The green building industry across the globe is growing by
leaps and bounds. In the United States, green building sector of the
construction industry created around 2.3 million jobs in 2015. The numbers are
poised to grow further as the 2015 Green Building Economic Impact Study,
released by U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and prepared by Booz Allen
Hamilton, reveals that green buildings will alone create 3.3 million jobs in the
US by 2018. While green buildings in India account for less than 5 percent of
the current sock, winds of change are blowing, though gradually.
A statistic by the Dodge Data & Analytics World Green
Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, of which USGBC is a contributing
partner, reveals that by 2018, green buildings in India will grow by 20 percent
largely driven by environmental regulations and demand for healthier neighbourhoods.
The top three sectors that will fuel the growth of green buildings in the
country are new high-rise residential, communities and mixed-use development.
Green
building trends in India
India currently ranks third in LEED green building numbers
outside the United States. Operational cost savings in the long run have been a
major driver of green buildings growth in India. LEED-certified green buildings
have translated into reduction in operational costs by 13.6 percent for new
construction and 8.5 percent for existing building projects.
Respondents of the SmartMarket report from India 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, while 26 percent of them will undergo
new green institutional construction.
Need for
trained professionals
Real estate growth and urban development in India have gained
momentum due to the various schemes and initiatives launched by the government.
These include the ‘100 Smart Cities’ and ‘Housing for All by 2022’ mission
among others. Data revealed by RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) in
the research report ‘Real Estate and Construction Professionals in India by
2020’ prospects a demand-supply gap of 44 million core professionals that
include civil engineers, architects and planners, by 2020. This therefore
indicates the urgent need of training architecture and civil engineering
students to make them skilled and prepare them for competitive careers in the green
building economy.
Keeping this in mind, USGBC has joined hands with the
Knowledge Institute of Technology (KIOT) in Salem, Tamil Nadu to train 41 civil
and mechanical engineering students in the LEED Lab course, at the end of which
they shall appear for the LEED Green Associate (GA) examination. LEED Lab is a multidisciplinary,
immersive, and comprehensive course which covers energy use, water consumption,
indoor environmental quality, waste reduction, and overall site impact. Since
students get a chance to carry out certification of an existing building, they
get hands-on experience and practical knowledge to excel as sustainability
professionals in future.
KIOT University, Salem Tamil Nadu
Incentives
for all the stakeholders
In order to promote sustainable development in the nation,
several states are considering mandatory energy conservation and green
buildings codes, along with offering sops for green construction. Government
incentives in the form of property tax reductions and increased floor area
ratio (FAR) are prevalent in the Indian green building economy.
However, incentives are offered only to developers of green
buildings. The consumers are kept aloof of the incentives. Demand and supply
have a direct co-relation. Developers shall construct green buildings only if
they’re economically profitable and necessarily if there’s demand in the market
for them. Besides educating people about the benefits of dwelling in green
buildings, it’s necessary that even they be given tax incentives that
developers enjoy. Moreover, people who are investing in a green building should
get loans at subsidized interest rates.
To spur green buildings growth in India, the construction
industry thus requires trained and skilled professionals, as well as there is a
pressing need for incentives for all the stakeholders of the real estate
industry.
