With the fast evolving world in the context of tackling the climate change and other related threats, the concept of green buildings is developing and thus are developing the green green bu rating systems. One such eminent Rating System is offered by GRIHA. GRIHA is an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment.
GRIHA is a Sanskrit word meaning – ‘Abode’. Human Habitats (buildings) interact with the environment in various ways. Throughout their life cycles, from construction to operation and then demolition, they consume resources in the form of energy, water, materials, etc. and emit wastes either directly in the form of municipal wastes or indirectly as emissions from electricity generation. GRIHA attempts to minimize a building’s resource consumption, waste generation, and overall ecological impact to within certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks. Going by the old adage ‘what gets measured, gets managed’, GRIHA attempts to quantify aspects such as energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy adoption, etc. so as to manage, control and reduce the same to the best possible extent.
“The GRIHA rating system takes a holistic approach toward sustainable action intended to mitigate climate change, a significant aspect of which is: reduction in GHG emissions from the construction and operation of India’s building stock”, said Sanjay Seth, CEO, GRIHA Council in an interview.
The Sustainable Habitat Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change was launched on 30th June 2008. It involves an extensive range of measures to be pursued as key components for sustainable development and proposes strategies aimed at promoting efficiency in residential and commercial sector through various measures such as changes in building bye laws, capacity building, research and development in new technologies, education and awareness, management of municipal solid wastes, and promotion of urban public transport.
with an overall objective to reduce resource consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the use of renewable and recycled resources by the building sector, TERI has played a crucial role in convergence of various initiatives, essential for effective implementation and mainstreaming of sustainable habitats in India. With over two decades of experience on green and energy efficient buildings, TERI has developed GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), which was adopted as the national rating system for green buildings by the Government of India in 2007.
On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, reducing energy consumption and the stress on natural resources.
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