Critical study on performance of building assessment tools with respect to Indian context

Abstract

Construction sector is one of the largest end users of environmental resources and is one of the largest polluters of manmade and natural environments around the globe. Economic development, climate change due to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, energy security and energy access are the primary concerns for India. Sustainable development in energy sector has become a concern for all the people in the world. Sustainability means it satisfies the needs of the people without jeopardizing the prospects of the future generation. To minimize these effects, the concept of Green Building has been introduced in the construction industry. To asses these buildings, there are various building assessment tools which have emerged globally. These assessment tools have been developed and used to assist the planning and design of sustainable buildings. The aim is to develop complete environmental consciousness among construction specialists towards sustainable performance and to achieve the objective of sustainability in the construction sector. In this study, the assessment approaches towards environmental, economic and social aspects are discussed. The comparative study and analysis on these building assessment tools i.e. LEED-India, GRIHA and IGBC have been made. It is found that there may be inconsistence in the assessment tools and criteria. However, lack of fully integrated assessment tools has resulted in the lack of a holistic assessment approach for the building life cycle.