News 18 | GRIHA Launches Rating System for Govt Houses for Urban Poor

Dec 18,2017

A green body on Monday launched ratings for houses constructed under the government's affordable housing scheme, indicating their level of sustainability.

There would be ratings between one and five stars. This would help consumers know about the sustainability of the houses, CEO, Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council, Sanjay Seth said.

In his message on the occasion, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said affordable, climate resilient and sustainable buildings are the need of the hour, a GRIHA release said.

The new rating would facilitate integration of relevant features for optimal sustainability in the affordable housing segment, the minister said.

The government targets to construct around 1.2 crore houses for the urban poor under the affordable housing scheme, he said.

In his keynote address, Ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan Andreas Baum said the Indo-Swiss collaboration is working with the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency in the development of guidelines for energy efficient housing, the release said.

The GRIHA Council is an 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.

With an aim to make Amravati an "affordable sustainable city", GRIHA is helping the government of Andhra Pradesh with cost effective design strategies, the release said.