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All green: Green awareness especially in the construction front is spreading fast.

How has it translated into reality in India so far? In an interview with Mike Thompson, Director of Environmental Affairs for Trane Commercial Systems (TCS), United States, K.S.Subramanian finds out. Mr. Thompson has worked in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry for 13 years.

The environmental (and economic) benefits of durability are obvious and relevant for any part of the world.

A durable building -- one that lasts a long time -- provides a long period of time to amortise the environmental and economic costs that were incurred in building it.

Similarly, durable products and materials need not be replaced or repaired as frequently, so the raw materials, energy, and environmental impacts invested in them can be spread out over more time. Preventive maintenance of, for e.g. the HVAC equipment can double the life of the equipment, thus making it and the building sustainable over a longer period of time. Trane’s services ensure the life of the equipment for a minimum period of 15-20 years.

Trane is a key participant in both these countries in promoting awareness and participating in the green building movement.

In both countries, value to builders who have invested in green buildings has been similar and sizeable. Green buildings are seeing rapid momentum in India as in the US.

Recycling of waste, particularly non-biodegradable materials, is a major component of Green Building concept. What are the Green products that have emerged out of recycling for large-scale use in Green buildings?

Green building concept is a lot about re-cycling, for ex. water and heat recovery. About 35% savings can be derived from recycling waste water. While the payback for the incremental cost is credibly well above the mark, how has it impacted in India? Especially in the context of the known land crunch in some metropolises/towns and increasing price? Is the construction industry responding to it?

Green buildings clearly make economical sense too. The cost of setting up a green building is maybe about 6-15% higher than a normal building.

However, the operational cost of a green building is much lower, and the payback can be expected between 2 years or more depending on the building.

For e.g. The Olympia Technology Park in Chennai, which is the Gold rated green building is expecting to get the complete payback within the next 2-4 years. The developers of the technology park are considering trading the carbon credits in the market which will generate additional revenue.

Green buildings are no longer just the offices of environmental zealots, liberal politicians and non-profit institutions.

Private developers and corporations too are going green for financial reasons, even as most of corporate America still is concerned with the perceived costs of green buildings and their benefits.

Those convinced of green’s bottom line say environmentally friendly buildings save energy and lower operating costs within the building’s first year of operation, but more importantly, they improve worker productivity, and that is where the big economic benefits accrue.

With the Clinton Climate Initiative set up by the Clinton Foundation in August 2006, 40 cities around the globe are working towards reducing the greenhouse gas emissions.

Old buildings are contributing majorly to the emissions due to the air conditioning equipments installed in them, which are not energy efficient. Delhi and Mumbai are actively participating in this initiative to curb the increasing carbon emissions.

Green awareness in India is fast increasing. Businesses are realising that ‘green’ translates into higher profits due to increased employee productivity and reduced employee turnover along with reduced energy bills.

0Electricity is one of the largest operating expenses for commercial buildings in India.

This can also be seen from the fact that 3 years back when the Green Building Congress was organised in India, and Trane was one of the sponsors, there were less than 10 sponsors, and this year at the congress the committee had exceeded its quota for corporate sponsorships.

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