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GREEN RATING FOR INTEGRATED HABITAT

ASSESSMENT

DOCUMENTATION OF BEST PRACTICE

AUGUST 2011

Researched and Documented by:

OneWorld Foundation India

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is a Government of India (GoI) rating

system1 for green buildings developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in

2004;Later, in 2007, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) collaborated with

TERI to form an independent society called ADARSH to develop and implement GRIHA. The

society’s responsibilities are to register projects under GRIHA, and also to advocate and

generate awareness on sustainable habitats in the Indian context. All registered institutional,

commercial and residential buildings except industrial complexes are rated based on 34 criteria

through the process of building designing, construction, operations and maintenance. It is the

only rating system that covers ventilated, air conditioned and non-air conditioned building

systems.

Based on nationally accepted energy and environmental principles, this initiative supports

green sustainable habitats using minimum renewable electricity consumption, rain water

harvesting and recycled waste materials that costs lesser than a conventional building without

harming the environment. The environmental principles are adapted to local conditions of

climate, technology and buildability.

In 2009, MNRE made it mandatory for all government buildings under Central Public Works

Department (CPWD) to be GRIHA compliant.

GRIHA is a design evaluation system which rates the environmental performance of a building

holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes

a ‘green building’. GRIHA ensures compliance with Energy Conservation Building Code

(ECBC), National Building Code 2005 (NBC), Environment Impact Assessment, Norms of

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Bureau of Indian standards and local byelaw

requirements for Solar Water Heating and Rain Water Harvesting.

A wide range of computation and simulation tools including DOE2, TRNSYS, ECOTECT,

RADIANCE etc are used to assess the environmental and cost impact of the design decisions.

These tools help TERI evaluators to rate the green buildings and provide them scores based on

the criteria.

1 A green building rating system is an evaluation tool that measures environmental performance of a building through its life

cycle. It usually comprises of a set of criteria covering various parameters related to design, construction and operation of a

green building. Each criterion has pre-assigned points and sets performance benchmarks and goals that are largely quantifiable.

A project is awarded points once if it fulfills the rating criteria. The points are added up and the final rating of a project is

decided. Rating systems call for independent third party evaluation of a project and different processes are put in place to

ensure a fair evaluation. Globally, green building rating systems are largely voluntary in nature and have been instrumental in

raising awareness and popularizing green building designs.

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The GRIHA certified building owners also receives certain benefits such as: a) 50 percentrebate

on premium by developers, b) rebate on property tax for five years and c) 90 percent of

registration fee refund if all conditions are met and finally d) GRIHA rated buildings are

ensured to have 30-40 percent reduction in operation cost with negligible impact on project cost.

Till date, 108 projects with 10 crore square feet have registered with GRIHA. Under private

institutions/corporations FORTIS Healthcare, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL),

Welcomegroup were covered. Under national government institutions, Delhi Metro Rail

Corporation (DMRC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Ministry of Health are some examples.

In future, it plans to be involved in specific airport projects, small homes and educational

campuses as well.

BACKGROUND

Buildings, including people who design, construct and occupy buildings, consume a range of

resources during construction and operation. The following table provides information on

resources consumption by building systems:

Land- Farms, forests, fertile land, marshes

Soil- Earth, clay, stone, lime, sand, silica

Trees- Wood, ply, board, aluminum, copper,

lead

Plastics- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC),

Unplasticised PVC, Polycarbonate

Water- Construction, landscape, cooling,

washing/drinking/flushing

Electricity- Cooling/heating, lighting,

pumping, entertainment/working

FIGURE 1 THE LITTLE BOOK OF GRIHA RATING, TERI

Experts state that 150,000 to 2,000,000 tons of waste is generated by buildings in India2. A lot of

energy is required to remove toxic waste through treatment processes such as incineration -

combusting of organic substances contained in waste materials and converting into ash, gas and

heat - or land filling. The recycle process is challenging as the solid waste is not segregated at

2 The Energy and Resource Institute

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source. Therefore, it is necessary for buildings to reduce their resource consumption and waste

generation. It must engage in effective waste management to reduce the impact of waste on the

environment. Following table provides a list of wastes generated from buildings:

Site waste- Deforestation, excavated soil,

blasted stone, rubble

Construction- Metals, boxes/cans, broken

bricks, shuttering oils

Sewage/Sullage-Wastes from household sinks,

showers and baths but not toilets)

Organic waste- peels, vegetables, fruits

Recyclable waste- Paper, glass, metals

Non-recyclable waste- demolition debris,

plastics, synthetic fibres

E waste-CDs, electronics, hardware

Chemical waste- adhesives, paints

FIGURE 2 THE LITTLE BOOK OF GRIHA RATING, TERI

Buildings in its stages from construction, operation and demolition consume resources in the

form of energy, water, materials etc. and emit wastes either directly in the form of municipal

wastes or indirectly as emissions from electricity generation. This realisation led to GRIHA’s

evolution as a solution-provider; it attempts to minimise building’s resource consumption,

waste generation, and overall ecological impact to certain nationally acceptable limits /

benchmarks.

Evaluators are selected based on TERI examinations and are authorized to evaluate the

environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing

a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’. The rating system, based on

accepted energy and environmental principles, attempts to strike a balance between the

established practices and emerging concepts, both at national and international level. The

guidelines are revised every three years to take into account the latest scientific developments

during this period.

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Green Buildings, in contrast to conventional buildings are environment friendly, money and

energy efficient. Under GRIHA, TERI considers welfare of construction workers, energy

efficient strategies and greenest habitat lifestyles. Advantages of green buildings are as follows:

Electricity, water and other natural resources are minimised in construction, operation

and demolition process

Electricity is generated on site through renewable energy

Uses rain water harvesting systems for water demands

Recycle and reuse all its waste on site

OBJECTIVE

In order to address energy efficiency, waste management and environmental aspects, GRIHA

encourages optimisation of building design to reduce conventional energy demand and further

optimise energy performance of the building within specified comfort limits. GRIHA is based

on the five ‘R’ philosophy of sustainable development3:

Refuse- international trends, materials, technologies and products. It relies on local

substitutes that are eco-friendly.

Reduce- the dependence on high energy products, systems and processes.

Reuse- materials, products, traditional technologies with the objective to reduce costs in

design and operation.

Recycle-wastes generated from the building site, during construction, operation and

demolition

Reinvent- engineering systems, designs and practices.

WORKING DESIGN

ADARSH, an independent society developed by TERI and MNRE, is responsible for rating

registered projects based on GRIHA benchmarks. It comprises of a qualified external 14

member Technical Advisory Committee4 (TAC) from diverse fields such as architecture,

engineering, consultancy etc and shape the GRIHA

3 Adapted from The little book of GRIHA rating

4 Individuals from the building industry and well acquainted with public health, landscape design, solar passive

design architecture, building energy systems, renewable energy and plumbing engineering are encouraged to

become GRIHA Evaluators. They are provided three day Evaluator and Trainer certification programmes and those

who qualify in an optional examination are termed as Evaluators.

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guidelines, framework and update it

when necessary. This committee also

evaluates the buildings bases on the

criteria set by GRIHA and provides

individual scores. Above it is the

National Advisory Council constituted

by Ministries representatives: Ministry

of Urban Development (MoUD),

MNRE, Bureau of Energy Efficiency

under the Ministry of Power (MoP) and

Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMPTC) under the Ministry of Housing

and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoH&UP). This council is responsible to rate the buildings

based on the points given by the TAC.

All buildings except industrial complexes are eligible for certification under GRIHA and it is a

four step process: a) Registration b) Evaluation c) Rating and d) Auditing. Buildings are rated

based on sound site planning and consumption perspective and GRIHA aims to quantify them

so that it can manage, control and reduce excess resource consumption, such as:

Appropriate site planning- for e.g. using trees to reduce landscape water demand

Power –kilowatt hour per square metre usage

Water – litres per person per day usage

Waste- kilograms/ litres per day usage

Renewable energy- kilowatt of connected load usage

A. Registration

All building projects have to be registered on GRIHA website www.grihaindia.org and essential

information is gathered through application forms, list of required submissions, score points,

weightage system and online documentation. The end user is required to pay a registration fee

calculated based on the following formula:

Built-up Area Registration Fee

<5000 m2 Rs 3,14,000

>5000 m2 Rs 3,24,000 + Rs 3.75 per m2 above 5000 (excluding basements)

The registration fee includes first, the one-day workshop for all consultants involved with the

project to explain the rating system and allocate roles to the consultants; and second, Rs 2000

per criteria per evaluation as payment for external evaluators who assesses the project. The

FIGURE 3 GRIHA RATED CWG VILLAGE/THE HINDU

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project is funded by MNRE and TERI; and above all, the resources generated from the

registration fee are utilised to sustain GRIHA initiative and thus acts as a revenue generating

mechanism.

B. Evaluation

All projects are evaluated in two broad stages. The first is the pre-documentation stage/ pre-

design stage where ADARSH team along with the client’s Integrated Design Team discuss

together to determine the points targeted by the project (out of 100). The second is the post-

documentation stage where all documents are submitted and are evaluated by third party

evaluators to rate and award the project. The building is evaluated and rated in a three tier

process:

i) Preliminary evaluation: A team of experts from ADARSH reviews the mandatory

points and checks for compliance and if not compliant, rejects the project. The next

step is to evaluate the optional criteria and count the number of achievable points.

They assess project documents for their correctness and appropriateness; and also

paid for every criterion they assess.

ii) Project report submittals to the Evaluation Committee: The report is sent to the

Evaluation Committee comprising of experts in building, landscape and design for

review.

iii) Awarding of points: The Evaluation Committee independently review and award

points to the project.

C. Rating

Ministries’ representatives comprising of the National Advisory Committee are responsible for

project approval and rating it. The rating awarded is valid for five years from the

commissioning of the building. The rating benchmarks are provided with detail information in

the subsequent paragraphs after the auditing process.

D. Auditing

GRIHA reserves the right to conduct random audits by visiting the site or looking into the

criteria for which points have been awarded.

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THE RATING SYSTEM

There are 34 criteria of the GRIHA rating system under four main categories:

a) Selection and site planning

b) Conservation and efficient utlisation of resources

c) Building operation and maintenance

d) Innovation

Eight of these 34 criteria are mandatory, four are partly mandatory, while the rest are optional.

Each criterion has a number of points assigned to it. It means that a project intending to meet

the criterion would qualify for the points. Different levels of certification (one star to five stars)

are awarded based on the number of points earned. The minimum points required for

certification is 50.

Criteria of the rating system Objective

A. Site selection and Site planning:

i. Site selection

ii. Preserve and protect the landscape during

construction/compensatory depository

forestation

iii. Soil conservation (till post-construction)

iv. Design to include existing site features

v. Reduce hard paving on-site/and or provide

shaded hard-paved surfaces

vi. Enhance outdoor lighting system efficiency

vii. Plan utilizes efficiently and optimize on-site

circulation efficiency

Conservation and efficient

utilisation of resources

Health and well being during construction:

viii. Provide at least, minimum level of

sanitation/safety facilities for construction

workers

ix. Reduce air pollution during construction

To protect the health of

construction workers and

prevent pollution

B. Building Planning and Construction Stage:

Water

x. Reduce landscape water requirement

xi. Reduce building water use

xii. Efficient water use during construction

To maximize

resource(water, energy and

materials) conservation and

enhance efficiency of the

system and operations

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Energy-end use

xiii. Optimise building design to reduce the

conventional energy demand

xiv. Optimise the energy performance of the

building within specified comfort limits

Energy-embodied and construction

xv. Utilization of fly ash in the building structure

xvi. Reduce volume, weight and time of

construction by adopting an efficient

technology

xvii. Use low-energy material in the interiors

Energy renewable

xviii. Renewable energy utilization

xix. Renewable energy-based hot water system

Recycle, recharge and reuse of water

xx. Wastewater treatment

xxi. Water recycle and reuse (including rainwater)

Waste management

xxii. Reduction in waste during construction

xxiii. Efficient waste segregation

xxiv. Storage and disposal of waste

xxv. Resource recovery from waste

Health and well-being during post-construction

occupation

xxvi. Use of low VOC (volatile organic compounds)

paints/adhesives/sealants

xxvii. Minimise ozone depleting substances

xxviii. Ensure water quality

xxix. Acceptable outdoor and indoor noise levels

xxx. Tobacco and Smoke control

xxxi. Provide the minimum level of accessibility for

persons with disabilities

C. Building Operation and Maintenance

xxxii. Energy audit and validation

xxxiii. Building Operation and maintenance

Validate and maintain green

performance levels/adopt

and propagate green

practices and concepts

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D. Innovation points

xxxiv. Alternative transportation, environmental

education, company policy on green

supply chain, lifecycle cost analysis,

enhanced accessibility for

physically/mentally challenged

TABLE 1 DISPLAYS CRITERIA ON GRIHA HTTP://WWW.GRIHAINDIA.ORG/INDEX.PHP?OPTION=COM_CONTENT&TASK=VIEW&ID=17#TOP

PROJECT SCORING

GRIHA is based on a 100 point system; some are mandatory to be achieved while the rest are

optional Five certification (one star to five stars) are awarded based on the number of points

earned. The minimum is 50. Buildings scoring 50 to 60 points, 61 to 70 points, 71 to 80 points,

and 81 to 90 points will get one star, ‘two stars’, ‘three stars’ and ‘four stars’ respectively. A

building scoring 91 to 100 points will get the maximum rating five stars. The minimum points to

qualify for GRIHA certification is 50 points.

BENEFITS

Green Buildings are beneficial to the building owners, users and the community as a whole. The

operational cost is reduced because renewable energy is used without compromising the

household’s level of comfort. Water demands are met through rain water harvesting process.

Heating, Ventilation and Air condition systems are reduced in size to provide optimal

performance at local conditions. As a result, the capital cost also is reduced. Keeping in mind of

biodiversity and ecological balance, GRIHA supports minimization of deforestation and land

erosion on site. Pollution and waste are controlled through recycling and reuse of energy

mechanisms. The above mentioned processes ensure health benefits with reduced water and air

pollution. Moreover, green building owners get the image of being conscious and sensitive to

environmental degradation. By getting their buildings rated under GRIHA, they are

contributing in maintaining biodiversity and protecting the earth from further damage.

In effort to promote green designs, MNRE provides incentives to developers and users with a

minimum project size of 2500 square metres. It reimburses of up to 90% of the registration fee

for buildings under 5000 square metres area with minimum three star rating and for those

getting four star rating over 5000 square metres area. For architects and design team complying

with GRIHA benchmarks, they receive Rs 2, 50,000 for projects between 2500 to 5000 square

metres area; and Rs 5 lakhs for projects over 5000 square metres area. MNRE also provides a

subsidy on solar photo voltaic (solar energy used for generating electricity) and solar thermal

(hot water systems).

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AN EXAMPLE OF A 5 STAR RATED PROJECT

FIGURE 4 GRIHA RATED IIT KANPUR/MNRE

Project Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering

Location IIT Kanpur

Built-up Area 4240 m2

Air-conditioned area 1912 m2

Energy consumption

reduction

41% per year

Water consumption

reduction

70% below GRIHA’s benchmarks

GRIHA RATING ***** (5 stars)

Energy consultant TERI

The Design team adopted strategies based on GRIHA’s benchmarks in designing, construction,

operation and maintenance processes to reduce the building impact on the natural

environment:

Phase Deliverables Strategies

Site selection

and site

planning

Minimise environmental impact of site

development

Prevented air pollution using

dust screen around

construction area

Preserved excavated top soil for

later use, trees protected

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Building system

design

Minimise water consumption Reduced water demand by 62%

using low-flow plumbing

fixtures

Reduced irrigation water

demand by 50% using less lawn

area and more vegetation cover

Reduced heat effect by using

17% paved area only

Used rain water harvesting

system

Used waste water treatment for

irrigation

Building system

design

Minimise energy consumption to

achieve visual and thermal comfort

Used natural lighting

Used external shading and

efficient glazing for solar heat

reduction

Applied Energy efficient

artificial lighting design

compliant with ECBC

Applied Sun path analysis,

wind direction and vegetation

considered for architecture

Used natural ventilation in

common areas

Used Bamboo trellis roof shade

and solar panels to reduce

direct solar heat gains

Used Water cooled chiller

Used Variable Frequency

Drives (VFDs) installed in Air

Handling Units (AHUs)

Used Earth air tunnels used as a

low energy strategy

Building system

design

Renewable energy technology to

reduce energy consumption

Met 30% energy requirements

by solar panels

Met 100% hot water demand by

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solar thermal systems

Selection of

ecological

sustainable

materials

Alternative sustainable building

material to reduce embodied energy of

building

Cement with fly ash (coal

combustion products) used for

soil stabilisation and improve

concrete performance. Fly ash is

an alternative to conventional

cement which is a major energy

user and source of greenhouse

gas emissions.

FIGURE 5 ADAPTED FROM WWW.GRIHAINDIA.ORG

METHODOLOGY

Based on its uniqueness and efforts to promote sustainable habitat in the country, the team

expressed its interest to learn more about GRIHA and understand the rating system. It gathered

information based on online sources and prepared a semi structured questionnaire to learn

more about the initiative to the TERI Area Convener in New Delhi.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

1. TERI- Established in 1974, the Energy Resources Institute is committed in design,

construction and operation of environment friendly homes and sustainable habitats.

TERI experts study energy conservation solutions and set benchmarks to rate buildings

under the national rating system GRIHA. TERI experts also conduct training

programmes, workshops and seminars on sound architectural systems to developers,

architects and designers.

2. MNRE- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is nodal agency conducting research

and development on sustainable and renewable energy solutions. It funds the

promotional and organizational activities of GRIHA project; and offers incentives to the

builders, architects and users to impact the Indian building industry

3. ADARSH, Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats, is

mandated to promote development of buildings and habitats in India through GRIHA.

ADARSH an independent platform for the interaction on scientific and administrative

issues related to sustainable habitats in the Indian subcontinent. It was founded jointly

by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi) and MNRE (Ministry of New

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and Renewable Energy, Government of India) along with a handful of experts in the

sustainability of built environment from across the country.

LESSONS LEARNED

GRIHA was initiated to improve the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas)

emissions, energy consumption and natural resources. Green designs, as promoted by GRIHA

benefits the building owner, user, and the society as a whole. GRIHA is a unique initiative as it

supports the integration of resource-efficient features in pre-design, site planning, building

system design HVAC, construction, water and waste management, in selecting ecologically

sustainable materials and in providing indoor environmental quality. Following are the key

lessons learned from this initiative:

Integrated design approach

The ADARSH team uses an integrated approach in building and rating systems to reduce

environmental footprint in all aspects: pre-construction state, planning and construction;

operation and maintenance. The client, architect, engineers and consultants design buildings

bases on established environmental principles in a coordinated manner with a common goal

which is sustainability.

Complaint with national environmental and building codes

GRIHA benchmarks are compliant with a wide range of building codes ECBC, NBC, BIS etc so

that both building systems and processes are well adapted to local Indian conditions of climate

and technology.

Optimum utlisation of Resources

GRIHA supports sound architectural practices based on Indian’s traditional architecture. It uses

energy efficient technologies by adopting renewable energy sources. It utilizes locally available

construction materials to respond to local climate. It also refrains from wasting additional

building materials-water, electricity and natural resources thereby protecting environmental

degradation.

Promoting sustainable habitats

Monetary incentives and rebates on property tax are given to building owners, architects and

design team for those who volunteer for GRIHA rating. Such incentives encourage builders to

construct green designs and contribute to healthy ecosystem. The society also benefits from

GRIHA because it is an eco-friendly project that secures energy and resources through building

green habitats.

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Research was carried out by the OneWorld Foundation, Governance Knowledge Centre (GKC) team.

Documentation was created by Research Associate, Attrika Hazarika

For further information, please contact Mr. Naimur Rahman, Director, OWFI

REFERENCES 1. GRIHA Official website www.grihaindia.org

2. MNRE Press release http://mnre.gov.in/press-releases/press-release-06082008.pdf

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APPENDIX A

BACKGROUND

Stakeholders and roles

1. According to our research, the major stakeholders in the project are Adarsh, TERI

and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. To our knowledge:

a. ADARSH is the implementing agency

b. TERI is promoting the initiative

i. What is MNRE’s role in this project ? How are they involved?

ii. Are there any other stakeholders? If yes, who are they? What are their roles and

responsibilities?

Evolution

2. When was GRIHA conceptualised? When did the actual implementation begin?

3. GRIHA is a voluntary rating scheme based on national and international

codes/guidelines developed by:

a. Bureau of Energy Efficiency

b. Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources

c. Ministry of Environment and Forests

i. Please describe how each were involved in the evolution of GRIHA

ii. Can you elaborate on National Building Code 2005 and the Energy

Conservation Building Code 2007 that GRIHA is based on?

iii. What are IS codes?

iv. What are local bye-laws?

v. Are there any other national/international standards or laws used in

framing GRIHA?

GRIHA Evaluation

4. According to our research, there are nine steps to get a building evaluated under

GRIHA:

a. Registration

b. Submission of documentation

c. Preliminary evaluation by Adarsh Technical Team

d. Evaluation by panel of experts

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e. Preliminary rating with comments sent to project team

f. Final submission of documents

g. Final evaluation by panel of experts

h. Approval of rating by advisory committee

i. Award of rating

i. Can you further explain these steps in detail? What process is followed in

each step?

5. There are three committees responsible for evaluation process: a) TERI team, b)

evaluation committee and c) advisory committee. What is the role of each team, and

how do they coordinate with each other during evaluation?

6. What is the typical duration of the evaluation process?

7. What happens after a building recieved GRIHA certification? Is there any incentive

given to those achieve 5 stars?

Impact and Sustainability

8. GIRHA is a voluntary rating system to ensure environment-friendly construction. To

what extent has GRIHA thus far impacted the Indian building industry?

9. How many buildings are rated under GRIHA till date? Has there been an increase in

the number since the initiative started? If no, then why not?

10. In terms of the actual construction, how is it ensured that buildings consume

minimal resources in entire life cycle and leave behind minimal environmental

footprint?

11. How feasible is it to construct green buildings in extreme hot climatic conditions?

For example, (where ACs are a necessity?

12. How does the initiative convince individuals/organisations to design green buildings

and evaluate it under GRIHA in the long run?

13. Are there plans to shift GRIHA from voluntary to a mandatory scheme to yield

better results?

14. How is the initiave financially sustained? Is there a revenue generating mechanism>

For instance, does ADARSH/TERI charge the individuals/companies for rating their

buildings under GRIHA?

Measuring success

15. GRIHA claims to benefit the environment by:

a. Reducing energy consumption without sacrificing comfort levels

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b. Reducing destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and

reduced soil loss from erosion etc.

c. Reducing air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)

d. Reducing water consumption

e. Limit waste generation due to recycling and reuse

f. Reducing pollution loads

g. Increasing user productivity

h. Enhancing image and marketability

i. To what extent has the above mentioned benefits been achieved? Can you provide us

quantitative data to reflect the progress of the initiative so far.

ii. Are there any enhancements to this practice? If yes, what are they?