« EmaarMGF To Invest Rs 12,000cr In South | Home | Realty Back In Business »
Everything You Want To Know About Green Buildings
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | June 2, 2008 | 431 views
(5 votes, average: 4.4 out of 5)
Loading ...Colliers International is all set to release ‘r.e.Design,’ Asia’s first green real estate guide. Simon Carter shares some of the vital thoughts behind the green guide with MYTHILI G. NIRVAN.
The big problem is that modern buildings have commonly forgotten to live and breathe as part of their environment and climate.
We have lost knowledge over recent decades and green buildings are bringing that back. After the successful launch of India’s first green report called ‘Go Green’ in 2007, Colliers International is all set to release Asia’s fir st green real estate guide called ‘r.e.Design’ in the second week of June 2008.
The expectations are already very high as many believe it will be quite an eye opener for the industry, says Simon Carter, Regional Director of Sustainability, Asia Pacific, Colliers International, in an exclusive video conference from Singapore with The Hindu PropertyPlus.
Colliers International is a specialist property consulting company providing customised services to property investors and occupiers. Excerpts of the interview:
What in essence is a green building?
Green buildings can be defined as those that, throughout their entire lifecycle (construction, operation and demolition), support the health and wellbeing of the local, regional and global environment, and of the people in and around them.
How does a green building compare with a conventional building in terms of cost?
There is no standard rule, it varies from case to case. Research around the world by Green Building Councils and Davis Langdon have shown that often green buildings can be cheaper to develop compared to conventional buildings. I believe this is due to the spirit of innovation being applied to achieve green building performance, actually helping developers and designers identify cost-saving measures with some requiring very little energy (15 per cent of a conventional building) and water and producing very little waste.
What is the lifecycle of a green building as compared to a conventional building?
Green buildings are designed and developed with much greater consideration for the full lifecycle of the building than conventional buildings.
They are designed to minimise construction impacts, use less resources and be healthier during the operation phase and also, in the demolition phase, be suitable for recycling and minimisation of waste.
They may also not be demolished if they are designed for long life and adaptability to different uses.
With more green building norms coming in, will it make an impact in reduced global warming?
It will have a significant impact as buildings account for such a large proportion of carbon emissions. Globally, according to the World Resources Institute, residential buildings produce 9.9 per cent of emissions and commercial buildings about 5.4 per cent. There is also all of the energy that goes into the construction of those buildings in the form of steel, concrete, plastics and glass. The ‘r.e.Design’ green guide developed by us is due for launch in the second week of June and like many are already expecting, the guide can certainly be quite an eye opener for the industry.
Is the concept suitable to conditions in South India?
It is suitable anywhere from Antarctica to Angola to Austria to Australia, hence South India is no exception as there is no standard green building concept in this region. It is in fact a philosophy, bringing in a number of design principles and technologies which are used in accordance with location, climate, use, economic constraints etc. Colliers International released the highly acclaimed ‘Go Green Report’ in India last year and if you read through this report we have mentioned that most of these principles and technologies about green buildings are not modern or high tech, they are developed over hundreds or thousands of years and found in vernacular architecture around the world, including Southern India. Does a green building require completely different skill sets from its architect and contractor?
It frequently does. The emergence of green buildings is largely a knowledge issue and in places such as Australia where designers and developers have been working on them for over a decade now, it has become standard practice. We all need to get over a ‘learning hump’ and the quicker we do it, the quicker we will be able to reduce costs and maximise returns.
Do you feel more needs to be done to popularise the concept here?
Yes. Modern green building is in its infancy in India as it is anywhere in the world. India has made a terrific start, having established some good quality organisations to support its growth. In addition to this, India has already achieved world-leading examples. However, every modern building needs to be included if the world is to avert a climate change catastrophe, and indeed if we are going to have healthier, more productive, longer lasting and cheaper-to-run building stock to support the well-being of our people and our economy. India needs to celebrate its success stories widely and demonstrate the numerous benefits of green buildings so that they are quickly adopted as standard practice.
Green building norms can be imposed by civic agencies in future?
Yes, and it could happen quickly under the world’s rapidly emerging climate change framework. At last, we are seeing countries such as Australia and the U.S. beginning to take the matter seriously and providing leadership and serious carbon reduction targets. This will hopefully mean that developing nations such as India can now do so without being unfairly penalised in an economic sense. This is also morally important as 75 per cent of the emissions currently in the atmosphere were put there by developed nations and so it is important that they lead the way in addressing the problem. When we look at all of the sectors of our economies, green buildings frequently offer the most cost-effective means of reducing carbon emissions.
(For details contact simon.carter@colliers.com)
SOURCES:
The Hindu
Topics: Environment, Latest Trends, Construction |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.