8th Regional GRIHA Summit

01 Sep 2018 CW Team

GRIHA recently inaugurated the summit in Mumbai, with an aim to build core competencies in the state and urban local bodies. Green Buildings Rating System India (GRIHA), the national rating system for green buildings in India, kickstarted the 8th Regional GRIHA Summit in Mumbai, in association with Public Works Department (PWD) Maharashtra. The two-day summit aims to serve as a platform for knowledge sharing, and facilitate various multi-stakeholder partnerships and networking among governments, academia, civil society organizations, and professionals. The theme of the summit 'Choosing Sustainable, Building Sustainable', is aligned to focus on selection of the most sustainable building materials and technologies. The idea To build core competencies in Urban Local Bodies (ULB), the GRIHA council will train the PWD officers to provide them with an understanding of the rating system, who would then qualify to become GRIHA certified professionals and Evaluators, after clearing the GRIHA exam. The intention behind organising these customised training and capacity building programmes specifically for PWD officials of Maharashtra is to create a cadre of certified GRIHA professionals within PWD for evaluating on-going GRIHA projects within Maharashtra. Speaking about GRIHA, Chandrakant Dada Patil, Minister of Revenue, Public Works, Government of Maharashtra, said, "This is a first-of-its-kind initiative, having dual benefits to both the parties. PWD will construct GRIHA compliant buildings to enhance the green footprint of Maharashtra, and GRIHA council will have a cadre of certified PWD professionals to implement the underlined green objectives beneficial to the nation and state." Recognising the importance of sustainable development, the Government of Maharashtra has taken a policy decision to construct all new buildings with as GRIHA norms. In order to achieve this, in January 2018, a MoU was signed between the GRIHA Council and PWD, Government of Maharashtra, for promoting and implementing ECBC (Energy Conservation and Building Code) and green building concept through GRIHA rating system. Further, a dedicated PWD-GRIHA Green Building Cell has been established at PWD Mumbai, which is the first-of-its-kind initiative by a state government and nodal agency. Post the signing of the MoU, about 60 projects so far from various PWD circles have been registered under GRIHA and SVAGRIHA (Simple Versatile Affordable Green rating for Integrated Habitat) rating variant. Notable municipalities and government organisations that have adopted GRIHA rating include Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the Pune Municipal Corporation and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Jaipur Development Authority, Noida and Greater Noida. Unique partnership Sanjay Seth, CEO, GRIHA Council, said, "For providing scale to the green building movement in the country, two attributes are essential - innovative trained manpower, and publicly available information on sustainable green buildings materials. The 8th regional GRIHA summit caters to both these by building trained manpower through a unique partnership with PWD, and bringing information to the public at large around sustainable buildings and its benefits." GRIHA's e-product catalogue was also launched during the Summit. Various municipalities and government organisations in India have adopted GRIHA rating, and are offering a range of incentives to both, developers and residents, to promote the adoption of green buildings.