An Investigation Into Adoption of Green Measures Within Green Building Rating Programs For Affordable Housing In India

Sneha Asrani

Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE), CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India
Corresponding Author: sneha.asrani@cept.ac.in

Rajan Rawal

Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE), CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India

Yash Shukla

Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE), CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India

Ravi Chaudhary

IIFL Home Finance Limited, Gurgaon, India

Ajay Jaiswal

IIFL Home Finance Limited, Gurgaon, India

Monu Ratra

IIFL Home Finance Limited, Gurgaon, India

Cite this article

Asrani, S., Rawal, R.,Shukla, Y., Chaudhary, R., Jaiswal, A., Ratra, M., (2024). An Investigation into Adoption of Green Measures Within Green Building Rating Programs for Affordable Housing In India. In Proceedings of Energise 2023-  Lifestyle, Energy Efficiency, and Climate Action, pp 08–18, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy. https://doi.org/10.62576/ASYE5405

Highlights

  • Green Affordable Housing (GAH) project’s sustainability is expressed using four Key Parameters: Climate Response, Climate Resilience, Gender Sensitivity, and Affordability.
  • Relationships between prevailing Green Building Rating Programs’ (GBRP) criteria and Key Parameters explored.
  • Insights into the on-ground execution of GBRP criteria gathered from Green Building Rating Agencies and Consultants.
  • Gaps in the prevailing GBRPs were identified.
  • Suggestions are made to prevailing GBRPs to enhance their future relevance.

Abstract

Resource-efficient buildings conducive to occupants’ health and well-being are termed Green Buildings (GB). Dedicated organizations, called Green Building Rating Agencies (GBRA), are involved in formulating Green Building Rating Programs (GBRP). The GBRPs feature predetermined, intent-based Rating Criteria (RC). Their rating mechanism is based on a relative comparison between the building’s base-case and Green-iteration, apathetic to its absolute operational performance.

This study identified four Key Parameters: Affordability, Gender Sensitivity, Climate Response, and Climate Resilience, representing a Green Affordable Housing (GAH) project’s holistic – Financial, Social, and Environmental – sustainability. GBRPs were studied to gauge whether and to what extent the RC embodies the Key Parameters. Concurrently, inputs regarding the on-ground execution of GBRPs were gathered from GBRA and Consultants. This study illuminates the gaps in the prevailing GBRPs and makes suggestions to maintain their future relevance. It concludes with the requirement of a rating framework anchored to absolute design baselines and operational performance benchmarks.

Keywords

Green Building Rating Programs; Green Affordable Housing; Climate Resilience; Adaptation; Holistic Sustainability

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