International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)

Volume 10, Issue 01, January 2019, pp. 1882-1892, Article ID: IJCIET_10_01_174
Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=1
ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

GREEN BUILDINGS: SUSTAINABLE

CONSTRUCTION PRINCIPLES
Dr. Sagarika Kamath
Assistant Professor, School of Management, Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Karnataka, India

Dr. Rajesh Kamath

Assistant Professor, Prasanna School of Public Health,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India

Ms. Brayal D’Souza

Assistant Professor, Prasanna School of Public Health,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India

Mr. Biju Soman

PhD Scholar, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India

Ms. Aswathi Raj

PhD Scholar, Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Karnataka, India

Ms. Laxmi Kamath

Trainee, Master in hospital administration program, Prasanna School of Public Health,
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT
Green buildings are also referred to as green construction or sustainable buildings.
This term refers to the environment friendly and resource efficient structures and
processes in a building's life-cycle: including all the steps involved in the planning,
design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and demolition of the
building structures.1The Green Building concept endeavors to address the classical
building design concerns of utility, economy, comfort and durability. This necessitates
close cooperation among all stakeholders including contractors, architects, engineers
and clients at all stages of the project. New technologies are coming up all the time to
strengthen existing approaches to creating greener structures

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 Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman, Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath

Key words: Green buildings, sustainable construction principles

Cite this Article: Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman,
Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath, Green Buildings: Sustainable Construction Principles,
International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), 10(1), 2019,
pp. 1882–1892
http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=1

1. INTRODUCTION
Green buildings are also referred to as green construction or sustainable buildings. This term
refers to the environment friendly and resource efficient structures and processes in a building's
life-cycle: including all the steps involved in the planning, design, construction, operation,
maintenance, renovation and demolition of the building structures.1The Green Building
concept endeavors to address the classical building design concerns of utility, economy,
comfort and durability. This necessitates close cooperation among all stakeholders including
contractors, architects, engineers and clients at all stages of the project. New technologies are
coming up all the time to strengthen existing approaches to creating greener structures. The
overarching objective of the green building concept are: To decrease the negative impact of
buildings on the natural environment and on the health of humans by ensuring that resources
are used efficiently; to protect the health of the occupants; to improve employee productivity;
and to reduce waste, pollution and environmental degradation.2
The popular LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a group of rating
systems that deals with the designing, construction processes, operations, and the maintenance
of green buildings. It has been developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. BREEAM
(Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a British certificates
system for buildings and large-scale developments. The World Green building council is the
entity that does research on the effects on the productivity and health of occupants of green
buildings. The council also works with the World Bank to promote green Buildings in emerging
Markets through the EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) Market
Transformation Program and certification.
The concept of natural buildings is similar. Natural buildings are generally smaller in scale.
They focus on the use of locally available natural materials.3 Sustainability is defined as
meeting the needs of the current generations without compromising on the ability to meet the
requirements of future generations. The principles of green construction can be applied to new
construction as well as to retrofit work.

2. REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

A large amount of land is occupied by buildings. The United States of America has more than
4.3 lakh square kilometers of land developed. As per the International Energy Agency’s
estimates, more than 40% of the world's total primary energy consumption is accounted for by
existing buildings. These same buildings have a 24% share of global carbon dioxide emissions.4
All over the world, buildings consume a very significant share of water and energy resources.
The potential for significant cuts in emissions at very little cost is the greatest in the buildings
sector.
According to the United Nations Environment Program, carbon dioxide emissions could
double by 2050 if new construction technologies are not adopted. The environmental impact
of constructing buildings is sought to be mitigated with Green building practices. In terms of
reducing the impact on the environment, the first principle is that not building anything is a

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 Green Buildings: Sustainable Construction Principles

superior option to green building since construction activity almost always negatively affects
and degrades the site of construction. The second principle is that every building must be as
small as possible. The third principle is that sprawl must not be encouraged, in fact it must be
actively frowned upon, even if the most environmentally friendly and energy efficient methods
are implemented in the design and construction of the buildings.

3. AIMS OF THE GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT

Even though the constantly evolving technological practices used in green buildings may differ
from region to region, the fundamental principles remain the same: Efficiency in sitting and
structure design, efficiency in energy consumption, efficiency in water consumption, efficiency
in material usage, enhancement of the quality of indoor environments, optimization of
operations and maintenance and reduction of waste.5 It is possible to trace the development of
the concept of sustainable development to the fossil oil crisis and the environmental pollution
concerns of the 1960s and 70s.6 Rachel Carson was among the first to discuss sustainable
development in terms of green building in her book, “Silent Spring”(1962).7 The desire for
more environment friendly and energy efficient construction practices resulted in the origin of
the green building movement in the United States. Green buildings have economic, social and
environmental benefits. Modern sustainability initiatives require an integrated and synergistic
design for both new construction and retrofitting of existing structures.
The concept of green buildings amalgamates a wide range of techniques, skills and
practices to decrease and finally eliminate the detrimental effects of building construction on
the natural environment and on human health. It includes but is not limited to the use of
renewable resources like sunlight through active and passive solar and photovoltaic equipment;
the use of plants and trees through rain gardens and green roofs and the reduction of rainwater
run-off. The other techniques that are used are:the use of low-impact building materials,
permeable concrete or packed gravel instead of asphalt or conventional concrete: this is done
so that the rate of replenishment of the ground water is enhanced.
The aesthetic side of the green building concept is manifested in what has been termed
“green architecture” or “sustainable design”, which manifests in the philosophy of designing
buildings that are in harmony with the resources and the natural features at and around the site
of construction.

4. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) IN GREEN BUILDINGS

It is widely recognized that LCA is the best way to evaluate the environmental impacts of
buildings, with ISO 14040 providing a unique recognized methodology for LCA.But it is still
not a regular requirement in the rating systems and codes used for green buildings.In the US
and Canada, the Green Globes rating system rewards LCA. Also, LCA is a part of the new
American National Standard that is based on Green Globes.8 the LEED system has LCA
included in it as a pilot credit. LCA has been included as a voluntary measure by California in
its draft Green Building Standards Code.
Life cycle assessments (LCA) facilitate the avoidance of the adoption of a narrow
perception of economic, social and environmental concerns.9 they do this by assessing the
complete span and range of impacts of every stage of the process: including the extraction of
raw materials through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, maintenance,
disposal and recycling. The impacts that are assessed include the potential for global warming,
resource use, air pollution, water pollution and waste. In the last few years, there has been a
shift away from a prescriptive approach, in which certain practices were prescribed and
assumed to be better for the environment. The emphasis now is on an evaluation of evidence

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 Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman, Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath

by the scientific evaluation of the actual performance of the LCA.A major drawback of the
LCA is that it is perceived as overly complex and time consuming for regular use by design
professionals. In order to overcome this drawback and make LCA more accessible, research
organisations like the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute in North America and BRE in the
United Kingdom are working towards making LCA more accessible.

5. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN IN GREEN BUILDINGS

Concept and design are the foundation of any construction project. The largest impact in terms
of financial implications and performance is seen from the concept stage, which is one of the
major steps in the life cycle of a project. The objective in the process of designing buildings
that are environmentally optimal, is to minimize the gross impact on the environment across
all the life cycle stages of the building. But the building process is nowhere near as streamlined
as an industrial process:it varies from building to building and is almost never repeated
identically. Also, buildings are very complex products, and are made up of very many
materials, each of which has various design variables which are decided at the design stage.10

5.1. Energy Savings

Green buildings have to operationalize strategies to decrease energy usage- Green buildings
often include measures to reduce the energy consumption in the extraction, processing,
transportation and installation of building materials and the operating energy required to render
services like heating and powering equipment. High-performance green buildings use less
operating energy, because of which the importance of embodied energy has increased:
embodied energy can make up upto 30% of the overall life cycle energy consumption. The
U.S. LCI Database Project11 and other studies have shown that buildings constructed mainly
out of wood have lower embodied energy than buildings constructed mainly with brick,
concrete, or steel. The environmental impact of the building can be significantly reduced by
the adoption of onsite generation of renewable energy through biomass, wind power, hydro
power or solar power. The costliest feature in a building is generally power generation.
In order to reduce the operating energy consumption, building designers try to reduce air
leakage through the building envelope. The building envelope is the barrier between the
unconditioned space and the conditioned space. Additional insulation in floors, walls and
ceilings; and high performance windows are also prescribed. Passive solar building design is
another strategy that is often implemented in low energy habitations. With the aim of shading
windows and roofs in the summer and maximizing solar gain in the winter, designers specially
orient windows and walls and place trees, porches and awnings. Also, daylighting or effective
window placement can increase the supply of natural light and decrease the requirement of
electricity fueled lighting in the day. The use of solar energy to heat water can reduce energy
costs further.

5.2. Water Savings

EED certification can be conferred on large commercial buildings with energy and water
efficiency. The tallest building in Philadelphia is the Comcast Center, which is also one of the
tallest LEED certified buildings in the USA. The Comcast center is 58 storeys tall and has 1.4
million square feet of area. The environmental engineering here is composed of a hybrid central
chilled water system which, instead of water, uses steam to cool the floors.
Two key objectives in sustainable building are decreasing water consumption and
protecting water quality. A critical issue of water consumption that arises in many areas is that
the demand on the supplying aquifier exceeds its ability to replenish itself. Facilities should,

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 Green Buildings: Sustainable Construction Principles

therefore, as far as possible, depend on water that is collected, purified, used and reused on-
site. This may be partly accomplished by designing dual plumbing that recycles consumed
water. The generation of waste water can be minimized by using water conserving fixtures like
low flow shower heads and ultra-low flush toilets. Bidets help in multiple ways: the use of
toilet paper can be eliminated, sewer traffic can be reduced, and the possibilities of recycling
water on-site can be increased. Water quality and energy efficiency can be improved while
reducing the amount of water in circulation through the use of “Point of use water treatment”.
The demands on the local aquifier can be reduced significantly through the use of non-sewage
and greywater for onsite use such as site-irrigation.12

5.3. Sustainable Architecture

Typical green building materials would include lumber sourced from forests that have been
certified to a third party forest standard, bamboo and straw and other rapidly renewable plant
materials, dimension stone, recycled metal, recycled stone and other products that are reusable,
renewable, recyclable and nontoxic. In concrete, Roman self-healing concrete or high
performance concrete can be utilized.13 the use of recycled industrial goods like foundry sand,
coal combustion products and demolition debris from construction projects has been suggested
by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Energy rebate programs in the United States
promote energy efficient building materials and appliances. Brummundal, a town near Oslo in
Norway, has an entire multi-storey block being constructed out of wood. This eighteen storey
building has been designed to house offices, a hotel, restaurants and apartments. Upon
commissioning, which is expected in spring 2019, it will become the world’s tallest wooden
tower.

5.4. Indoor Air Quality

The provision of well-being, productivity and comfort of the occupants was the purpose of the
creation of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category, which is one of the five
environmental categories in LEED standards. The guidelines addressed by the LEED IEQ
category are the design and construction guidelines, especially: thermal quality, lighting quality
and indoor air quality.14,15
The reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and microbial contaminants is the
primary aim of Indoor Air Quality. A well designed ventilation system is an absolutely vital
necessity for buildings. The ventilation system can be powered mechanically or naturally. The
source of air can be outdoors or recirculated, filtered air from indoors. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
can be improved by choosing interior finish products and construction materials with zero or
low VOC emissions during the design and construction process. Many VOCs including
formaldehyde, and most building materials and cleaning/maintenance products emit gases,
some of which are toxic. The productivity, health qnd comfort of the building occupants can
suffer a detrimental impact because of these gases. A building’s indoor environmental quality
(IEQ) can be increased by avoiding these products. Specifications on the use of low emitting
interiors can be obtained from LEED,16 HQE and Green Star17. Formaldehyde emissions are
limited by BREEAM, which is silent on all other VOCs. Low VOC emitting products in the
marketplace can be delineated by MAS Certified Green, which is a registered trademark.18 The
MAS Certified Green Program ensures that any potentially hazardous chemicals released from
manufactured products have been thoroughly tested and meet rigorous standards established
by independent toxicologists to address recognized long term health concerns. These IAQ
standards have been adopted by and incorporated into the following programs: (1) The United
States Green Building Council (USGBC) in their LEED rating system (2) The California

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 Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman, Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath

Department of Public Health (CDPH) in their section 01350 standards18 (3) The Collaborative
for High Performance Schools (CHPS) in their Best Practices Manual and (4) The Business
and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) in their level® sustainability
standard.19
In situations where building occupants are known to have allergies to dust or other
particulates, solid wood products, especially flooring, are often specified. Soft finishes like
carpet are prone to the buildup of particles, in contrast to wood, which is considered to be
hypoallergenic and whose smooth surfaces prevent the buildup of particles. Hardwood, slate,
vinyl and linoleum are recommended in place of carpet by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation
of America.20 Air quality can be improved by the use of wood products, which will moderate
humidity by absorbing or releasing moisture in the air. The indoor air quality is determined by
the interactions among the occupants and all the indoor components. Indoor Air, a journal,
documents the extensive investigation of such processes, which is the subject of indoor air
scientific research.21
Factors impacting indoor air quality are dampness that leads to mold growth, and the
presence of viruses, bacteria, dust mites ad other microbiological cincerns. Microbial growth
can be enhanced and sustained by the intrusion of water through the envelope of a building and
by water condensing on cold surfaces on the interior of the building. A tightly sealed and well
insulated envelope can reduce moisture problems Adequate ventilation is important to
eliminate moisture from indoor sources like cooking, bathing, cleaning and human metabolic
processes. A building’s thermal quality can be augmented with a properly designed building
envelope coupled with airflow and personal temperature control over the HVAC system. The
energy performance and lighting quality of a structure can be improved through the creation of
a high performance luminous environment by the careful integration of electricity fuelled light
sources and daylight.22,23

6. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OPTIMIZATION

Proper operations and maintenance are crucial to ensure that a building planned for
sustainability remains sustainable, after the design and construction stage. Retaining the green
criteria designed at the onset of the project would be possible by ensuring that operations and
maintenance (O&M) personnel are part of the planning and development process. The O & M
phase in the life of a building has every aspect of green building integrated into it. The O & M
staff are responsible for the addition of new green technologies. Green practices such as air
quality enhancement and recycling take place in the O & M phase, even though the goal of
waste reduction is applied in the design, construction and demolition phases of the life cycle of
a building. Establishing best practices in resource conservation, ecologically sensitive
products, energy efficiency and other sustainable practices should be the aim of the O & M
staff. The key to the effective implementation of sustainable strategies in O & M services is
the education of building operators and occupants.24

6.1. Reducing Waste

He waste of water, energy and other materials used during construction is sought to be reduced
by green architecture. For example, nearly 60% of the waste of California State comes from
commercial buildings. Reducing the amount of waste going to landfills must be one of the
goals in the construction phase. The amount of waste generated by occupants can be reduced
by well-designed buildings. This can be done through the implementation of on-site tools such
as compost bins to reduce the amount of matter going to landfills. Neutral Alliance, which is a
coalition consisting of NGOs, the forest industry and the government, created the website

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 Green Buildings: Sustainable Construction Principles

“dontwastewood.com”, to reduce the amount of wood going to landfills. This website provides
a a variety of resources for entities looking for information on wood recycling;this includes
developers, municipalities, regulators, contractors, owners, operators, individuals and
homeowners looking for information on wood recycling.
Buildings are typically demolished and hauled to landfills when they reach the end of their
useful life. The harvesting of what is commonly classified as "waste" and reclaiming it into
useful building material is called Deconstruction.25 Waste can be reduced by extending the
useful life of a structure. Renovations are made easier by building materials like wood that are
light and easy to work with. Several options exist to mitigate the negative impact on wells and
water treatment plants. Waste water from sources such as washing machines and dishwashers,
called “Greywater”, could be utilsed for subsurface irrigation. If this Greywater is treated, it
could be used for non-potable purposes like flushing toilets and washing cars.
Centralized wastewater treatment systems can be expensive and energy intensive. An
alternative by which these costs can be avoided and other benefits can be harnessed is to convert
waste and wastewater into fertilizer. Liquid fertilizer can be produced by collecting human
waste at the source and along with other biological waste, transporting it to a semi centralized
biogas plant. The first demonstration of this concept was in the late 1990s by a settlement in
Lubeck Germany. These practices help in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by providing
the soil with organic nutrients and creating carbon sinks that remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. This process is cheaper than producing artificial fertilizer in energy terms.26

6.2. Saving Electricity

Peak load or peak demand determines how electricity networks are built. Watts is the unit of
measurement of Peak demand. It shows the rate of consumption of electrical energy. Green
buildings may not necessarily reduce peak demand but are very often capable of saving
electrical energy. The impact on carbon emission and climate change can be ameliorated and
the desire for electricity network expansion can be reduced by the reduction of peak demand
which will ensue when the design, construction and operation of sustainable building features
is executed constructed and operated efficiently. These sustainable features can be good
orientation, adequate indoor thermal mass, adequate insulation, photovoltaic panels, thermal or
electrical energy storage systems and smart building (home) energy management systems.27

6.3. Costs and Benefits

Price is the most sensitive issue when it comes to constructing environmentally friendly
buildings. The premium cost for most green buildings is less than 2 percent, but the yield over
the entire life of the building is 10 times as much. With regard to the economic benefits of
green building, if considered over a period of 20 years, the returns typically exceed the cost of
greening by 400 to 600 percent. Other benefits like reductions in greenhouse gases (GHGs)
and other pollutants have a substantial positive impact on surrounding communities and on the
planet.”28 The limiting factor is the lacuna in the knowledge of up-front cost vs. life-cycle cost.
Decreased energy bills can result from more efficient use of utilities which can save money.
The projected savings for different sectors on energy bills is $130 billion.29 Savings and cost
deductions can also include higher student and worker productivity.
Numerous studies have shown the measurable benefits on worker productivity of green
building initiatives. It has been observed that "there is a direct correlation between increased
productivity and employees who love being in their work space.” Certain aspects of green
building design like advanced ventilation systems, the use of nontoxic building materials,
improved lighting and reduction of pollutants can positively impact worker productivity.30 The

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 Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman, Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath

U.S. Green Building Council, in “The Business Case for Green Building”, gives a specific
example of how worker health and productivity can be increased by commercial energy
retrofits: It says that people in the United States spend about 90% of their time indoors. EPA
studies indicate that the indoor levels of pollutants may be up to ten times higher than the
outdoor levels. LEED-certified buildings ensure health benefits for ocupants by ensuring the
design of healthier, cleaner indoor environmental quality. Studies have shown that some green
buildings have yielded returns of $53 to $71 per square foot back on investment over a 20 year
life period.31 Commercial real estate market studies have observed that Energy star and LEED
certified buildings command significantly higher rents, occupancy rates and sale prices,
confirming the superior rentability of green building investments. The capitalization rates of
these buildings are also lower, potentially reflecting lower investment risk.

7. REGULATION
With increased interest in green building concepts and practices, numerous organisations have
rating systems, standards and codes that allow consumers, government regulators and building
professionals embrace green buildings with confidence. In some instances, codes are written
so that local governments can adopt them as bylaws in order to ameliorate the local
environmental impact of buildings.
Consumers are assisted in determining a structure’s level of environmental performance by
Green building rating systems like BREEAM (United Kingdom), LEED (United States and
Canada), DGNB (Germany), CASBEE (Japan), and VERDEGBCe (Spain). Optional building
features that support green design such as conservation of water, energy, building materials,
occupant health and comfort, and location and maintenance of building site are awarded credits.
The level of achievement can be determined by the number of credits.

8. INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORKS
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report
(AR4) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is the fourth
in a series of such reports. The assessment of socio-economic, technical and scientific
information concerning climate change, its potential effects and options for adaptation and
mitigation are the primary concerns of the IPCC which was established by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
UNEP and Climate change: Supporting climate proofing efforts, facilitating the transition
to low carbon societies, raising awareness and improving understanding of climate change
science are the chief goals of the United Nations Environment Program UNEP.
GHG Indicator: The Greenhouse Gas Indicator: UNEP Guidelines for Calculating
Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Businesses and Non-Commercial Organizations
Agenda 21: Agenda 21 is a programme related to sustainable development run by the
United Nations (UN). It is an exhaustive blueprint of action to be taken in every area in which
humans have an impact on the environment. The action is to be taken locally, nationally and
globally by major groups in every area, governments and organisations of the U.N. The
significance of the number 21 is that it refers to the 21st century.
FIDIC's PSM: With the objective of assisting project engineers and other relevant
stakeholders in setting sustainable development goals for their projects that are recognized and
accepted as being in the interests of society, the The International Federation of Consulting
Engineers (FIDIC) Project Sustainability Management Guidelines were created. This process

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 Green Buildings: Sustainable Construction Principles

is intended to assist those involved in the management of projects to measure and verify their
progress and also to allow the alignment of project goals with local conditions.
Under the Project Sustainability Management Guidelines, the three main sustainability
headings of Economic, Social and Environmental are structured with Themes and Sub-Themes.
A core project indicator is defined along with guidance as to the relevance of that issue in the
context of an individual project for each individual sub-theme. The Sustainability Reporting
Framework provides stakeholders a universally applicable and comparable framework in
which they can understand disclosed information, while providing guidance to organizations
to use as the basis for disclosure about their sustainability performance. The core product of
the sustainability reporting guidelines and the protocols and sector Supplements are contained
in the reporting framework. The Guidelines are utilised as the basis of all reporting, and are the
foundation upon which the guidance for all other reporting is based. The core content for
reporting that is broadly relevant to all organizations regardless of location, size or sector is
outlined in the guidelines. Guidance and principles as well as standard disclosures, including
indicators to outline a disclosure framework that organizations can incrementally, flexibly and
voluntarily adopt, are contained in the Guidelines.
Protocols underpin each indicator in the Guidelines is underpinned by protocols which
include compilation methodologies, the intended scope of the indicator, definitions for key
terms in the indicator and other technical references. The limits of a one-size-fits-all approach
are responded to by sector supplements. The use of the core Guidelines are supplemented by
the Sector Supplements which go on to capture the particular set of sustainability issues faced
by sectors like banking, mining, public agencies, automotive and others.

9. IPD ENVIRONMENT CODE

February 2008 witnessed the launch of the The IPD Environment Code. The Code is intended
to serve as a good practice global standard for measuring the environmental performance of
corporate buildings. Its aim is to accurately measuring and managing the environmental
impacts of corporate buildings and enabling property executives to generate comparable, high
quality performance information about their buildings from anywhere in the world is the aim
of the IPD Environment Code. The Code aims to inform and support the following while
covering a wide range of building types (from offices to airports):
Creating a strategy for the environment; Providing inputs to real estate strategy;
Communicating a commitment to environmental improvement; Creating performance targets;
Plans for the improvement of the Environment; Measurement and assessment of performance;
Assessments of life cycles; Disposal and acquisitions of buildings; Management of suppliers;
Data population and Information systems; Regulatory compliance; Personal and team
objectives.

10. CONCLUSION
The estimate by the IPD for the amount of time that it will take to develop a strong set of
baseline data that could be utilised across a typical corporate estate is approximately three
years. The successful worldwide adoption of green building technology, especially in the
developing world giants China and India, will be an important element in the approach to
combatting global warming and building a sustainable world.

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 Sagarika Kamath, Rajesh Kamath, Brayal D’Souza, Biju Soman, Aswathi Raj and Laxmi Kamath

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