Recipe for green buildings growth in India: A mix of trained professionals, govt incentives

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.