What role should the government play in increasing green buildings? How can these buildings be made affordable? How can existing hotels be made greener and economical to operate? What are the careers for young professionals in the green industry?
These and other issues will be debated at the ‘Green buildings for a green Goa’ conference on September 24 at the BITS, Pilani campus, Zuarinagar. It is being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
“The purpose of the conference is to raise awareness among developers, architects, engineers, students, government and hoteliers about the green building movement,” reads a statement by CII.
Prominent speakers will include IGBC chairman Prem C Jain, Allwyn Noronha of ITC Hotels, economist Nasser Munjee, and architects Prem Chandravarkar, Abha Nrain Lambah and Priya Vakil.
Industries director Sanjit Rodrigues, chief town planner S T Puttaraju and wind energy expert Allan Rocha will represent Goa.
CII said transport has been arranged to and from Panaji, Mapusa, Margao and Ponda to the campus. Those interested should contact 9922588088/ 9822982979.
IGBC defines green buildings as those using less water, optimizing energy efficiency, generating less waste and providing healthier spaces to their occupants, as compared to conventional buildings.
IGBC Green Homes is the first rating programme developed in India, exclusively for the residential sector. It is based on accepted energy and environmental principles and balances established practices and emerging concepts, the IGBC website states.
The most tangible benefit of a Green Home is the reduction in water and operating energy costs during the building’s entire lifecycle, IGBC Goa chief Amar Britto said.
Green buildings have onsite waste treatment technology to treat organic waste, CFC-free refrigerants in heating, ventillation and AC, solar water heating system, use of rapidly renewable building materials and products, rain water harvesting, etc.
