IT shows the way

The green talk of IT fraternity is not just restricted to creating energy

efficient data centers. The Indian IT industry is leading the way in terms of

going green in all aspects of the business. According to the latest data from

Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), the body that rates green buildings in

India, out of the seventy-seven buildings in India that have been rated by the

leadership in energy and environmental design certification (LEED), eighteen

belong to IT companies.

Green buildings use less water, optimize energy efficiency, conserve natural

resources, generate less waste and provide healthier spaces for occupants as

compared to a conventional building. LEED certification is the most popular

green building rating system in the world that rates these buildings in three

levels: platinum, gold and silver.

As per the Dataquest research, nineteen out of the seventy-seven LEED-rated

buildings in India are owned by IT companies, with Wipro having the lion's share

with eleven of them. The #2 Indian IT company has gone overwhelmingly for these

buildings with most of its new centers having the rating. While its Gurgaon

center is platinum-rated (highest); it has gold ratings for six of its

buildings: one in Kochi, two in Hyderabad, two in Pune, and one in Vizag. The

rest four silver-rated buildings are: one in Chennai, two in Bengaluru and one

in Bhubaneswar.

In addtion, there are quite a few technology parks that have also gone for

the LEED rating. They include Olympia Technology Park in Chennai, ETL BPO Park

in Chennai and Bagmane World Technology Center in Bengaluru. All these have

received gold ratings. There are many others which are registered for the

rating.

According to the data from IGBC, there are seventeen platinum rated buldings

in India. Chennai has the highest concentration of such buildings with as many

as seventeen LEED-rated buildings, Mumbai follows at a distant second with eight

such buildings. While Bengaluru has seven, Pune and the NCR region have six

each. Interestingly, within NCR, four of the buildings are in Noida, including

the Patni Knowledge Center and two in Gurgaon (Wipro and ITC Green Center).

Delhi city does not have a single such building.

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the only assembly house in India to be

LEED-rated. It has a gold rating.

Shyamanuja Das


Source: DQ