Sustainable Design Standards in India: The Excluded Issues

Abstract

Due to the recent emphasis on “Green Building” in different countries around the world, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification has emerged as one of the major recognized standards for measuring building sustainability. In 2005, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) adopted the original US rating system without substantive modifications in response to the significant contextual differences between the United States and India. In 2007, the IGBC published the LEED INDIA NC Version 1.0 with changes to better respond to the Indian context. This version did not address climatic variations, which demand focused attention on particular sections, such as natural ventilation and daylighting. This paper highlights the essential significance of these critical issues in latest LEED Indian Guidelines in the current LEED standards with respect to comparison between performance of green buildings with and without the LEED certification.