Green Buildings, LEED Certification: The future of Construction

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most popular green building certification programs used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods that aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.

Development of LEED began in 1993, spearheaded by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Robert K. Watson. As founding chairman of the LEED Steering Committee, Watson led a broad-based consensus process until 2007, bringing together non-profit organizations, government agencies, architects, engineers, developers, builders, product manufacturers and other industry leaders.

LEED certified buildings are intended to use resources more efficiently when compared to conventional buildings simply built to code. Often, when a LEED rating is pursued, the cost of initial design and construction rises. There may be a lack of abundant availability of manufactured building components that meet LEED specifications. Pursuing LEED certification for a project is an added cost in itself as well. This added cost comes in the form of USGBC correspondence, LEED design-aide consultants, and the hiring of the required Commissioning Authority, all of which would not necessarily be included in an environmentally responsible project, unless it also sought a LEED rating.
However, these higher initial costs can be effectively mitigated by the savings incurred over time due to the lower-than-industry-standard operational costs typical of a LEED certified building. This Life cycle costing is a method for assessing the total cost of ownership, taking into account all costs of acquiring, owning and operating, and the eventual disposal of a building. Generally an upfront investment of 2% will yield 10 times benefits in the life cycle of the building.

India ranks third on the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) annual ranking of the top 10 countries for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings. 
Navdeep JP Sardana, Founder & CEO, Elite Landbase says, “Green Buildings, LEED Certification are important steps to conserve energy with the products, materials, which are environment friendly, this has the power to improve quality of life for citizens and ensure a sustainable future.”

Some of the top green building in India are ITC Green Centre, Gurgaon; Suzlon One Earth, Pune and CRISIL House, Mumbai. ITC Green Centre has been awarded the Platinum Green Building rating by USGBC-LEED (Green Building Council-Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Suzlon ‘One Earth’ is another building that has received Platinum certification of LEED. The building is built using low energy materials thus, reducing carbon footprint. The CRISIL House, Mumbai has 14 gardens inside the complex, CRISIL House is rated as one of the greenest commercial complexes in India. The interiors of the building are made up of recycled construction material while the atrium at the center of the building allows natural light to seep in covering 70 percent of the work area.

The trend of Green Buildings is fast catching up and people are ready to pay a premium for it. In coming years we will see more of such projects and initiatives being taken up by developers as a proactive step to support climate change initiatives.

 References: Media Reports, Economic Times, Wikipedia, Press Releases

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and Elite Landbase is not responsible for any errors in the same.

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