Context:
Indian Army’s new Thal Sena Bhawan (TSB) boasts of several green measures conforming with GRIHA-IV (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) norms.
About GRIHA:
- A Sanskrit word meaning – ‘Abode’.
- A national rating system that evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle.
- Aim – To minimize a building’s resource consumption, waste generation, and overall ecological impact to within certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks.
- Purpose – To strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international.
- Developed by – TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute)
- Adopted by – Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is a non-profit research institute which conducts research work in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development for India and the global south.
- Stages for Evaluation –
- Site selection and planning
- Conservation and efficient utilization of resources
- Building operation and maintenance
- Innovation points
- Criteria – 34 criteria and awards points on a scale of 100.
- Project scoring – 5 Star Ratings between 50 and 100 points.
- The guidelines/criteria and appraisal norms is revised every 3 years or sooner.
- Advantages –
- Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels
- Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and reduced soil loss from erosion etc.
- Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)
- Reduced water consumption
- Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
- Reduced pollution loads
- Increased user productivity
- Enhanced image and marketability
SVA GRIHA (Simple Versatile Affordable GRIHA) has been developed by ADaRSH in collaboration with TERI meant to simplify, and make the greening of small buildings (less than 2500 sqm built-up area) affordable.
Other Green Building Certifying Agencies:
- LEED-India – An international benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings (provided by IGBC).
- IGBC Ratings – Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is a division of the Confederation of Indian Industry that works closely with the government and aims at sustainably built environment.
- BEE-ECBC – Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was established by the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to set energy efficiency standards for design and construction of buildings.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
On which of the following can you find the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Star Label?
1. Ceiling fans
2. Electric geysers
3. Tubular fluroescent lamps
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
