The focus of energy efficiency has usually been large buildings, whether residential or commercial. Now, there is a project that will help smaller buildings reduce their carbon footprint. An offshoot of GRIHA — the green rating for integrated habitat assessment — SVAGRIHA has been conceptualized especially for buildings that are less than 2,500 sq m.
The project was launched earlier this year by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the renewable energy ministry. According to Mili Majumdar, director of TERI’s sustainable habitat division, the cumulative contribution of energy guzzling small buildings to climate change is quite large which is why the need was felt to draw up a focused programme for this kind of architecture. “Unlike GRIHA where a building is evaluated on 34 criteria, SVAGRIHA will evaluate buildings on 14 parameters. Once a building has been planned, the SVAGRIHA team will step in to advice on energy efficiency measures that can be adopted. People can also put up information about their buildings online and will get a list of steps that they can adopt suiting their needs,” she said.
In India, about 30 per cent of the energy consumption is attributed to the buildings sector, out of which residential and commercial buildings contribute 24 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, says TERI. While GRIHA with its complex system of analysis was created for large establishments, there was a need to simplify the process for smaller buildings and also bring builders of tier 2 and 3 towns under the green rating umbrella. The cost of registration and evaluation for the projects will be between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1,00,000.
The process for getting a SVAGRIHA rating includes registering with ADaRSH (Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats), submission of calculations that determine possible energy efficient methods, drawings and other documents as required. The calculations, available on SVAGRIHA website, will use data like area under construction and quantity of material used. It will also provide recommendations to improve the environmental performance of the building.
The submissions will be reviewed under SVAGRIHA parameters and a site visit will be carried out post construction to determine how and what measures have been put in place. Finally, a GRIHA certified evaluator will assess the building and award the rating.
