BWI: ADaRSH in Association with MNRE and TERI Organises the 3rd National Conference on Green Design

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Thursday, March 01, 2012 03:07 PM IST (09:37 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Economy, Environment, People, Politics; Business: Business services, Energy companies, Media & entertainment
--------------------------------------------------
ADaRSH in Association with MNRE and TERI Organises the 3rd National Conference on Green Design
SvaGRIHA Rating System formally launched & awards to GRIHA rated projects given out

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, March 01, 2012 -- (Business Wire India) -- ADaRSH, a platform to facilitate a pan-India, ongoing interaction and networking between building professionals, developers and government officials in association with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt of India, organised a two-day 'National Conference on 'Green Design' and also launched the SvaGRIHA Rating System.

Present on the occasion were, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India, Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India, Dr. R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI, Dr. A K Tripathi, Director, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, along with government officials, architects, engineers and construction management professionals from across the country.

In his address Dr Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India, while expressing concern about the way the buildings sector is growing, lauded TERI, ADaRSH and his Ministry for creating awareness about GRIHA Rating. He emphasised that GRIHA should impart more trainings to professionals and architects to sensitise the masses about Green Buildings. Congratulating ADaRSH for coming up with SvaGriha rating systems for residential homes, Dr Abdullah expressed the desire to popularise SvaGriha rating system to encourage individuals to build greener homes. He further added that the Delhi-Mumbai corridor would have maximum green buildings and Griha and ADaRSH would play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. "This annual conference is a platform to embrace new challenges and take stalk of the situation. A national institution for Renewable Energy in collaboration with TERI is in the pipeline, which will promote the importance of renewables."

Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr. R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI, said, "There is a building boom in India that is only going to accelerate. Thus there is a need to build in a way that does not get locked in inefficiency. To bring about a major change, ratings based on solid scientific principles, architectural techniques and methods that stand the test of times are essential. TERI has been at the forefront of this and is fortunate to get MNRE's support and encouragement in this process."

Emphasising the need for green buildings, Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India, said, "In order to promote green buildings in India, we need to engage more and more people in the process, and, the government plays a very important role in doing so. We should spread awareness about green buildings among the mass, so that they demand more green from the government."

The sustainability of our building industry is crucial to the economic, social and human development of our country. The annual growth rate of our construction industry is far higher than the global average. Further, it contributes significantly to our GDP. Direct employment generated is second only to agriculture; with indirect employment generation in ancillary industries, as high as 5 -10%.

The scale and pace of construction in India is unparalleled and at this scale, cost of green building materials, renewable energy systems and design services can all be brought down for everyone's benefit.

This year, the conference delved and discussed the following themes-

-- Resource optimisation for self sufficiency
-- ADaRSH - Shaping a sustainable India
-- Looking beyond buildings - Sustainability and the City
-- Smaller footprints - From Megawatts to Kilowatts
-- Materials making environmental sense
-- Innovation in building design and systems
-- Next generation green - Envisioning 2020

The two-day conference also hosted an exhibition on the sidelines to showcase green building products, energy efficient solutions and new technologies & services that are available todayto build a sustainable habitat. Prominent and responsible corporate entities committed towards building a sustainable environment exhibited a range of energy efficient products, which will help lower energy costs, provide comfort as well as enable building a greener future.

Plaque awards were awarded to corporates encouraging green designs and green buildings.

-- S P Infocity: 3 Star GRIHA Rating
-- Doon School: 2 Star GRIHA Rating
-- Commonwealth Games Village : 2 Star GRIHA Rating
-- Ganga Skies: 3 Star GRIHA Rating

GRIHA Exemplary performance awards to

-- For architecture : Akshay Urja Bhawan (HAREDA), Panchkula
-- For Site Management: Palace Gardens, Panvel (Hiranandani project) and SABIC Research & Technology Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru
-- For Water Management: INFOSYS Technologies Ltd, Pocharam Village Hyderabad
-- For Low-energy Material: Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon (Jain Irrigation campus)
-- For Renewable Energy: Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority Building, Pimpri Chinchwad (suburb of Pune)

Till date there are 171 GRIHA/TERI GRIHA registered Projects, spread across 28 States, covering over 75 Million Sqft Green Footprint, and over 10,000 professionals trained across the country.

About: Association for Development and Research on Sustainable Habitats (ADaRSH)

ADaRSH is an independent society, registered under the Societies Act, 1860, jointly formed by the MNRE and TERI to develop and implement GRIHA. It is responsible for registration of projects with GRIHA, advocacy and awareness generation on sustainable habitats in the Indian context. ADaRSH has trained over 10,000 professionals, students, and government officials in various capacities on green habitats in the Indian context. There are 171 GRIHA registered projects with ADaRSH, spread across 28 states, with over 75 million sqft. Green footprint. ADaRSH firmly believes in equipping professionals and the real estate industry with the requisite skills to design and build sustainable habitats, such that dependency on a handful of green building professionals is minimised.

About: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

From microbiology to global climate change, from smoke-filled rural kitchens to plush corporate boardrooms, from schoolchildren to heads of state-no sphere of human endeavor is unfamiliar to TERI. Headed by world-renowned economist and Head of the Nobel Prize winning UN Climate panel, Dr. RK Pachauri, TERI is best described as an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development and devoted to efficient and sustainable use of natural resources.

A dynamic and flexible organisation established in 1974, all activities in TERI move from formulating local and national level strategies to suggesting global solutions to critical energy and environment-related issues. Headquartered in New Delhi, TERI has established regional offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Guwahati and Mukhteshwer in the Himalaya's and International centers in Japan, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Washington DC, London and Utrecht, The Netherlands.

To view the photograph, please click on the link given below:

Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India & DR R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI inaugurating Exhibition on Green Building

Dr Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India inaugurating National Conference on Green Design 2012 along with Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India & DR R K Pachauri, Director General
For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:

http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/1(206).JPG
Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India & DR R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI inaugurating Exhibition on Green Building
http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/2(64).jpg
Dr Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India inaugurating National Conference on Green Design 2012 along with Mr. Arun Maira, Member- Planning Commission, Government of India & DR R K Pachauri, Director General


CONTACT DETAILS
Kavita Bhaskaran, Ketchum Sampark, +91 9981355009
Prashant k, Ketchum Sampark, +91 9650026623
Manash, Ketchum Sampark, +91 9953970829

KEYWORDS
ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE, POLITICS, BUSINESS SERVICES, ENERGY, MEDIA

If you wish to change your Business Wire India selection please click on this link http://www.businesswireindia.com/media/news.asp and use your personal username and password to login.

Submit your press release at http://www.businesswireindia.com