Construction Industry Goes the Green Way

The 15th edition of CII-IGBC Green Building Congress 2017 organized in Jaipur from 4 - 7 October 2017, saw a record turnout. The event was attended by national and international delegates, members of World GBC, company representatives, industry experts, technologists, architects, exhibitors and visitors.


The event saw over 2,000 national and international delegates, and participation from global thought leaders who shared their success stories and best practices in over 20 sessions, and during panel discussions with key industry leaders and financial institutions. CII - IGBC 17 also hosted the WorldGBC’s annual members meet which was attended by CEOs and experts from over 30 Green Building Councils. An exhibition, held concurrently, showcased technologies and processes that are transforming the global construction industry.

Addressing the gathering at the inaugural session, Shri. Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Minister for Industry, NRI & Govt. Enterprise, Government of Rajasthan, said that the Government of Rajasthan is committed to facilitate sustainable development of the State. It has introduced a slew of measures, including 5% additional FAR (Floor Area Ratio) for projects under JDA (Jaipur Development Authority). “It’s encouraging to see that Rajasthan has 83 IGBC registered projects with a footprint of 103 million sqft of green buildings making it the role model for other states. Awareness about the importance and benefits of adopting the green building concept is very important to further this growth. “IGBC is playing a pioneer role in spearheading the green movement in India,” he said.


Shri Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Minister for Forest, Environment, Govt of Rajasthan, appreciating CII’s support to the State in its growth initiatives, said that India, which is currently the 2nd largest country in the world with Green Building footprint of 4.68 billion sqft, has the potential to be the world leader soon. “Rajasthan has taken a leadership position in this area and can play a significant role in helping the country to achieve IGBC’s vision of 10 billion sqft green built-up environment by 2022. The Government of Rajasthan is glad to offer all possible support to IGBC in making India a global leader in green buildings,” he said.

In his special address, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development & Housing Department, Shri Mukesh Kumar Sharma, said that it was appreciable that in the last 15 years, IGBC has facilitated 4.68 billion sqft of green building footprint, and hoped that there would be more such green building projects in the State in the future.

Ar. Tai Lee Siang, Chair, WorldGBC, said, “India has made significant progress in promoting the adoption of green building practice. To take it to the next level, we need to make green building a part of our tradition by going beyond the business case.” He highlighted the 3 Es of Engagement, Excitement and Encouragement. Through engagement, GBC would bring together members of different countries who would carry on the spirit of sustainable development. Excitement will be generated upon hearing the success stories of fellow GBCs. Member councils will feel encouraged knowing that they are not alone in the run for a green and harmonious planet.


Speaking on the accomplishments of WGBC, CEO Ms. Terri Wills said that green building policies have had around 60% impact. The Council is changing the way buildings are being constructed, and is playing a critical role at the United Nations and is a significant contributor for climate change. “The Asia Pacific region, which includes India, is one of the fastest growth regions in the green building space. WorldGBC is driving the mission of ensuring green building for “everyone-everywhere”. India, one of the first founding members of WGBC, has been playing a vital role in accelerating the global green building movement,” she said.

In his welcome address, Mr. V Suresh, Chairman, Policy & Advocacy Committee - IGBC, said that the 3-day event will prove to be a significant platform for world councils to act together for sustainable development. He highlighted the need for smart cities and AMRUT cities adopting green building concepts, and requested the government to convert exiting government buildings into green buildings. “IGBC has been driving initiatives with the support of local IGBC chapters to introduce various rating systems customized to meet the requirements of different types of built environments, including IGBC green building village rating system. The green building movement should not just be urban-centric, it should reach villages and rural parts of India. Our effort has been to create opportunities for market transformation and make green building affordable to ensure greater participation. IGBC aspires to facilitate 10 billion sqft of green building footprint by 2022,” he said.


The 4-day event was marked by several sessions, conferences and award ceremonies. Shri Ashok Jain, Chief Secretary, Govt of Rajasthan, chief guest at the curtain raiser, said that the large national and international participation indicates awareness and interest towards creating a sustainable built environment. He invited investment in green projects in the State, specifically in- manufacturing, real estate, tourism, IT and services.

The session also saw presentations by Arun Bhatia, Chief Sustainability Officer of United Technologies Corporation, John Mandyck, Director, Healthy Buildings Program, Centre for Health & the Global Environment, Harvard Chan School, and others.

GBC was also the platform for the launch of India’s first rating system for Greening of Existing Cities — IGBC Green Cities Rating (for Existing Cities). A rating system for Green Affordable Housing, Green New Building (Version 3.0) and Green Interiors Rating System were also launched. IGBC Healthy Building Rating program evaluates buildings on the metrics of people-centric design, and on the incorporation of elements that address energy consumption, water use and waste management.


MoUs were signed with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials & Indian Plumbing Association (IPA) and Climate Project Foundation. Speaking at the sidelines of the event, Mr. Parasu Raman Chairman, Green Products & Services Council & Founding Chairman, IGBC said that India’s ready-mix concrete industry is embracing green concepts. This will reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 1.5 lakh tons per year. He added that CII along with Ready Mix Concrete Manufacturing Association, Quality Council of India and International Finance Corporation is developing GreenPro Certification for ready-mix concrete.

Concurrent sessions were held on Affordable Housing, Green Schools and Green Hospitals Products & Technologies. The session on Green Hospitals aimed at highlighting the importance and benefits of incorporating green features in hospitals which would result in faster recovery, energy management and less generation of waste. IGBC in its continued efforts to inspire young minds and encourage them to come up with innovative and futuristic green ideas, annually conducts Green Your School contest supported by Carrier-Toshiba. CII-IGBC also organizes the annual Architectural Design Competition supported by Daikin.


A panel discussion on the ‘Spirit of Rajasthan’ highlighted the distinctive aspects of the State’s culture, traditions, heritage, history, culture, cuisine, and tourism. Speaking on the occasion, Sriram Vedire, Hon’ble Chairperson, Rajasthan River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority, brought forth the uniqueness of Rajasthan’s spirit where both tradition and technology have perfectly dovetailed with people involvement, resulting in the successful water management initiatives of the State. Rajasthan has also revived the traditional storing mechanisms by incorporating latest technologies including geo-tagging, mobile applications and geo-synchronization. This has resulted in successful construction of one lakh water harvesting structures in 3,700 villages. “This is a clear reflection of the participatory and mass movement approach adopted by the State of Rajasthan,” he said.

IGBC Green Championship Awards were presented to Indian Railways, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, SBI, Reliance Industries, ICICI, Carrier- United Technologies, Agarwal & Agarwal Interior Designer, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Godrej Green Building Consultancy Services, Thomas Associates Architects and Orbit Group.

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Johnson Controls’ Advanced Solutions for Sustainable Cities

Johnson Controls, the market leader in Building Technologies and Energy platforms, showcased several innovative technologies and solutions that impact the built environment, and demonstrated how Indian buildings and cities can be designed in a smarter, safer and more sustainable manner. Products included Adaptive Traffic Control, Command & Control and Fire & Security systems, the award-winning York Magnetic Centrifugal Bearing Chiller and Connected Chillers leveraging Internet of Things. The company’s technology portfolio integrates every aspect of a building from security systems, energy management, fire protection to HVACR

Says Shrikant Bapat, General Manager, “Growing cities must be able to adapt to environmental, financial and social challenges. The built environment is first and foremost responsible for human development. Changing demographics and urbanization open new opportunities for growth, and with that comes unique challenges. The future is being built today, and we at Johnson Controls are making that future more productive, more secure and more sustainable.”

Johnson Controls has been present in India since 1995, with 15 offices, 4 R&D centers and 6 manufacturing units. Clients include the Mumbai and Delhi International Airports, amongst many other prestigious users. Hygienic toilet seat cover from Eco365, a product of Neo Systek

ECO365 Hygiene Toilet Seat is a one-time use toilet seat cover, which can be replaced at the touch of a button after every use. The seat cover is kind of self-cleaning, controlled by a built-in circuit board, which changes the film cover for exactly one round every time the button is pressed. The used film will be destroyed by a cutter to ensure one-time use, so the used plastic rolls can never be re-used. The cartridge used in the seat cover is taken back by the company for recycling it responsibly, thereby making it 100% eco-friendly. ECO365 Hygiene Toilet Seats can be used in high traffic public areas such as airports railway stations, malls, offices, hospital and pharma industries.

Says Goutam Surana, Founder, “Eco365 is a water saving and sustainable product solution company. We have successfully saved 100+ crore liters of water for India and have more than 1000+ corporate clients using our products and services.”

Established in 2010 along with co-founder Peeyush Kothari in Bangalore, Neo Systek’s objective is to provide sustainable and responsible solutions that would help in conservation of water and energy, minimize waste, and protect the environment. Water saving products include Aerators & Flow Restrictors, Shower Heads, Waterless Urinals (also retrofit solutions), Faucets, Compostable Garbage Bags (made with corn starch), and AutoClean Toilet Seats. Roof Cooling & Insulation by Panache

Panache energy efficient high SRI premium Green Pro-Certified Cool Roof Coatings reduce indoor temperature, increase thermal comfort and reduce heat stress. Indoor cooling is provided by reflecting the IR radiation that reduces ingress of heat generated by solar radiation. Insulation is provided by reducing heat & cold transmittance by controlling the thermal conduction. “Cooler roofs mean longer life of roofs with crack prevention and contribution to indoor cooling,” says Neetu Jain, Founder

Mx Cool Guard by Panache is a single component modified acrylic polymeric powder mix. The emulsion is made on site by adding water to the powder mix. It amends roofs and provides energy conservation for temperature stability, is UV resistant, eco-friendly, and has no VOC. It has a high affinity to masonry substrate, becoming part of the substrate to give an excellent base for Premium Cool Roofs. Benefits are: SRI – 107; Reflectivity – 87%; Emissivity – 0.86; reduces indoor under deck surface temperature by up to 6 -12 0 C; AC running cost reduces by up to 30%; electricity bills saved by up to 30%; Cool Roof applied with Mx Cool Guard has a life of 2-3 years.

Other Panache products include Mix Cool Top, a single component ready emulsion coating for cool roof, applied as top coat, giving a minimum life of more than 7 years over conventional products. TranSeal is a transparent single component water protecting & dust repellent solution with Nano components that enhance the reflectivity of the system, and is applied mainly as a top coat on Cool Roofs to increase their life. It gives scratch resistance to porous structures of concrete, plaster, and IPS, is flexible, non-tacky, light-fast, resistant to ageing, and heat-sealable. When applied on Cool roof coating, it gives a tile-like effect. Cool Roof can be customized with different themes, geometric, and traditional designs as per client’s choice. Rivashaa offers Expanded Clay Aggregate

Rivashaa Eco Design Solutions is offering Expanded Clay Aggregate (ECA) for landscaping and related activities. ECA is used for permaculture systems and is certified by LEEDS, USGBC & recommended by IGBC. It is produced by firing natural clay at temperature of 1200°C. The result is a hard, honeycombed structure of interconnecting voids within the aggregate. The particles formed are processed to the required grading, depending on the application.

ECA is produced in different pellet sizes of 0-30 mm with a Bulk Density of 300 to 750 Kg/m3, Cylinder Compressive Strength of 0.6 to 3.0 N/mm2, and Water Absorption of 18 to 23% of size. Additional characteristics are lightness, thermal insulation by low conductivity coefficient (as low as 0.097), soundproofing by high acoustic resistance, moisture impermeable, incompressible under permanent pressure and gravity loads, non–decomposition against severe conditions, fire resistant, Ph of nearly 7, freezing and melting resistance, easy movement and transportation, lightweight backfill and finishing, reduction of construction dead load and earthquake lateral load, perfect sweet soil for plants, material for drainage and filtration.

Informs Udeet J. Banker, Director, “Common uses are in making lightweight concrete blocks, slabs, precast or in-cast structural elements (panels, partitions, bricks and light tiles) for application in commercial and residential projects.” Other applications are geotechnical fillings, water treatment, landscapes, terrace gardens, terrace insulations, vertical gardens, hydroponics, aquaponics and hydroculture. ECA grout can be used for flooring (finishing) and roofing with thermal and sound insulation. Nippon Paint’s Odourless AirCare

AirCare is an anti-formaldehyde interior emulsion that helps create a safe and hygienic indoor environment. It contains Active Carbon Technology that absorbs harmful formaldehyde from the air and converts it into water vapour, resulting in clean and fresh air. Besides having near zero VOC and odour, this paint has superior wash-ability, anti-bacterial property and does not contain heavy metals like lead and mercury. Hence, it is recommended for use in eco-sensitive commercial and residential areas such as hospitals, schools, hotels and homes. Superfan saves more than 56% electricity

Superfan was created by Coimbatore-based Versa Drives to offer Comfort, Performance and Energy efficiency. The fan saves more than 56% electricity compared to regular fans, without compromising on airflow. “Launched in 2012, it became the first super-efficient ceiling fan of India, and reinvented the fan itself. Existing ceiling fans then had issues like delivering warm air because of motor getting heated up, speed changing because of voltage fluctuation, useless during low voltage, squeaking noise of bearings after a couple of years, and consuming more energy than necessary,” says Sundar Muruganandhan, Managing Director.

Superfan comes with a sleek remote control and in exciting colours, and finds favour with leading architects when designing homes, institutions and hospitals. The company is offering a 5-year warranty on it.

Superfan has won many prestigious awards around the globe for design and energy saving capability, notably, the India innovation initiative from the Department of Science and Technology - Govt of India, Global Sustainability award from DuPont of USA, Most Innovative Energy Efficient Product from CII-IGBC and India Design Mark. The 200-year old US giant Dupont gave Global Sustainability Award to Superfan as 70 Tera Units of electricity can be saved every year if all the ceiling fans in the world were to be replaced by Superfan. Berger Becker Coatings for Roofing and Cladding

BeckryTherm PVDF (Poly Vinyl Di Flouride) and BeckryTherm SDP (Super Durable Polyster) of Berger Becker Coatings are high reflectance coatings with high Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) Values more than IGBC standards. When used for Roofing and Cladding, they allow less heat loss in winter, and protect against external heat in the summer, keeping the temperature of a building’s surface lower, thereby reducing energy consumption.

The coatings help in saving energy consumption by 20 to 25% per year in comparison to similar buildings without such a paint system. The paints also reduce thermal tension of the metal, thereby increasing the durability of the final product. Applications include metal roofing of factories, warehouses, airports, railways, metros, exhibition centers, data centres, residential and sports complex. The two products have received GreePro certification from CII Green Products and Services Council. Extra Protective Nano Top Coat from Nushar

Nushar India Future Tech is offering Nano Top Ooat, an extra protective coat that gives a medium gloss finish to any surface. It is a flexible coat with high sheen and very good adhesion. The company recommends applying two coats of Smart Master Coat before, for giving a high water, heat and dust repellency. The product is manufactured using Nano Technology which enhances the various properties of the coating. It meets the parameters of green products with UV/IR reflectivity of more than 85% (SRI 105), very low VOC (14.6 gm/kg), no formaldehyde, and heavy metals not detectable or just traces well below the permissible limits. It is anti-microbial and anti-fungal.

Application areas include any surface which has to be protected from heat, water, dust, dirt, rust, etc as terraces, tin sheds, water storage tanks, iron frames, exteriors and interiors of buildings. Other Nushar products include Poly Fillastomer Crack Pack Master Compound, Poly Membrane Coat, CCP Mix, Smart Master Coat and Smart Morta Care.