Green Rating Problems - GRIHA
GRIHA, a rating system for green buildings developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has been formalized as the first national rating system. TERI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to this effect on November 1.
Mili Majumdar, area convenor, GRIHA, says the rating system has been designed to suit Indian conditions and in particular for non air-conditioned buildings, unlike international rating systems like US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (leed), which is designed for energy efficiency measures in air-conditioned buildings only.But V Raghuraman, principal adviser and chief co-ordinator, energy environment and natural resources, Confederation of Indian Industry, says,
“Leed is far ahead of GRIHA. A rating system is not just about energy consumption of a building but many other things like recycling and natural habitat. There are 30 buildings certified with LEED under India.’
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Leaky roof - Housing policy not driven by welfare
Housing policy not driven by welfare
Real estate prices have hit the roof largely because of a lack of regulation in a housing sector ruled by speculators. Faced with a crisis, the centre wants to facilitate private-sector housing initiatives for the urban poor, without doing anything itself. This, the alf study notes, is an unsuccessful strategy.
No purposive thinking has been devoted to housing the poor.
“All building bye-laws till now were only for middle-income and high-income groups. The national building code also talked about an ideal house with a minimum of 600 sq ft (56 sq m), but a poor person cannot afford bigger than a 250-sq ft house. It is only in the National Building Code-2005 that the concept and details of housing for the economically weaker section were introduced,’
says hudco’s V Suresh. Continue reading »
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