Mumbai Buildings Go Green

The concept of Green Buildings is growing over the years as it uses less energy, water, natural resources & therefore enhances a better standard of living for the occupant as compared to the conventional buildings. Reduced replacements costs, Energy conservation, lower costs associated with changing space configurations and greater design flexibility are some of the main advantages which will increase the demand for these buildings in the future.

Mumbai city has been in the run to achieve the Green tag from the Indian Green Building Council & it already has more than 30 registered construction projects. K Raheja Corp, Lodha group, Kalpataru group, Keytone Realtors and Neelkanth group are some of the builders who are on the verge for the setting up green buildings and getting them registered. These builders are also in the drive to achieve a LEED rating which is an internationally acclaimed benchmark for green ratings. The Indian Green Building Council also remarked that Mumbai has progressed in terms of setting up Green buildings & is the city with the highest number of registered projects in India where 17.58% of the buildings come under the category of Green Buildings.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-INDIA) Green Building Rating System is a nationwide and internationally acclaimed platform for the design, construction and operation of clean performance green buildings. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the U.S. Green Building Council and currently is responsible for certifying LEED-New Construction and LEED-Core and Shell buildings in India.

There are many multinational companies which are promoting the demand for green office spaces. The reason for this is that the company saves a lot on their operational expenses, as green buildings consume 30% less water & 50% of less energy as compared to conventional office buildings. Along with saving energy, such an environment will improve the air quality and therefore enhance the productivity in the functioning of the organization. Apart from gaining these advantages, companies also receive carbon credits & perhaps for some companies it might act like a unique selling point for their products as they have been manufactured in a green & safe environment where the company has also managed to join the emerging nation movement.

Green buildings use resource efficient materials which are easy to maintain and are most suitable & well integrated to be used on the construction sites. Be it using the plant material like bamboo, straw & lumber from forests which is certified from authorities. The environment  friendly material is managed sustainably and used in the foundation of the block building for construction along with recycled stone & recycled metal for engineering. Vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, sea grass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fiber plates, calcium sand stone, sheep wool, panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed earth, clay are some of the non-toxic and less harmful materials which are used in the construction of Green Buildings.

This concept of Green Building is emerging in the Residential Sector in Mumbai, though as of now there are only two residential projects registered for LEED ratings in the city: Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Limited’s Palias Royale at Worli which consists of high end luxury homes which is set to be the tallest residential green building in India. The second green building located in Mumbai is the Mittal Group’s Mittal Grandeur which will be built over the Taraporewalla mansion at Cuffe Parade. In order to guage the resale values of Green Buildings certainly will have a positive run for sales back into the market. The low operational expenses lead to a better net income value which would again depend on the builder norms which are set up in terms of fixed rents & maintenance costs.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has taken steps to promote construction of Green Buildings by setting up its own eco-housing project, under which building developers will be offered lesser development charges and a concession on property tax for the residents of that building.