Introduction
There is a growing recognition of the need and importance of promoting certified green buildings. Certification lends credibility to the project while addressing ecological issues and concerns. Any green building rating should invariably focus on the five elements of nature (panchabhutas) and should be designed to address national priorities. IGBC Green Building Rating Systems are designed to be holistic in nature and are a blend of
India’s ancient architectural practices and modern state-of-the-art technological innovations. IGBC has already launched 13 rating systems, covering various building types; several more are in different stages of development. The IGBC rating is awarded to a project after a thorough evaluation of the project consultants’ submittals in the prescribed format by an independent assessor. IGBC generally visits the project site and adopts a holistic approach in awarding the rating. A physical audit is conducted, which is the key input for the award of rating. On an average, an IGBC rated green building project saves about 30-40% energy and more than 20-30% fresh water, while eliminating waste. Till now, IGBC has awarded its rating to 780 projects, covering various types of buildings. In addition, over 3,000 projects are registered with IGBC, and are in the pipeline for certification. Today India, with over 3.6 billion sq ft, has the second largest registered green building footprint in the world. It is inspiring to witness certified green buildings going the extra mile and constantly re-inventing themselves to continue improving energy and environmental performance. These projects not only offer O&M savings, but are setting new standards. Many certified projects are investing more to upgrade their ratings from the existing level and moving to the next level. Project teams are seeing a clear business case for green buildings, but more important is their passion and commitment to make a diff erence to the life on the Planet Earth by going that extra mile. India is now home to a handful of net-zero energy buildings and pre-fabricated homes also.
 

Bombay House Upgrades from Gold to Platinum
Tata Group’s Bombay House project is an example of IGBC projects upgrading their certification levels. Bombay House was awarded the IGBC Gold Rating in 2014 and has recently achieved Platinum Rating during re-certification in 2016. It is the first heritage building in India to achieve Platinum Rating under IGBC Green Existing Building Rating System. Some of the green features implemented during the performance improvement period (2015-16) are:
• Energy Per formance Index (EPI) improved from 120 kWh/sq m/year to 109 kWh/sq m/year.

• Installation of waterless urinals, resulting in additional water saving of 23% compared to 2014.
• Installation of 83.7 kWp capacity of solar panels.
• Retro-commissioning of major equipment and systems.
IGBC Gold certifi cation signifies national excellence. The team at Bombay House continued to work for global leadership. As a result of concerted efforts, passion and commitment, Bombay House achieved the Platinum rating.
 

CRISIL House gets Recertified as Platinum EB
CRISIL House in Mumbai is another success story. It was an IGBC Platinum Rated Green Building under IGBC New Construction (NC) category. It
sought recertification under IGBC Existing Building (EB) Rating System, and was awarded Platinum rating. Some of the sustainable practices adopted at CRISIL House are:
• Reduced energy use.
• Reduced potable water use.
• Reduction in heat island effect for roof and non-roof.
• Retrofit of the existing sensor based urinals to waterless urinals.
• Energy and water metering at all load centres.
• BMS Systems for monitoring CO2 level.
 

Conclusion
Project teams are regularly monitoring their building performance and making necessary O&M interventions. Once convinced of the overall building performance, projects are applying for re-certification. Projects are monitoring and showcasing their savings on their own, simultaneously benchmarking their environmental performance. Most of the projects have separate technical and administrative set-ups to ensure continued excellence in building performance. This reflects the passion and commitment of project teams and the inspirational role played by IGBC and its stakeholders.