"Sustainability makes for good business"

A report by McKinsey & Company states that 70 percent of India is yet to be built. However, the existing stock of residential and commercial buildings across the country has already put an immense pressure on the resources as they guzzle huge amounts of energy and water. In India during 2011-12, electricity alone accounted for more than 57 percent of the total energy consumption, with 40 percent of electricity being consumed by building sector, reveals National Statistical Organisation’s (NSO) Energy Statistics 2013.

Existing buildings in India guzzle huge amount of energy and water

Experts suggest that existing buildings hold a lot of potential when it comes to energy and water savings if they are retrofitted with green and sustainable features. LEED for Building Operation and Maintenance (O+M) rating system is a tool that is helping improve the efficiency of existing buildings across the globe, thus reducing their carbon footprint.

India has also set its feet towards operational efficiency as a national capital based building is the first in the country to adopt a top-rated retrofit from the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Paharpur Business Centre, is touted as the healthiest building in New Delhi as it boasts of an air filtering technology that ensures best indoor air quality, and is India’s first top-rated LEED O+M existing building. “Sustainability makes for good business and energy efficiency is a low hanging fruit”, believes Kamal Meattle - CEO, Paharpur Business Centre, stating that good indoor air quality enhances occupants’ health which leads to more productivity and thus makes a good business case for brands and corporates.

Paharpur Business Centre, New Delhi

NSO also reveals that by 2040, building sector in India will consume 76 percent of electricity. A major chunk of electricity demand is slated to come from the residential sector. The condition will become more severe if the drought-like situation that the country is facing currently continues. Hence, building green is no more an option for India.

The green building movement, pioneered by USGBC’s globally recognised rating system – LEED, has gripped the world with excitement with steps taken every day to contribute to triple bottom line – people, planet and profit. India too has marched towards sustainability as it ranks third among top 10 countries for LEED green buildings outside United States. Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, of which USGBC was a contributing partner, states that green buildings will grow by 20% in India by 2018.

Green buildings development initially was centred towards reducing environmental impact during design and construction phase, which has now evolved to put much focus on optimising energy utilisation and ensuring operational efficiency. Keeping this in mind, the latest version of USGBC’s innovation – LEED v4, has been developed which emphasizes energy efficiency and operational performance.

Operational cost savings has been one of the major drivers of the green building industry growth. Presenting on the business case of green buildings, USGBC has revealed that there has been a reduction in operational costs by 13.6% for new construction and 8.5% for existing building projects. Respondents of the Smart Market report hope to save 14% in operational costs over a period of five years for new green buildings, while they expect 13% operational cost savings over five years for green retrofit and renovation projects. The report also reveals that 24% Indian respondents will be undergoing existing building retrofit.

Even after achieving the highest level of the world’s premiere green building rating system - LEED Platinum, certain projects are constantly taking steps to enhance operational efficiency. “We have decided to go for conversion of CFL/PL/T5 and T8 into LED in current financial year to reduce further unit consumption”, said Dibakar Mishra - Sr. Manager Project, Wokhardt Hospitals Ltd – Wockhardt South Mumbai is the first hospital in Asia to earn LEED Platinum certification.

Wockhardt South Mumbai

USGBC has extended its innovation to developing the LEED Dynamic Plaque which helps gauge the performance of a building in real time. It’s a scorecard of the building that doles out information based on energy and water consumption, waste, transportation and human experience.

LEED Dynamic Plaque measures building performance in real time

Operational efficiency translates into enhanced building performance. “20% energy performance can be enhanced with improvement in operational efficiency”, said Rumi Engineer - Sr. General Manager, Energy Management and Greener Initiatives, Godrej & Boyce.

Citing how commissioning is important for operational efficiency and what is required to measure building performance, Rajat Malhotra – COO West Asia, Integrated Facilities Management, JLL said, “A transparent reporting mechanism is crucial to measure building performance. 90% of buildings don’t get commissioned for HVAC, thus we need to interact with contractors and engineers to resolve this. A commissioning report must be used as reference for retrofits in the future. LEED is forcing an advanced commissioning which is very good.”

“Performance period must be continuous. It should be between 3 months and 2 years,” said Ken Simpson, Director, Energy/HVAC, Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) while mentioning what steps could to taken for operational efficiency. “Reading energy bills, auditing waste, banning smoking, surveying indoor air quality are the few things that one can do,” added Simpson.

He also stresses on the need to conduct energy audit as energy auditing and commissioning can provide savings of 10-20% with an average payback of slightly over one year.

Skilled and trained staff is also the need of the hour when it comes to maintaining the operational efficiency of the building as pointed out by Engineer. Building owners can take inspiration from organisations of developing counties who are using online courses to train green accountants who will be responsible for tracking factory emissions and carbon-offset credits as part of the Paris climate deal signed in 2015.

Putting focus on energy efficiency, Simpson commented, “Paint everything white as lighter interior surfaces reflect natural daylight into rooms, reducing electrical lighting needs.”

Turn OFF lights during daytime: Switch to white interiors

Citing its achievements, LEED’s role in enhancing operational efficiency is therefore undeniable.