VP suggests govts to encourage green buildings

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday suggested to state governments, Finance Commissions and local bodies to encourage green buildings by way of tax incentives and other measures.

Inaugurating the CII's Green Building Congress 2020 through virtual mode, Naidu said it is time to consider making all new buildings to mandatorily go green and environment-friendly.

The Vice President emphasised that not only new buildings, but the existing buildings too should be retrofitted to make them environment-friendly by adopting green practices that promote energy efficiency and water conservation.

He also stressed on the need for a "concerted push" on this front by both the private players and the government.

He termed the sustainable buildings as an important component in building resilient communities and called for extensive use and promotion of low-carbon technologies.

"We not only need a stronger India but also a greener India," he added.

Drawing attention to the increasing number of extreme climate events such as droughts, floods, wildfires, Naidu said that climate change is as real as daylight and countries all over the world must adopt drastic and revolutionary measures to mitigate the problem of global warming.

Calling for a sustainable approach to development, the Vice President said that the challenge before us is how do you marry both development and environment.

"If we take care of nature, the nature in turn will take care of mankind," Naidu said.

He stated that buildings and construction account for 39 per cent of energy-related CO2 emissions in the world and wanted the process of total de-carbonisation of the built environment to be accelerated.

Describing the concept of green buildings, Naidu said that apart from energy efficiency, it seeks to ensure water efficiency, use of renewable energy, promote waste reduction and encourage the use of environment-friendly local materials.

He emphasised that the construction material we use today should be sustainable and environment-friendly and it should not in any way jeopardise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The Vice President also highlighted the need to create awareness on the urgency of promoting green buildings concept among the people.

In this regard, he advised India Green Building Council to launch a campaign for promoting 'Net Zero Carbon Buildings'. He also wanted the urban planners and bodies like Builders Association of India, CREDAI to be involved in the campaign.

Mentioning the programmes such as Smart Cities Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) the Vice President said that main motto of government of India is to make cities livable centres of growth.

He expressed happiness that India with over 7.61 billion square feet of green building footprint is amongst the top five countries in the world and lauded the role of all stakeholders in building a greener and healthier India.

Naidu expressed satisfaction over the CII initiatives for implementation of green measures in 24 villages in 11 states and wanted the CII to expand its footprint to a greater number of villages and states..