Developing New
Policies to Promote
Jrban Sustainability
eeping in needs with the
ontemporary ground realities it is
erhaps time to redefine procedural
>medies to upkeep urban
ustainability in the Indian Context
jackground
Suseainability is a widely used term associated with almost
I sectors, thus having many interpretations by different
-ientific communities. However, the
ye concept remains the
ame. One such definition states that sustainable process of
ondition is one that
an be maintained indefinitely without
rogressive diminution of valued qualities inside or outside the
ystem in which the process operates or the condition prevails”
Holdren, Daily, & Ehrlich, 1995). Today, itis widely accepted
nat due to unsustainable pr:
acural resource base by mankind, th
sand imprudent use of
city of these systems
> support the human population in the future has red
Arrow, Bolin, Costanza, & Dasgupta, 1995). Even, the Fourth
sessment Report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on
limate Change) estimated that between 1970 and 2004,
lobal GHG (Greenhouse Gas)
nthropological activities rose by 70 percent (IPCC, 2007),
ions due to
aving extremely devastating detrimental impact on the
nvironment. The effects of urbanization and climate change
re converging in dangerous ways, affecting life and systems of
ties. In addition, the recent ecological studies of cities have
Iso shown that cities sometimes exceed their environmental
vorprint by a factor 10-150 (Doughty & Hammond, 2004).
‘Though cities cover less than 2% of the earth’ surface, they
onsume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than
0% of all carbon dioxide and other perilous GHG
Greenhouse Gases) (UN-Habitat, 2012). At the same time,
ities and neighborhoods have the potential for delivering
gnificant and cost effective GHG cmission reductions.
Having realized this, worldwide many policies and strategic
programs have been conceptualized by both, government and
private organizations (Sparkling, 2012), and are being
implemented ike 100 Resilient Cities pioneered by Rockefeller
Foundation, Fucure Cicies Demonstrator Program in UK
(United Kingdom) by Technology Strategy Board of United
Kingdom, Smart Cities Mission in India by Ministry of Urban
Development, Government of India and many more.
In India, similar programs have been successfully initiated,
‘but few have slow downed and/or failed due to challenges
. resource reallocation,
establishing continuous revenue streams for publicizing the
encountered in encouraging stakcholde:
scheme and implementation difficulties. To give an example,
the ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) developed
by Ministry of Power, Government of India in the year 2007,
its mandatory enforcement in the state of Maharashtra has
witnessed slow downed progress, due to anticipated challenges
at various levels like inadequate manpower in the government
agencies to handle the technicalities, fixing responsibilities at
the level ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) that are not adequately
trained on the ECBC requirements,
availability, appropriate usage and cost difference of ECBC
imited awareness on
compliant materials with respect ro normal building materials,
avoidance of monopoly situation and so on (Limited, 2014)
Given the complexity of the established Indian systems, on the
global scale India ranks 132 among a toral of 185 countries
when i comes to ease of doing business, where rank 1 is the
easiest and a rank of 182 when it comes to acquiring
construction permits (PricewatethouseCoopers, 2013).“Approximately 40 procedural steps have to be followed to get
the final completion certificate for the project from the local
municipal authorities, which requires almost 147 working
days, Whereas in Singapore which ranks nos 1 only 10
procedures have to be followed, and this requires approximately
26 days (World Bank Group, 2016). The take away heres that,
the best policy practices developed and deployed by other
economies can be assessed and tailored to fit in the Indi
context, so as to augment the present efforts of Government of
India in achieving ‘Sustainability in
Built Environment’ along with
The
necessity for doing so is purely
other national _ prio
because India is still developing,
80% of India of 2030 is yer to be
buile(McKinsey & Company,
2009). This projected
soffers two options in which the
snowballing demands ean be catered
to (i) Continuing the
implementation/applicationof
effective as well as less effective
policies and attain not so satisfactory
results (ii) Consider it as a unique
opportunity to redefine and develop
new policy’ windows such that
sustainability and inclusive growth.
is at the core of its planning. The
dormant policies could also be
relooked to facilitate smoother processes and ease of doing
which would undoubtedly promote
sustainability and environmental stewardship.
business urban
Legislative Instruments To Endorse Urban
Sustainability
“The building and construction sector belongs to a complex
industrial chain, involving a wide range of actors, extendingan eee
2001_| ECA (Energy Conservation Act)
2001_| Establishment of GBC (Indian Green Building Council), part of Cll (Confederation of Indian Industry)
2002 | Formation of BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) under ECA 2001
2005 | Bureau of Indian Standards published the National Building Code
2006 | Planning Commission, under the direction of the Prime Minister of India, issued the integrated energy policy draft.
2006. | MoEF (Minisiry of Environment ond Forests) makes EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) mandatory for all
buildings with built up area of 20,000 square meters.
2007 | BEE formulated ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code)
2007 | GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) was adopted as the national rating system for green
buildings in India.
2008 | National Action Plan on Climate Change was launched, Integrated Energy Policy 2008 approved by the client
2014 | Announcement of smart cities program
2015 | india Signs UN Climate Change Paris Agreement
2016 | First 20 Smart Cities announced
2016 | States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana adopting mandatory compliance measures for building efficiency
from user's preference until the life cycle of the building,
making it one of the most complex environmental policy
carget groups (Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development, 2003). In India, different legislative instruments
are conceived and propagated to achieve certain degree of
sustainability in the given urban development spectrum, Some
of the policies/act/progeams and the year of initiation have
been enlisted below Vestian , 2016):
Broadly the aforementioned interventions can be
classified either as economic incentives, rating system, energy
audit programs, strategic partnerships, technology transfer
programs, information and education campaign,
competitions and so on. Amongst these, the rating system
may act as one of the most efficacious policy instrument ro
achieve urban sustainability
GRIHA- National Rating System For Green
Buildings In India
GRIHA is an abbreviation for Green Rating for Integrated
Habitat Assessment. Going by the old proverb ‘What gers
measured, gets managed; GRIHA attempts to quantify aspects
such as energy and water consumption, waste generation,
renewable energy generation and so on, so as to optimize and
reduce the same to the best possible extent. Thus, GRIHA is a
star rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of
building against acceptable
benchmarks. The environmental performance of a building is
holistically evaluated over ts entire life cycle, thereby providing,
a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’
Having the foundation of the rating system on accepted energy
their certain nationally
and environmental principl
pursues to strike equilibrium
between the traditional practices and emerging concepts, a
both national and international level,
In the year 2005, TERI (The Energy and Resources
Institute) launched the aforementioned rating system
specifically designed for the Indian building and construction
sector. It was further modified and adopted by the MNRE
(Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) Gol (Government
of India), in the year 2007 as the National Rating System for
green buildings in India. TERI along with MNRE and other
ished GRIHA Council with the
mandate to promote green buildings and habitats in India
through GRIHIA. Since then, many ULBs and state
government have incentivized GRIHA in their respective
jurisdiction by either offering free of cost additional FAR/FSI
(Floor Area Ratio/Floor Space Index), discount in the
sectoral experts jointly estal
premium amount paid co the municipality by the project
proponent and discount in the property tax paid by thebuilding occupant. Recently, Government of Sikkim has
adopted GRIHA for all government and semi- government
buildings including residential, non-reside
institutional, industrial,
, healthcare,
These
structures and also. the proposed development of the
recreational and so. on.
autonomous bodies like Boards, Corporation, Companies and
PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) shall conform to minimum
GRIHA 3 star rating,
Financial and Environmental Benefit- Case of
A Residential Project From Peme
(Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation)
The Ga
Developers,
\ga Skies residential project by Goel Ganga
near Vallabh Nagar, Pimpri was the first green
building project in the jurisdiction of PCMC which has been
awarded the final GRIHA star rating, Upon incorporating
green building principles at the right stages of the design,
planning and implementation, the project could achieve 8%
reduction in the projeet cost(Council, 2014). In addition,
given that the project has received a 3-star rating from GRIHA
Council, the:project received 30% discount in che premium
amount that seas initially paid to the corporation, Moreover,
as per the incentive sc
c, even the occupants of the flats
were entitled for a
% discount in the property tax. The
environmental benefits achieved by the project are as enlisted
below(GRIHA, 2007):
+ 30 % reduction in energy from GRIHA energy benchmark
(encourages energy demand optimization and installation of
renewable energy systems)
+* 25 % reduction in building water consumption (encourages
water demand optimization)
« 40 % reduction in landscape water consumption (encourages
recycling and reuse of treated waste water)
* More than 50% of the living areas are day-lighted (reduces
the req}
ement of artificial lighting)
‘ More than 40% fly-ash used in block work (low embodied
energy material)
Challenges in the Uptake of Policies/Scheme
In order to achieve the aforementioned, the rating system
acts as a guiding tool and the incentives linked to the
performance of the built form may encourage the developer to
endeavor for the highest star rating, which indeed abridges the
negative impact of the built on the environmental. Moreover,
it also adds to the brand value of the company/developer,
benefits the occupants of the building in the form of
discounted property tax along with a healthier environment to Y
live. This model works well because every stakeholder sees a
share of benefit in it. Bur che point of
aration here is that
very few developers opt for this scheme in spite of lucrative
fiscal benefits. The reason being che complexity of the existing
systems, the developer/ project proponent has to mainly take
the approvals and NOCs (No Objection Certificate) at
different stages of the project from the local municipal
authority and its varied departments like Fire and Water. In
addition, the developer may also have to take special approval
from Environment Department, Government of Maharashtra,
if the built up area exceeds 20,000 square meters, MCZMA
(Maharashera Zone Management Authority)
clearance if the plot falls under CRZ (Costal Regulation
Zone) and simi
Coastal
consents depending of the specifications of
the plot. Over and above this, the developer has to
simultaneously process its building proposal with the rating
authority and the department in charge of the green building
scheme at the corporation (in case of PCMC, ic is the
Environment Department that facilitates the internal
processes). Thus, making the entire process for the developer
very cumbersome. These policies/schemes have few takers in
spite of environmental and financial rewards.
Opportunities
‘Thete is immense potential in replicating these policies/
schemes in different parts of che country. However, the
functionality aspect and ease of doing should be critically
looked at while formulating these policies/policy windows
and its integration in the local building bylaws/developmene
plan ofthe region. Ph
iy
‘Authored By:
‘AR. NAMRATA MAHAL,
Fellow, TERI & Program
“ate, GRIHA
‘Council India