereby minimising the adverse health impacts caused by emissions from such chemicals.

  6. The green policy also mandates the buildings to be flushed out for at least 10 days to ensure most airborne contaminants are removed after any painting or renovation works.

  7. The campus minimises dust generation through daily cleaning of classrooms, providing foot mats, using smart boards and reducing boards.

Health and Hygiene

  1. Sufficient toilets for boys and girls have been provided throughout the campus with cleaning being carried out at least twice a day.

  2. Every student has access to quality drinking water meeting the IS standards.

  3. Through the in house dining facilities every student has access to healthy food meeting the minimum nutritional requirements. 

  4. Dedicated indoor and outdoor sports facilities have been provided to ensure top fitness among students.

  5. A green policy is in place to ensure only non-toxic cleaning products are used within campus. 

  6. The school follows 100% organic landscaping and farming practises to minimise the adverse impacts of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Good Shepherd School also scored points for innovation by performing exceedingly well in providing greenery in campus, rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment & reuse and energy efficient lighting.

Our Scope Of Work

  • IGBC Green Schools and Green campus ratings facilitation services.
  • Energy modeling, Ventilation and day-lighting analysis.
  • Efficient waste & water management planning.
  • Help improve energy efficiency and building comfort
  • Help improve Indoor Environmental Quality for better health and well being of students and staff
  • Marketing support and green building training for staff.
  • Preparing a green school and green campus policy
  • Green building strategic plan and Project management.
  • Materials and systems procurement and advisory services.
  • Regular site visits for measurement and monitoring.
  • Guidance on best practices.
  • Renewable energy capacity calculation
Expected Date of Completion: June 2021.