HYDERABAD: Centre will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), headquartered in Hyderabad, said Minister of State, Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday.
The MoU will help in introducing various green concepts in flagship schemes of the Centre like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation(AMRUT) and Smart Cities project, said the minister. The MoU will also focus on skill development and training of professionals working in the construction sector and improving their knowledge on green concepts.
Puri announced that later this year, the Centre would conduct ‘Global green technology challenge’ for green building technology and construction sector across the world. Speaking on the PMAY project, Puri said that the central government has already cleared 6.2 million of the 11 million homes to be sanctioned by 2022 and will sanction rest of the houses by next year.
The ‘IGBC Net Zero Energy Buildings’ rating system was also launched. As per IGBC, adopting Net Zero system will help in reduction in annual energy consumption by 40-50 percent and reduction in energy costs by at least 30 percent. Puri said that by 2030 all new buildings in India be Net Zero complaint. The minister pointed out that while India is second only to USA in terms of built-up green spaces, it lags behind when it comes to proportion of green buildings to the country’s size.