The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Green Building Congress begins on September 14 in New Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Green Building Congress begins on September 14 in New Delhi

Staff Reporter

It will spread awareness on the concept of green building The Congress would facilitate in India becoming a world leader in green buildings

CHENNAI: The four-day `Green Building Congress' to be organised in New Delhi by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from September 14 will strive to spread awareness on the concept, promote green building materials and serve as a forum for facilitating business opportunities in the field.

The Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre of CII will spearhead the event comprising a four-day exhibition on the green products; a two-day international conference that is to be inaugurated by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on September 15; and a two-day training programme on green buildings. A daylong seminar on green homes is planned as part of the Congress on September 17. The participants will also be taken on a tour of the green buildings.

Giving details of the event, which would be the fourth in the series and the first to be held outside Hyderabad, R. ParasuRaman, chairman, India Green Building Council, said the Congress would facilitate in India becoming a world leader in green buildings.

Though both the conventional and green buildings look alike in terms of their appearance and functionality, the difference of the latter lay in the concern for resource conservation and human productivity. The tangible benefits of the green buildings were savings up to 50 per cent on energy and up to 35 per cent on water due to lower consumption and the emphasis on recycling respectively. The improvements in terms of the productivity of the people working in such buildings would be up to 10 per cent more, said Mr. ParasuRaman, who is also the vice-chairman of the World Green Building Council.

"The most important aspect of the green buildings are the economic benefits ... very high and the quick payback period," he said, adding the conference would be addressed by experts in the field from both India and abroad.

The chairman of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Committee, India Green Building Council, C.N. Raghavendran, said there was a growing interest on the green buildings in the country. While the Council had adopted the system of rating as prevalent in the U.S., efforts were being taken to "Indianise the system."

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