12th GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit 

12th GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Environment

In news

• The Vice President of India recently inaugurated the 12th GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit.
• Organised by: GRIHA Council from Hyderabad.
• Theme: Rejuvenating Resilient Habitats.
• Purpose: To serve as a platform to deliberate on innovative technologies and solutions which shall help in creating robust mechanisms for developing sustainable and resilient solutions for the benefit of the entire community.
• The Vice President also launched the SHASHWAT magazine and the book ’30 Stories Beyond Buildings’ during the event

Key takeaways

• According to the World Green Building Council data, buildings and construction account for 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions in the world.
• India called for accelerating the process of total de-carbonization of the built environment.
• It was also opined that roof cooling should be an area of priority for all.
• In India, over 60% of roofs are made from metal, asbestos, and concrete – thus trapping heat inside buildings and contributing to heat island effect in urban areas.
• Cool roofs can lower indoor temperatures by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius as compared to traditional roofs.
• It was also observed that the implementation of Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) has not been uniform across India.
• The states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were appreciated for taking a lead in this regard.

Important value additions

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA)

• It is the national rating system of India for any completed building construction.
• GRIHA is recognised as India’s own green building rating system in India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 
• Created By: It was conceived by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• GRIHA Council has developed the Building Fitness Indicator (BFI) tool – a free-to-use self-assessment tool that allows organizations to measure the preparedness of workplaces to prevent exposure to COVID-19.