Bangalore Real Estate Trends

ET REALTY BUREAU

India's green building footprint has grown considerably over the last six years and occupiers and developers as well as state and central governments have been responsible for this progress, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle,international property consultants.

India currently has two major rating systems: LEED India,run by the Indian Green Building Council and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA),a system developed by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.The GRIHA rating system is slowly strengthening its impact alongside LEED India.

India's LEED certified green building footprint in office, residential, retail,hotel,educational,hospital and airport buildings has increased significantly from 20,000 sqft in 2004 to 23 million sqft in 2009.This upward trend is expected to continue as 45 million sq ft of additional green building space is projected to be complete by 2012.Currently there are only two GRIHA rated completed projects and about 40 registered projects.

CORPORATES ARE SETTING THE PACE

Wipro,Microsoft,Cognizant,ABN AMRO,TCS and other international and domestic corporate occupiers have either developed,or are developing,energy efficient office spaces or large-scale campuses.For instance,LEED certification norms are being implemented to manage Wipro's building infrastructure as part of Wipro's EcoEye charter (their ecological sustainability programme).Microsoft has decided to adopt green building techniques to renovate or construct new buildings in India.Other occupiers such as Infosys,Computer Associates and Oracle are also planning to develop green office spaces to leverage the financial and environmental benefits that they provide.

Other sectors such as manufacturing,education,hospital and hotels are also demanding green spaces.For instance Motorola and Modine Thermal Systems' factories are operating out of LEED certified green buildings.ITC has developed ITC Royal Gardenia,which is a LEED Platinum rated building.Lavasa Hotels has developed Hotel Fortune Select Dasve,which is a LEED Silver rated building. Educational Institutes such as Hyderabad Institute of Technology and Management in Hyderabad,and Rane Institute for Employee Development in Chennai are operating out of LEED certified green buildings.Kohinoor Group has developed Kohinoor Hospital in Mumbai,which is a LEED Platinum rated building.

MAJOR DEVELOPERS COMMIT TO A GREEN FUTURE

In the small but growing demand for green building space,regional and national developers in India have responded with an array of new projects.Construction of new green spaces for office buildings, residential units and retail malls is currently underway in cities throughout the country.

The beginnings of a mindset shift can be observed with major players such as national developer K.Raheja Corp.committing to make all new projects LEED certified.Similarly,State Bank of India is offering a Green Home Loan Scheme with lower interest rates to support green residential projects.In Bangalore,Bearys Global Research Triangle project in Whitefield is the first platinum LEED Certified Green building Research Park both by IGBC and USGBC.

WHAT HAS INDIA DONE TO BE GREENER

A number of measures have been taken by central and state authorities in India to support the environment and to help minimise the impact that the real estate industry has upon it.

For instance the state governments of Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra and Karnataka are planning to develop their own green building byelaws.The Bureau of Indian Standards has developed the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) which,along with numerous other new policies by the Government of India,will support energy efficiency.

The Prime Minister has released the NAPCC (National Action Plan on Climate Change),which reinforces the objectives of sustainable development and will shape India's future development policy.India's Ministry of Environment and Forestry has undertaken 24 initiatives related to climate change.The government has proposed to develop all of its new buildings as energy efficient spaces.

INDIA AS A CLIMATE CHANGE DEAL MAKER

At the recent Copenhagen Summit (COP 15),India was hailed a dealmaker,a country that takes global climate change issues seriously.As a developing nation,India insisted that carbon commitment pledges remain voluntary,instead of being subject to international enforcement.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry is confident that India can not only meet its pledge of cutting carbon emissions by 20-25 % by 2020 over 2005 levels,but it can improve upon it.These initiatives clearly indicate that India is on its way to integrated sustainable development.

_{Source: ET Realty, Bangalore Dt: 11-8-10}