12 August :GRIHA is a green building ‘design evaluation system’- a tool to design, operate, evaluate and maintain resource efficient ‘healthy’ and ‘intelligent’ building.
This National Rating System will 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, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international. The guidelines/criteria appraisal may be revised every three years to take into account the latest scientific developments during this period.
On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, improving energy security, and reducing the stress on natural resources.
Some of the benefits of a green design to a building owner, user, and the society as a whole are as follows:
§ Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels
§ Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and reduced soil loss from erosion, etc.
§ Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)
§ Reduced water consumption
§ Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
§ Reduced pollution loads
§ Increased user productivity and
§ Enhanced image and marketability.