Savvy Group launches Gujarat's first LEED GOLD commercial building

The green building has already begun providing 30% electricity saving to occupants and has seen features capable of keeping 'Sick Building Syndrome' at bay

Ahmedabad-based Savvy Group has launched Gujarat's first LEED GOLD rated commercial building - Shapath V. Constructed at a project cost of Rs 300 crore, the building has bagged the rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Apart from being the first such commercial building, at 70 metres, Shapath V is also the tallest in Ahmedabad.

The green building has already begun providing 30 per cent electricity saving to occupants and has seen features capable of keeping 'Sick Building Syndrome' at bay, said Jaxay Shah, managing director of Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd,. According to Shah, green buildings like Shapath V usually tend to cost 10-12 per cent more than normal buildings.

Elaborating on green buildings like Shapath V, Shah, "In current context, facilitating circulation of fresh air in office space holds utmost significance as business owners tend to accommodate more employees in a limited space due to expensive real estate sector and in such scenario, the staff members are often seen complaining about fatigue, headache, dry itchy skin and irritation in the eyes and the nose. They become more vulnerable to diseases like swine flu, colds, flu, other allergies and asthma in such working conditions mostly having poor air quality indoor and also poorly lit and ventilated. In terminology of doctors & scientists, a building having such conditions is called having 'Sick Building Syndrome'."

At 19 floors, Shapath V is currently the tallest commercial building in Ahmedabad. The building has already seen over 80 per cent bookings with clients like Dun&Bradstreet, ITC, KPMG, Hyundai and Samsung among others.

The building also has BMS System - Building management system, which regulates the whole building for fire, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and whole IAQ management. IAQ Management i.e. indoor air quality is the key feature of Shapath V. A special IAQ analysis has been undertaken for the building and on the basis of the same, VOC- volatile organic compound free paints have been used in the building.

Moreover, proper building flush out is also made available to remove stains of any hazardous substance. All refrigerant in the building are CFC free - chlorofluorocarbon which is also harmful to health. The material used for the routine housekeeping procedure is also green-certified so that it does not have any adverse impact on the health of the occupiers," Mr. Shah added.

"Considering that an employee spends more productive time at the workplace than at his or her residence, commercial building with working conditions available at Shapath V is need of the hour. Such conditions also facilitates increased productivity & in turn increased man days and also prevents absenteeism taking place due to illness. We are happy that ours is the first realty firm in the state to build the most cleaner, greener & efficient workplace in Gujarat," said Sameer Sinha, managing director, Savvy Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd.