BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation (KSPHC) will be given the prestigious `Golden Peacock' Award for this year in recognition of its environmental friendly initiatives in construction.

Last year it secured a certificate of merit for corporate social responsibility.

The award, instituted by World Environment Federation, will be presented by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virabhadra Singh at function on June 9. The award will be received by chairman and managing director of the corporation D.V. Guruprasad. The ISO 9001 corporation was set up in June 1985 to execute projects meant for the police and auxiliary services. In the last two decades, the corporation has constructed nearly 14,000 residential and 600 non-residential houses.

The corporation has been a pioneer among the State-owned companies in implementing energy conservation and eco-friendly measures, which includes rainwater harvesting techniques, in its buildings constructed since 2001. It has also been making use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Wood has not been used in its recently constructed buildings. An important eco-friendly initiative of the corporation has been the construction of the Inspector-General of Police office in Gulbarga, which is ready for inauguration. The KSPHC is waiting for the building to be certified as a green structure.

The prime concept of a green building is to effectively use the existing landscapes and recycled building material for construction. The building also concentrates on the use of renewable sources of energy and optimum use of water. Eco-friendly methods are used to enhance the indoor air quality assuring inmates of the building with optimum working conditions.

This is the second time that the corporation has been receiving the award. In 2005, the corporation was given the certificate of merit for corporate social responsibility. This was given for the corporation's programme of training unemployed children of policemen in construction skills through its `Construction Skills Training Centre.' The centre is providing skills in plumbing, electrical wiring, bar bending, masonry and computers. Most of the trainees, who are school dropouts, have been gainfully employed by the contractors of the corporation.

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