Ideally, a green home designed holistically would address key parameters such as energy-efficiency, water reduction, sustainable materials and resources, site selection and indoor air quality. A green home with upgradation on technologies, automation and renewable energy sources is a smart home with IoT, BMS, automation, lighting sensors and renewable energy integrated with smartphone applications, allowing flexibility to occupants to verify energy and water savings in real time. Smart homes can be evaluated under IGBC Green Homes ratings system Ver 3.0, the latest edition launched in September this year. S Raghupathy, Chair, Asia Pacific Network (APN) and Deputy Director General, CII, highlights the most trending green features a smart home can incorporate: Daylighting: The best strategy to be energy-efficient in daytime is to have access to natural light in living spaces. This again depends on how the building is oriented and openings designed. This would allow energy savings of close to 60 per cent in lighting alone, when it is integrated with lighting sensors. These sensors form an important component of security, home control, energy-efficiency, automated lighting control, and other helpful systems. In spaces where daylighting from windows cannot penetrate, projects can make use of the ‘light pipe’ innovation. Appliances: The use of LED lighting and star-rated appliances can help reduce energy consumption to a greater extent, as can the use of smart devices that regulate appliances and lights to minimise the amount of electricity they consume. Temperature control: Computerised thermostats can minimise the carbon footprint; for instance, by allowing the regulation of temperature through a mobile device. Going net-zero: These are projects that achieve 20-30 per cent energy savings by design over the energy benchmarks of Energy Conservation Building Code-R and meet the balance 70-80 per cent through on-site renewable energy systems to achieve self-sufficiency in energy without depending on the main grid. Simply put, the annual energy consumption of the project should completely be met through on-site renewable energy systems. Metering and monitoring: Sub-metering of outdoor lighting, water pumping, EV charger, etc, can help analyse the electricity use pattern and further improve energy-efficiency. Building automation can help monitor the complete consumption pattern on one screen and make it easier for data accessibility and analysis. Smart water metering for every dwelling unit is the new trend in residential buildings. - SERAPHINA D’SOUZA