GRIHA Council launches “Rating for affordable housing” during the 9th GRIHA Summit

Aligning with government’s ‘Housing for all’ initiative, GRIHA launched Rating for Affordable Housing during their event The 9^th GRIHA Summit in New Delhi. Studies suggest that the shortage of urban housing stood at 18.8 million units in 2012 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 6.6% to 34.1 million units by 2022 in India. The Government of India has taken several steps to address this demand, one among many being the ‘Housing for All’ schemes implying that the construction sector will keep growing exponentially in the years ahead. Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council is an independent, not- for -profit society jointly setup by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India to promote and administer green buildings in India. GRIHA has been acknowledged as a tool to evaluate reduction in emission intensity through habitats, as part of mitigation strategy for combating climate change in INDIA’s “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs) submitted to UNFCCC. In his message on the occasion Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C), for Housing & Urban Affairs, said, “The theme for the GRIHA Summit – ‘Sustainable is Affordable’ is apt and I am sure shall dispel the myth that sustainable is not affordable”. He further provided support and encouragement to the Summit by expressing his thoughts on the new rating system and added, “Affordable, climate resilient and sustainable buildings are the need of the hour, and the new rating will facilitate integration of relevant features for optimal sustainability in the Affordable Housing segment.” Sharing his thoughts on the 9th edition of the GRIHA Summit, Dr. Ajay Mathur, President, GRIHA Council, said, “As urbanization happens and our cities grow, many new houses are going to be constructed both in the Affordable as well as the MIG and HIG housing segments. The issue of thermal comfort and exponential growth in air conditioning electricity consumption is critical. There is an urgent and immediate need to promote design of energy efficient building envelopes to address both these issues. Over the years, the GRIHA Council has played a pivotal role in providing solutions to various challenges faced by the built environment”. Sanjay Seth, CEO, GRIHA Council highlighted the exponential growth in the GRIHA footprint over the years. He spoke of the new partnerships that were forged during the 9th GRIHA Summit with several esteemed organizations like National Housing Bank (NHB), Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Indian Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE), to develop green buildings in the country.