As the green building movement in India gathers steam with growing numbers of real-estate developers adopting eco-friendly construction methods, it is trying to overcome a huge shortage in green-friendly industry professionals.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) - the nodal body for eco-friendly construction - has some 190 buildings registered with it for certification and is drawing up plans to try and overcome the shortage, said Dr Prem C Jain, the Council’s Chairman, speaking at a seminar on ‘Green Buildings in India: challenges ahead’, organised by Zicom-CNA Automation Ltd and The Economic Times.

To start with, the Council proposes to train a team of architects from each real estate firm in eco-friendly design and construction. The council is also working with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to introduce specialised green-building courses in schools of architecture. The session was moderated by Ashish Rakheja, president, ISHRAE and director of Spectral Services, who managed to extract insightful responses from all the esteemed panelists.

Green buildings, being fundamentally different in design, would take longer to conceptualise, argue many developers. According to Pankaj Dharkar of Pankaj Dharkar & Associates, an architectural consultancy, the country needs a number of experienced architects to understand the various architectural elements and nuances of energy modelling associated with green buildings.

“In Mumbai, for instance, there are close to 70 constructed green buildings but there is no specialised agency to carry out energy modelling. As such the design phase for a green building tends to stretch for a longer duration,” he said. Lui Wing Sin, the general manager of GETC Asia, a subsidiary of Singapore-based building automation solutions major CNA Group, said that while there is a need for more trained green-friendly architects, there should also be incentives for green-building professionals.

“When you appoint consultants, tell them that you will offer a bonus if the building performs better than what was projected in terms of energy saved or better water management. Incentives will help our cause in the long run.”

Mr Sin observed that the initial response to the green building movement in Singapore was not very good but people have now come to realise that they stand to gain from improved indoor air quality and the reduction in their energy bills. “Then there is also fact that you are showing some environmental responsibility. So when a number of people build green buildings, those who don’t tend to stand out.”

Both in America and Singapore, tenants are willing to pay more if they can be convinced that their savings, and hence, profits, are higher when they move into a green buildings. Energy, water and manpower are key contributors to operating costs and to manage each efficiently green-friendly integrated building management systems are installed. Real estate firms in these countries are credited for their work and their brand gets instantly promoted.

“We’re seeing an interesting phenomenon in the US, where technologies integrating a green building are adding considerable value to eco-friendly real estate development. For instance, an IP enabled backbone installed in a building creates a value that is added into the rent.

You are creating a new service for the customer and he will pay for it based on the fact that you have utilised that technology in creating a better and efficient work place,” said Paul Jordan, CTO of American Auto-Matrix that specialises in the manufacture of HVAC and access control systems. The growth in green buildings in the US is exponential now.

In the previous year alone America saw $17 billion worth of green building con-struction. The panelists also stressed that the cost of constructing green buildings, contrary to common belief, is on a par, and sometimes even lower, than for conventional buildings.

A case in point is the design of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC). K P S Ramesh of Chennai-based Air Treatment Engineering says that to minimise costs one has to ensure that the base building design accounts for various factors, including the increase in the number of people occupying the building over the years.

“The costs of implementing a HVAC system across a conventional building stand at Rs 180-200 per sq ft. We have been able to design HVAC systems for a green building at Rs 130 per sq ft and this is a gold-rated building. It’s a myth that it costs more,” he remarked.

The issue of green buildings getting over populated over the years is a common problem that developers face. Their concern is that a building rated gold or platinum when launched could underperform a few years after it is rated. Installing a building management system would help in this case. The IBMS provides early warning signals that would help facility managers take preventive measures.

According to Mr Jain, the IGBC, unlike the USGBC, rates buildings only after they have been occupied. “At the moment, it looks like it will take longer to design green buildings for there are a handful of people available. But we hope to catch up in a year. Leading developers across the country are very alive to the situation and are keen on sending their staff to train with us. We will ensure that things don’t slow down,” Mr Jain said.