The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council, on December 18, 2017, launched ratings for houses constructed under the government’s affordable housing scheme, indicating their level of sustainability. The ratings would be between one and five stars. This would help consumers know about the sustainability of the houses, GRIHA Council’s CEO, Sanjay Seth said.
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In his message on the occasion, union minister Hardeep Singh Puri quoted how affordable, climate-resilient and sustainable buildings, are the need of the hour, a as per a GRIHA release. The new rating would facilitate integration of relevant features, for optimal sustainability in the affordable housing segment, the minister said. The government has set a target, to construct around 1.2 crore houses for the urban poor under the affordable housing scheme, he said.
In his keynote address, the ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan, Andreas Baum, said the Indo-Swiss collaboration was working with the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency, for the development of guidelines for energy efficient housing, the release said. The GRIHA Council is a not-for-profit society, jointly setup by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), to promote green buildings in India.
