The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) launched its ‘Green Building Initiative’ on Saturday. The initiative was inaugurated by PCMC commissioner, Ashish Sharma and mayor, Yogesh Behl at the Auto Cluster, Chinchwad.
On the occasion, Behl said buildings had a major impact on the environment in terms of depletion of natural resources due to building materials, enormous energy consumption and wastage of water during and after construction and pollution of urban air. Thus emerged the need for green buildings to benefit the environment and to provide a better place for the occupants to live and work in.
Sharma said, “The PCMC has always been proactive in taking steps towards better living environments for urban dwellers. It is now the first municipal corporation to make a conscious effort towards its responsibility towards natural resources and the impact on society by incentivising green rating for integrated habitat assessment — Griha — rating system in their jurisdiction.”
The Energy & Resources Institute (Teri) developed Griha jointly with the Union ministry of new and renewable energy, which is suitable for all types of buildings. This rating system not only takes care of energy conservation, but also looks into water and waste management. Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats (Adarsh) is mandated to promote development of buildings in India through Griha.
By this initiative of incentivising Griha-rated green buildings in PCMC area, there will be savings in potable water usage, waste water treatment and solid waste management.
Property owners in green buildings will be benefited by reduction in pollution related to air, noise, soil and water. There will be savings in energy consumption. The developer will get the discount in premium amount of building permission charges as per the rating awarded by Griha. There will be a discount of 10% in property tax for end-users. The developer can seek fast track environmental clearance through Griha precertification, added PCMC environment department officials.
