Since sustainability is gaining a top priority in the construction industry, green building certifications are gaining momentum. While global certifications like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) have remained around for several years, India has developed its own comprehensive framework. It’s customized to our unique climate, resources and building practices. Among them, the GRIHA stands out as the national green building system, promoting energy–efficient and environmentally responsible construction.
Developed by TERI and adopted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the certification measures the eco-friendliness of our buildings. Do you know why most construction professionals prefer using the GRIHA certification? Besides being an eco-friendly label, it ensures your building consumes less energy, has a better water management system and improves indoor air quality. It helps developers and builders to construct healthier and cost-effective buildings in the future.
Whether you are a developer planning to certify your next project, a property owner looking to invest in a green building or an architect planning to build a sustainable space, this blog is for you. The blog explores the meaning of GRIHA, its rating system and the best way you can obtain it for your future projects. When you have knowledge about the certification, you open doors to better sustainability practices and government incentives.
What is GRIHA Certification?
GRIHA full form stands for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment. The term “GRIHA” is a Sanskrit word meaning “abode”. Human habitats or buildings interact with the environment in different ways. From construction to operation and demolition, the buildings consume resources in various forms. It can be in the form of energy, water and materials, emitting wastes in different forms. It includes direct wastes in the form of municipal wastes and indirect wastes in the form of emissions from electrical generation. A GRIHA certification attempts to minimize your building’s resource consumption, waste generation and overall ecological impact within specific nationally acceptable limits.
GRIHA is a rating tool that helps builders, developers, and other construction professionals assess the performance of their buildings against the nationally accepted benchmarks, the certificate evaluates the environmental performance of your buildings throughout its life cycle. It further offers definitive standards for what constitutes a “green building”.
With Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) certification, you can quantify aspects, including energy consumption, waste generation and adoption of renewable energy for effective management, control and reduce them as much as possible. Furthermore, the rating system, based on the accepted energy and environmental principles, seeks to strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, nationally and internationally.
How GRIHA Evaluates Building Sustainability
TERI developed the system to help design and evaluate the buildings that are in the inception stage. You require assessing a building based on its predicted performance over its complete life cycle- from inception to operation. The stages of your building life cycle that require evaluation involve the following:
Pre-Construction Stage: This stage includes intra- and inter-site issues, such as proximity to public transport, the type of soil, the kind of land, and the location of the property. The certificate also explores the flora and fauna that existed on the land before the beginning of the construction activities, the natural landscape, and other features of the land.
Building Planning and Construction Stages: During this stage, the certificate focuses on resource conservation and reducing resource demand. It further focuses on efficient resource utilization, resource recovery, and provisions for the health and well-being of the occupants. Water, energy, land, and green cover are the primary resources considered in this section.
Building Operations and Maintenance Stage: This green building certification evaluates the occurrence of any issues during the operation and maintenance of the building systems and processes. It also monitors and records the occupants’ energy consumption, health and well-being, along with the issues affecting the global and local environment.
GRIHA conducts these evaluations to ensure each of your buildings meets the sustainable standards at every project life cycle stage. It fosters a healthier, eco-friendly built environment across the nation.
GRIHA Rating System
GRIHA establishes criteria across ten environmental sections and a bonus section in its diverse rating system. Each of these sections requires compliance to achieve the desired rating. The requirements include details of appraisals in dedicated manuals, guidance on green building measures, sustainable building practices, calculations, analysis and document preparation for proof of compliance. Each of this GRIHA rating system offers essential resources for practical implementation, covering a wide array of aspects for sustainable construction and design of your buildings.
The bonus section, along with the percentage, includes the following:
- Sustainable planning of the construction site- 12%
- Managing the construction- 4%
- Optimization of the energy- 18%
- Comfort of the occupants- 12%
- Management of water resources- 16%
- Management of solid waste- 6%
- Opting for sustainable construction materials– 12%
- Cost of the building life cycle- 5%
- Socio-economic strategies- 8%
- Performance metering and monitoring- 7%
- Innovation (includes extra five points)
The manual divides a set of thirty-one criteria into the above eleven sections. If you want to achieve the points under these criteria, your project team must comply with all the necessary requirements as stated in the guidance manual that you can avail through the GRIHA website. Besides, you must follow the locally applicable codes and conducts along with the benchmarks set by GRIHA or governing authorities. Following the practical implementation of the suggested green building measures on the site, ensure that your project team produces enough documentary proof as per GRIHA. Once you comply, your project receives a rating depending on the percentile threshold mentioned below.
- 25-40: 1 star
- 41-55: 2 stars
- 56-70: 3 stars
- 71-85: 4 stars
- 86 and more: 5 stars
GRIHA Certification Registration and Rating Process
To achieve the GRIHA Certification and rating, your firm must follow the systematic process that involves the following steps:
Register Online
First, complete an online form on the GRIHA website. After you pay the registration fees, you will receive the login details for the website’s portal. Here, you must upload all project documents.
Orientation Workshop
After you complete the registration, you need to attend an orientation workshop arranged by GRIHA, which will lead the senior council members and the GRIHA team. In the workshop, you can learn everything about GRIHA’s work process, details about its rating system, criteria and government incentives, and the creation of project-specific green building scorecards.
First Due Diligence
After your project reaches the plinth level, the officials will conduct the first site visit. They will review the implementation of construction-related and mandatory green building measures. Within 15 to 20 working days, they will upload the due diligence report, and you have to submit a compliance report in response.
Second Due Diligence
After you complete the entire building structure, the officials conduct a second visit to check the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing installations. They upload the second due diligence report within 15 to 20 working days. Again, you must respond to them with another compliance report.
Document Submission
After the project concludes, you must submit the essential green building documents on the GRIHA portal.
Preliminary Evaluation
The officials then review your uploaded documentation and evaluate its compliance with the set criteria. Your project team will receive an initial evaluation report within 60 working days.
Final Due Diligence
GRIHA officials will conduct a final site visit after project construction and verify the green building features. They then upload the final due diligence report within 15 to 20 working days.
Final Evaluation
Based on their findings through site visits and documentation, GRIHA will prepare a scorecard for the project. The process takes 30 working days to determine the project’s rating.
Award of Certification
After the completion of the evaluation process, you will receive the final certificate and letter from GRIHA. The validity of the certificate is for five years.
Different Types of GRIHA Certifications
SVAGRIHA Certification (Simple Versatile Affordable GRIHA)
The certification aims to promote green buildings by educating the public and encouraging small-scale developers to adopt sustainable practices. With this rating system, you get design guidance for projects with a built-up area between 100 sq. metres and 2500 sq. metres. It includes all types of projects, including residential plots, bungalows, flats, commercial shops, and offices.
GRIHA Certification for Affordable Housing
This certification aligns with government initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), aiming to provide affordable housing for all. If you have projects under PMAY, you must submit a sanction letter from an authorised central or state government body.
GRIHA Certification Rating
GRIHA v.2019 is a new construction project with a built-up area of over 2500 sq. metres. However, the area excludes the parking and basement areas. Moreover, it supports various building types, including offices, mixed-used developments, universities, hospitals, hotels, institutions and museums.
GRIHA Certification for Large Developments (LD)
The certification covers urban-scale projects, such as mixed-use townships, healthcare campus plans, and educational institutions, such as SEZs. If your construction firm is involved in such a project that covers a total site area of 50 hectares and more, you can apply for the rating.
GRIHA Certification for Cities
The GRIHA for cities sets specific benchmarks for efficient use of water, energy and waste management in urban settings. The unique rating requires the use of sustainable technologies, social well-being initiatives and efficient transportation systems, ensuring your city’s efficiency with sustainable standards.
Benefits of GRIHA Certification
With a GRIHA certification for your project, you enjoy the following benefits:
Financial Advantages
Despite higher initial costs, having a green building certification, such as GRIHA certification, offers long-term financial benefits that outweigh the expenses. Besides, since certified buildings utilize energy and water efficiently, they have lower operating costs.
Environmental Impact
By obtaining a green certification for your projects, you decrease energy and water consumption, thereby reducing your environmental footprint. You also lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Health and Well-being
If you own a certified building, the building has superior indoor air quality. How? The building has clean air, maximum natural light and low-emission materials, enhancing occupant health and comfort.
Challenges in Obtaining a GRIHA Certification
The following are the challenges often a developer or builder experiences in obtaining a green building certification, such as GRIHA.
Initial Costs
You require investing significantly in energy-efficient technologies, sustainable materials, and consulting services. It often deters a small and medium-sized construction firm. The best way to face the situation is by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. It highlights long-term savings in energy and water efficiency. Do not forget to explore the financing options, grants, and tax incentives, reducing the financial burden.
Regional Adaption
Global certification standards might not align with local climatic conditions, cultural practices, or resource availability, complicating implementation. To tackle this, you must conduct a thorough site analysis and engage local experts to tailor their strategies to regional needs. This will enhance your building’s certification relevance and impact.
The Certification Process
To obtain a certificate, you need extensive documentation, audits, and adherence to stringent standards. This can become overwhelming if your team has less experience. The best way to address this issue is to incorporate sustainability goals early in the project. You can also collaborate with seasoned consultants to streamline the process. Early integration reduces the risk of costly revisions later.
Conclusion
India is witnessing a boom in the construction and real estate sector, with the housing sector emerging as the largest source of greenhouse gases. Keeping in mind the local conditions, the Indian government developed a rating system GRIHA, that applies to all types of buildings. MNRE developed the rating system for creating awareness in populating green building design. Since these buildings are energy efficient, they reduce energy demand significantly. Besides, they judiciously use other natural resources.
As a trustworthy construction firm in India, Brick & Bolt holds sustainability as a core value in all our projects. We collaborate with the environmental experts along with leading certification bodies, ensuring all our projects remain at the forefront of sustainable design. Our project team understands the importance of green certifications for shaping a sustainable future. Therefore, we at Brick &Bolt ensure that every project passes through over 400 quality checks to meet your expectations and standards.
Apoorva H P Achar