India’s green building footprint is slowly gaining ground. From 20,000 sq ft in 2004, India’s LEED certified green building footprint has increased to 23 million sq ft in 2009. This upward trend is expected to continue as 45 million sq ft of additional green building space is projected to be completed by 2012, said a Jones Lang LaSalle study.
India currently has two major rating systems: LEED India, run by the Indian Green Building Council; and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), a system developed by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The GRIHA rating system is slowly strengthening its impact alongside LEED India.
Currently there are only two GRIHA rated completed projects and about 40 registered projects, said the study.
Some of the corporates like Wipro, Microsoft, Cognizant, ABN AMRO, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and other international and domestic corporate occupiers have either developed, or are developing, energy efficient office spaces or large-scale campuses.
For instance, LEED certification norms are being implemented to manage Wipro’s building infrastructure as part of Wipro’s EcoEye charter (their ecological sustainability program). Microsoft has decided to adopt green building techniques to renovate or construct new buildings in India.
Other occupiers such as Infosys, CA (Computer Associates) and Oracle are also planning to develop green office spaces to leverage the financial and environmental benefits that they provide.
It is not just the information technology sector but firms from other sectors such as manufacturing, education, hospital and hotels are also demanding green spaces.