IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and thinkstep, a sustainability consulting and software firm, are searching for green building demonstration projects in India.
Funded by the European Union as part of its Eco-Cities program, thinkstep will work with project teams from five Indian cities to assess and improve the resource efficiency of 15 selected building projects at the design stage using EDGE ("Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies"), a green building software and certification system developed by IFC. The projects will be promoted across India as exemplars of sustainable construction, to recognize industry leaders and encourage adoption of green building design and certification by their peers.
Two-thirds of India is yet to be built. Between now and 2030, Indian cities will need to accommodate the 250 million people who are expected to migrate to cities and meet the increased demand on commercial properties. To reduce the impact construction will have on climate change, the building industry must lock in efficiencies now. To support this, the Indo European Cooperation on Clean Technologies and Energy Efficiency for Eco-Cities has dedicated €12 million to support the uptake of green buildings in India. IFC is leading this initiative in the promotion of green building design in India through EDGE.
Developers working on new projects (homes, hotels, retail establishments, hospitals, offices and schools) in Mumbai/Thane, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai or Pune, can receive free design advice and support from thinkstep on how EDGE makes it easy to design and build green within an existing budget.
"A commonly held view is that going green incurs significant incremental costs. Using EDGE as a design solution will help dispel this myth, as it automatically calculates incremental costs and the return on investment for each green option. This makes it easier for design teams to identify the most cost-effective options from the outset." Tom Saunders, EDGE Program Director, thinkstep.
Thinkstep will select 15 projects to receive free design advice, which will feature an array of practical approaches that benefit both consumers and the environment. Submitted projects must meet the EDGE minimum standard, be at an advanced design stage by the end of 2018, and located in one of the five identified cities. Project teams must also agree to have their projects certified by GBCI, the exclusive provider of EDGE certification services in India. Certification costs will be partially subsidized and the certified projects will be shared with the rest of the industry as prime examples of sustainable design. Interested parties can submit their projects for consideration until the end of May by emailing ritesh.agrawal@thinkstep.com.
"We are grateful for the support of the European Union, which has funded this opportunity for thinkstep, GBCI and IFC to work together to identify and showcase examples of influential building design in India," said Marcene Mitchell, Global Head of Strategy and Business Development for IFC's Climate Business Department. "This is an excellent example of our work to create sustainable markets that benefit the private sector and improve lives where it is needed most.