The city’s green building ranking has gone down due to a fewer number of green buildings.
What’s it about? A decade ago, Chennai was at the top of these rankings but has now dropped several places. To get the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) certification, they should fulfil criteria like procuring materials locally, net zero emissions, light and heat absorbing glass, etc. Currently, there are about 334 buildings that meet the criteria, with 164 that were retrofitted.
- Foreign companies are insisting on green buildings for offices and clients. The decline in green buildings is primarily due to a lack of policies from the state government.
- Two of the biggest green buildings in the city are set to come up on GST Road. Chennai has a long way to go, as Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad have thousands of green buildings.
Who said what? Architect W Anand said many companies had appointed consultants to help their buildings be certified. Ajith Chordia, Chairman of CII-IGBC, Chennai, said Tamil Nadu should have policies like faster clearances and property tax rebates present in 11 other states. There’s also a false perception that green buildings are more expensive to build.