Slowdown is good news for green buildings
Submitted on March 2, 2009
As real estate sector goes through one of its worst times, consumers are looking at value-for-money options and developers are looking at cutting overheads while trying not to compromise on quality. A section of builders say the economic downturn is beginning to prove a boom to the green realty sector because of established and proven technologies that reduce running costs of buildings.
Homebuyers and companies buying office spaces have also shown their preference for green buildings that will drive the market with greater focus in the year ahead.
“We are seeing a growing interest even among existing buildings to retrofit certain technology elements that can save energy in either air-conditioning, or lighting, or the use of water. Many hotels and hospitals, even offices, are beginning to see the advantages of managing waste within their premises, for this eliminates the cost of transporting waste and the mess of waste that is not disposed off,” said Chandrashekar Hariharan, chief executive officer, of Bangalore-based Biodiversity Conservation (India) (BCIL).
He added that “Green realty sector will benefit from the market downturn as investors and buyers today are more discerning and weary of parting with money without the assurance of greater benefits and features that can save on energy bills, water bills, and on managing the waste without the risks of health hazards and without reliance on inefficient municipal bodies. If energy efficiency becomes the norm for buildings, it would be the start of a minor revolution to reduce demand for energy, as well as to bring efficiency in management of precious water resources and more effective waste management in our cities.”
“One has to devise a business model that would benefit as well as adhere to the green norms,” said P Surya Prakash, managing partner of Hyderabad-based SatyaVani Green Homes.He said green buildings are not just environment-friendly but alsohelp cut costs such as maintenance costs for the building and cost of power for the customer. To involve his clients completely in green initiatives, SatyaVani Green Homes has decided to incentivise the customer by subsidising power for 25 years by Rs 18,000 per year. “We bring down connected power load. Normal buildings need 12 mw of connected power. We are making this a zero carbon power. We call this green power,” says Surya Prakash.The concept may not be new, but developers who are actively involved in the green initiative say that green builders should strengthen the movement by sharing their experiences and the advantages they have gained.
“The focus should deepen in learning more tools and techniques and design approaches for better management of energy, water, and waste with cost efficiency and ease of execution being the prime factors,” says Hariharan.BCIL is also offering information at no cost on several things that can be done to bring energy efficiency in many things we buy or use or do in our daily workday lives, he adds. In 2008, there were as many as 240 million sq ft of commercial buildings that requested green certification. The residential green rating system was launched in May 2008 and in less than four months the initiative received applications for a staggering 150 million sq ft of residential apartments, which aspired to green, from builders. The approach has been facilitated by technology and management processes for construction that are reasonably user-friendly and can therefore allow for scale and replicability.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Hi,
I would second Mr. Surender’s comment above. Although I have not dealt with the Satyavani group directly, I have dealt with their director Mr. P Surya Prakash and his wife Mrs. Mahalakshmi. They enrolled their daughter into our SAT training program (for an education abroad) and did not pay up on the first day of class (which is mandatory). Mr. Prakash personally rang me up and said that he would pay the next day and was requesting me to allow her daughter to sit in class for day one. In all good faith I did so and the parents made a cheque payment on the next day which was a sunday. We deposited the cheque on Monday morning and on tuesday Mrs. Mahalakshmi calls us up and says that they are immediately moving out to America and that the daughter will not be coming to class (which was a big lie). Our registration form clearly spells out that they will be no refund of whatsoever issued. Since they requested me I said I could refund 50% of the amount and the lady agreed and hung up. To my horror the issued cheque was stopped for payment by Mr. Surya Prakash and his wife and when we asked why the man makes some stories saying I wanted issue another cheque for 50% amount which obviously did not happen. So we made a settlement to pay for the classes the daughter attended. He kept saying in a day or two and now he doesnot even bother answering the phone. I sent an sms to his wife and told her how disgusting this whole thing was getting so Mr. Prakash message back asking for the NEFT code of our account which I promptly gave him. He sent back an sms saying the payment has been done along with a reference number. We checked with the bank and guess what????? THE PAYMENT IS STILL NOT DONE! I sent him an sms and he doesnt even bother replying back! I would say only one thing what is the point in believing a company which is backed by such a shallow person who has no morales in life , if a person is not clean with money he/she would never be clean as a person and this incident truly shows that!