Go Green And See The Wonders

A team of industry leaders discuss the long-term benefits of green buildings and why it is good for people

Green Housing: Smart Business Strategy was a virtual summit held on February 25. Organised by Construction Week and IFC (A World Bank Group), the panel discussion was moderated by Autif Sayyed, South Asia Lead, Green Buildings, EDGE Green Building Market Transformation Program, Climate Business Department, IFC. In keeping with the topic, we had expert and erudite panelists comprising Ashwinder R Singh, CEO, Residential, Bhartiya Realty; Barun Pal Chowdhury, COO, Ashoka Buildcon; Ravi Aggarwal, Co-Founder & MD, Signature Global; and Sanjay Joshi, Additional Senior General Manager, HDFC.

Sayyed set the tone with a brief presentation on IFC's role in overall economic growth across nations and how efficiencies can be brought into the building sector. A life of a building is for 40-50 years and building inefficiencies at the start means they stay across its lifespan. Building construction is one of the largest contributors to climate change and one way to mitigate this is to use green design and materials, so that there is limited environmental degradation, while still meeting the needs of the occupants. Green buildings are the answer to the future. Our free online EDGE software can help you achieve the green standards in a streamlined manner. We've also introduced a zero-carbon certification, which recognises buildings that are able to cut down their energy consumption drastically, and meet all its remaining energy demands through renewables.