Vice President (VP) Venkaiah Naidu virtually inaugurated the 12th GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit 2020 organized by GRIHA Council, Hyderabad, Telangana & TERI(The Energy & Resources Institute) from December 15-16, 2020. The Summit was a Virtual Conference.
i.Theme of the 12th GRIHA Summit – ‘Rejuvenating Resilient Habitats’
ii.GRIHA is a National Rating System for Green Buildings, it is an initiative of TERI & developed by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
Participants:
Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President; Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs(I/C); Ajay Mathur, President Griha Council & Director General of TERI, New Delhi.
Key Points from VP’s Address:
i.Highlighting the World Green Building Council data which reported that Buildings & Construction account for 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions, Venkaiah Naidu called for acceleration of the de-carbonization process.
ii.He called on State Governments to create online portals for providing single-window clearance to green buildings.
iii.He appealed to the finance commission and local bodies to encourage green buildings by providing tax incentives among other measures, and Emphasized balance between Economic development & Environmental Protection.
iv.Lauded the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana for the implementation of Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).
v.He stated Green Buildings address 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Launch of 3-publications:
He launched 3 e-publications GRIHA Council – 30 Stories Beyond Buildings, Shashwat Magazine & Version 2019 Manual of the Council.
Address of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri:
Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs(I/C), Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted the launch of Climate-Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCCAF) 2.0 & ‘the Streets for People Challenge’.
i.These initiatives are aimed at making cities people-centric, pedestrian-friendly and climate-resilient.
ii.He lauded GRIHA for the launch of GRIHA 2019, which is an upgraded version of GRIHA Council’s rating system.
iii.GRIHA 2019 will help in aligning the Government’s efforts with the SDGs.
Initiatives by Government of India for reforms in construction technology:
Government has adopted several measures for reforming construction technology in the housing and real estate sector. They are:
i.Global Housing Technology Challenge India (GHTC-India) organized in January 2019, was aimed at identifying construction technologies which are sustainable, green & disaster-resilient.
ii.As part of Construction Technology Year (2019-20), 6 Innovative technologies have been selected for construction of 6 Light House Projects (LHPs).
iii.1, 000 houses will be built with allied infrastructure facilities at 6 places in different regions – Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) & Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
iv.Through Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators – India (ASHA-India), 5 incubation centers have been established for identification of innovative materials, processes & technology for resource-efficient and sustainable construction.
About GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Council:
President – Ajay Mathur
Headquarters – New Delhi
About The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Director General – Dr Ajay Mathur
Headquarter – New Delhi
