Developers go green with sustainable design

After green homes, it’s now green office spaces. Amid rising concerns over climate change, real-estate players such as K Raheja Corp, Godrej, Tata Realty, Mahindra and Kalpataru are expanding their green footprints with sustainable office complex designs. K Raheja Corp already has millions of sqft of green commercial space in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, certified by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) since 2003, and is expanding in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai and Pune. In 2018, Godrej was ranked 4th in Asia and 8th globally by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, an organisation which assesses environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real estate companies globally. “Becoming water-positive and carbon-neutral are our primary goals,” says Anubhav Gupta, head of sustainability and CSR for Godrej Properties. “Foreign companies are particularly keen to lease green workspaces in the country. Domestic demand is yet to grow.”