India has Rs 2000cr potential in green building business

India has growth potential of Rs 2,000 crore by the year 2008 in green buildings business. Adoption of the green building concept in the country will open up a plethora of opportunities for several stakeholders like architects, builders and material and equipment manufacturers.

"Beginning with 20,000 square feet of green buildings in 2003, the business is set to touch the 10-million square feet mark by the end of 2008. With this, green buildings are well poised to reach scalar heights," said Parsu Raman R, chairman, Indian Green Building Council, and vice-chairman of the World Green Building Council, while addressing a press conference.

According to him, the construction sector is growing at a rapid pace the world over. In India, the construction sector is growing at 13 per cent and real estate at a stunning 30 per cent.

"This has put the burden on already stressed urban infrastructure. To sustain this kind of a growth rate, there is an imminent need to look at construction which is environment-friendly," he added.

To further promote green buildings in the country and to attract more investments in the sector, CII"�Godrej GBC is organising the "Green Building Congress," an international conference and exhibition here.

"The main objectives of the "Green Building Congress 2006" are to create awareness on green building concepts, promote business opportunities for green building products and technologies, sensitise government and facilitate market transformation, said S Raghupathy, senior director and head of GBC.

The 'Green Building Congress' will feature a two-day international conference, four-day exhibition and an exclusive one-day seminar on green homes.

Some of the experts from India and abroad who will be sharing their experiences at the two-day conference are: James Hartzfeld and Sandy Wiggins, US Green Building Council, USA; Ronji Borooah, Young + Wright Architects, Canada; Sharukh Mistry, Mistry Associates, Karan Grover, KGA Associates, Prashant Bhat, Landscape Company, Werner Jager, Hydro Building Systems, Germany, and Don Anderson, ICF Consulting, USA.

"The residential sector offers exciting opportunities to incorporate building concepts. To sensitise this sector, an exclusive seminar on 'green homes' is being organised on October 15," said Raghupathy.

Over 500 participants comprising architects, builders, interior designers, corporate involved in green buildings and government officials are attending the conference.