Having a green certification is certainly a plus that influences the purchase decision, albeit to a variable extent.

Rohit Gera - MD, Gera Developments

There is a level of heightened awareness among today’s property buyers, about how IGBC green homes enhance lifestyles and are sustainable. These well read, educated buyers are more sensitive towards the need to conserve natural resources - whether it is water, electricity, or soil, and the means of achieving that.

The associated savings of sustainable buildings are the cost benefits, capex and opex, sourcing capital, marketing benefit, and asset value appreciation. These are realised in the long-term where there is an estimated operational cost saving of more than 11% on electricity and more than 5% on water demand.


Gera’s Planet of Joy is an IGBC pre- Certified Gold Rated Project located at Upper Kharadi, Pune. Consuming a footprint of only 40% of the total 9-acre land, the project has been designed to enhance the well-being of its occupants. Solar panels have been installed to minimise dependency on electricity, while high efficiency motors and low loss transformers help in reducing electrical demand.

The apartments have been designed with a window to wall ratio (WWR) of more than 30%, thus allowing ample light and ventilation indoors. Trees along the periphery of the project, vehicular-free children’s play areas, and encouraging sustainable modes of transport through car charging points for 30% of the parking, are measures that will contribute towards making the project more sustainable.

The need for water conservation has been addressed through rainwater harvesting tanks to make water reusable for non-potable purposes, use of sanitary fixtures that minimize water wastage, provision of drip irrigation, and planting more native trees in the landscape to help reduce the daily demand for water.