CII receives CNBC AWAAZ's Special Award for Green Architecture

Recognizing Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) pioneering efforts in fostering and promoting green architecture & buildings in India through its CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad, CNBC AWAAZ conferred CII with the prestigious Special Award for Green Architecture at the CNBC AWAAZ-CRISIL Real Estate Award function organized in Mumbai today.

CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad is India's first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rated Green Building outside of USA and the third in the world.

Expressing delight on receiving the Award, Mr Raghupathy, Senior Director and Head, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre said "this prestigious Award bears testimony to the concerted work carried out by the Centre in paving a green building movement & architecture in India and I am confident the Award will further add impetus to spread of the movement in India which in turn will facilitate market transformation & economic growth"

Mr Raghupathy added "Beginning with a modest beginning of 20,000 sq ft of green footprint in the country in the year 2003, today over 370 green buildings with a footprint of over 260 million sq.ft are being constructed all over India with variety of green buildings which includes Corporate & Government offices, IT & ITES parks, Airports, Banks, Hotels, Convention Centres, Residential complexes and spread across the Country."

Essentially, LEED rating buildings incorporates environment- friendly features which include; preservation and reuse of fertile top soil; reduced building footprints; central courtyards; day lighting; ventilation; roof gardens to reduce heat-island impact; use of treated grey water for irrigation and air conditioning cooling water makeup; root-zone treatment for wastewater; efficient envelope; use of energy efficient air-conditioning systems; on-site renewable energy; wind towers; monitoring procedures, post-occupancy; careful handling of construction waste; use of materials with recycled content; resource reuse; use of paints, sealants, adhesives with low VOC and resource reuse.

Tangible benefits of green buildings include 50% savings on energy consumption; 30% savings on potable water use & operational savings right from day one. Intangible benefits include higher productivity (10-15%) as compared to a normal building & Green corporate image.

On another note, recently, CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad was conferred with the 'Certificate of Appreciation for Achievement in International Trade', by the United States Department of Commerce for creating international trade opportunities between the United States and India".