GRIHA

GRIHA Advantages and Shortcomings

By:Devvrat Chowdhary2010barc009AIMThe basic aim of the presentation is to identify various issues related to GRIHA certification in IndiaSCOPE AND LIMITATIONSThe seminar work will involve a brief listing of the different rating systems followed for rating green buildings, but only GRIHA India rating system will be discussed in detail.METHODOLOGYWhat is a green buildingThe green building is a building that has high-efficiency in the use and consumption of natural resourcesGreen building practices can substantially reduce negative environmental impacts. Green building reduces operating costs, enhances building marketability, and helps in increasing workers productivity and health benefits.Source: Paper presented on Green buildings" by Debajit Pal it from TERI, June 2004What is a green buildingIn the Indian context, a building is 'green' whenIt is designed using an integrated approach (as mentioned in NBC, Part 0)It provides its users with an optimal level of comfort catering to local needs (as per NBC-Part 8)It uses minimum resources, sourced locally (as per various IS codes and other local materials)It consumes minimum energy and water (as per ECBC and NBC)It generates optimum waste, processed locally (as per CPCB, and MoEF norms)

Green building rating systemGreen building rating systems are designed to assess and evaluate the performance of buildings from planning, designing, constructing, and operations.Green building rating systemThe various rating systems discussed below provide a strategy to rate a building on some pre formulated energy efficiency parameters. They provide a way to measure the extent to which a building is environment friendly, sustainable and energy efficient in itself.These are: 1. TERI-GRIHAThis rating system is developed by TERI- the Energy and Research Institute.The assessment is based on Energy and Environmental performance of buildings.The certification is given in the form of stars (1 to 5) depending upon the points secured by buildings.2. LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignThis rating system was developed by the U.S Green building council in 1993.It evaluates and rates buildings on the basis of their energy and environmental performance,The rating is given in the form of certification, silver, gold and platinum depending upon the points secured by buildings.3. BREEAM - Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method

This rating system was developed by the United Kingdom in 1990.It evaluates and rates buildings on the basis of building environment.The rating is given in the form of pass, good, very good and excellent depending upon the points seemed by buildings.

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat AssessmentGRIHAGRIHA has been conceived by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and jointly developed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) as the national rating system for buildings.

GRIHA attempts to quantify aspects such as energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy adoption, etc. so as to manage, control and optimise the same to the best possible extent.GRIHA evaluation processSet of 34 criteria focusing on:Site PlanningBuilding DesignEnergy EfficiencyWater and waste managementSustainable Building MaterialsOccupant Health and comfort100 (+4 innovation points) point system with differential weightage on various criteriaPoints scoredRating5060One star61-70Two star71-80Three star81-90Four star91-100Five starGRIHA evaluation processCASE STUDY: CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, IIT KANPUR

Architects : Kanvinde Rai and Chowdhury , NDConsultants:Structure : Planning and design bureau , NDElectrical : Kanwar Krishen AssociatesPlumbing : Deolalikar consultants , New DelhiHVAC: Gupta Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Landscape : Yogesh Kapoor , New DelhiEnergy Efficiency : The energy and resources institute (TERI)Project Management: Institute works department,

Contractors:Gupta Enterprise, New DelhiKailash Electric , KanpurHilltop refrigeration , New DelhiVishnu saran and Co. , KanpurTATA BP Solar, New DelhiBHEL , Lucknow

Built Up Area: 4240 m2 (45640 ft2)Project Cost : 11.5 CroreLaboratories - 10 no's Faculty Rooms - 18 nos. Meeting Rooms - 4 nos. Library , Seminar Hall - 100 cap. Class Rooms - 60 cap. & 40 cap.Exhibition Area Amphitheatre integrated with Water BodyShaded Indoor Landscaped Court

Salient FeaturesSustainable site planning has been integrated to maintain favourable microclimate. The architectural design has been optimized as per climate and sun path analysis. Passive strategies such as an earth air tunnel have been incorporated in the HVAC design to reduce the cooling load. The Centre has attempted to conserve and utilize resources efficiently; and recycle, reuse, and recharge the systems at every stage of design and construction. Conceptual Site Plan showing the orientation of the building to admit maximum daylight from three sides and simultaneously making use of naturally low-lying area as a water body and providing ambient temperature The Centre conceptualized as a 'building in the garden' is sited adjoining the horticulture nursery to the east. The development co-exists with nature, is sustainable and environment friendly. The EPI (Energy Performance Index) of the building is predicted to be 45.43 kWh/m2/annum, which is 41.3% less than the TERI GRIHA benchmark. In comparison to a conventional building, 59% energy savings are predicted in the CESE building.

GRIHA advantages Focus on non-air conditioned buildings: GRIHAs criteria provide more credit to climate responsive architecture and design to minimize energy use compared to LEED criteria.Mandatory minimum requirement for solar energy: GRIHA requires, as a mandatory criterion, 1 per cent of the total energy needs for the development to be sourced from solar power. Quality of ground water:In India is not guaranteed as in other countries such as the U.S. GRIHA mandates the treatment of ground water for drinking and irrigation to the norms as prescribed by ISI. Noise pollution:LEED does not evaluate acoustical comfort. GRIHA requires adherence to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and NBC guidelines for acceptable outdoor and indoor noise levels.

The MNRE granted incentives to various stakeholders under its Energy-efficient solar/green buildings' scheme to GRIHA-NRS projects under the 11th five year plan period.Extensive hand holding during site visits of registered projectsGRIHA advantages

BEFOREAFTERWhat may go wrong?No Proper Pre-CertificationThe pre-certification is only a pledge and there is no legal provision for requiring the project proponents to achieve the level of rating promised in the pre-certification application. DEVELOPERS INTERESTThe developers often do not have convincing evidence about energy, water savings etc. And the occupier is also not sure whether they are paying for a green image or for actual savings coming from green measures.What may go wrong?Empty PromisesThere is no legally backed means of verifying whether the rated buildings are delivering on their intended goals.Increment building cost and Payback periodMost of the developers and builders have their apprehensions for constructing green buildings because they believe that green buildings are expensive, make no economic sense and they would not be able to recover their cost.What may go wrong?Proving Green CredentialsAll certified buildings are expected to respect the local by-laws and to be located on appropriate sites. Therefore, green rating systems should be made accountable for awarding green rating to inappropriately sited projects. For example the Commonwealth (CWG) village is constructed on Yamuna flood plain and concerns were raised by several environmentalists about its siting. A year after the storm over the games (which left the village flooded in September 2010) has settled, the project was awarded a TERI GRIHA 2 Star Rating.CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONSEstablish regulatory framework to mandate performance monitoring, reporting and disclosure of resource use buildings especially for rated and green rules compliant buildingsMandate transparent sharing of information on green features, costs and pay-back, and performance data of the rated buildings. This information should be made available in the public domain in standardized uniform format.Fiscal measures should be linked with post construction performance monitoring.Rating agencies should initiate public awareness campaign based on the validated performance information.Strengthen technical preparedness for bridging the gap between modeled and actual performance of buildings.