Siddhivinayak temple may soon be energy efficient

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), which is spearheading the green building movement in the country, is in talks with the trustees of city-based world famous Siddhivinayak Temple to make it more energy efficient.
"So far, we have been focusing on government institutions, residential and commercial buildings, hotels, among others. But now we want to extend our programme even to places of worship. In Mumbai, we are in talks with the trustees of Siddhivinayak Temple to make it more energy efficient," IGBC Chairman Prem Jain told reporters here today.
IGBC certifies government institutions, IT parks, offices, residential buildings, banks, airports, convention centres, institutions, hospitals, hotels, factories, special economic zones, townships, schools, metros, among others.

"Our endeavour will be to ensure that temple building is energy efficient. We also want proper waste management system to be implemented. We are hopeful that the trustees will support us and in the next 6-7 months, we hope some of our ideas will be implemented," he said.
Jain also said the Badriya Masjid in Karnataka is the first IGBC certified green structure.
"For this structure, cooling of the building has been achieved by using elements of nature. The building orientation minimises solar heat gain, thus making it more energy efficient. We will implement similar initiatives in many such places of worship across the country," he added.

IGBC 'Chair Policy and Advocacy Committee' said, "With several states offering incentives to green building projects, our rating system is evoking excellent response from the stakeholders. In days to come, IGBC will play a more important role in building a greener and healthier India.