Green norms must for new bldgs

Centre To Standardise Energy Efficiency & Rainwater Harvesting Rules From Next Year

Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: The construction and housing sector will get a tad greener by the end of next year. The government has decided to make it mandatory for new buildings to undertake energy efficient measures, rainwater harvesting and use recycled construction material in parts under the sustainable habitat mission of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

It will also finalise norms for integrating parking, taxation and congestion charges and other measures to promote public transport across cities.

The mission report, finalized by the urban development ministry and cleared by the government, will now be presented to the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change when it is next convened.

At present, several norms exist for energy efficiency and water harvesting and are implemented with variance across different cities. The government will turn them into a national standard so that they can be uniformly applied across the country.

Realizing that urban development measures are under the aegis of state governments, the Centre plans to leverage the grants it makes under the JNNURM to get the states on board.

The grants will have built-in conditions to ensure that national standards are incorporated in the by-laws of cities utilizing the funds. The norms will mandate minimum energy performance standards for residential and commercial buildings. While past experiences raise questions about its implementation, sources said the government is looking at less coercive and inspection-based ways of turning the laws into practice.

It plans to carry out a gamut of climate-friendly activities under the pilot projects of the 11th five-year plan for which demonstration programmes would be carried out and separately budgeted for. The legal and regulatory measures that cover a broad spectrum of areas will be consolidated under the National Sustainable Habitat Parameters.

HOUSE THAT
Recycled construction material to be mandatory for new buildings
Urban development grants to have in-built conditions to ensure states conform to laws
Govt to budget for climate friendly activities under pilot projects of the 11th five-year plan