Developing New Policies to Promote Jrban Sustainability eeping in needs with the ontemporary ground realities it is erhaps time to redefine procedural >medies to upkeep urban ustainability in the Indian Context jackground Suseainability is a widely used term associated with almost I sectors, thus having many interpretations by different -ientific communities. However, the ye concept remains the ame. One such definition states that sustainable process of ondition is one that an be maintained indefinitely without rogressive diminution of valued qualities inside or outside the ystem in which the process operates or the condition prevails” Holdren, Daily, & Ehrlich, 1995). Today, itis widely accepted nat due to unsustainable pr: acural resource base by mankind, th sand imprudent use of city of these systems > support the human population in the future has red Arrow, Bolin, Costanza, & Dasgupta, 1995). Even, the Fourth sessment Report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on limate Change) estimated that between 1970 and 2004, lobal GHG (Greenhouse Gas) nthropological activities rose by 70 percent (IPCC, 2007), ions due to aving extremely devastating detrimental impact on the nvironment. The effects of urbanization and climate change re converging in dangerous ways, affecting life and systems of ties. In addition, the recent ecological studies of cities have Iso shown that cities sometimes exceed their environmental vorprint by a factor 10-150 (Doughty & Hammond, 2004). ‘Though cities cover less than 2% of the earth’ surface, they onsume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than 0% of all carbon dioxide and other perilous GHG Greenhouse Gases) (UN-Habitat, 2012). At the same time, ities and neighborhoods have the potential for delivering gnificant and cost effective GHG cmission reductions. Having realized this, worldwide many policies and strategic programs have been conceptualized by both, government and private organizations (Sparkling, 2012), and are being implemented ike 100 Resilient Cities pioneered by Rockefeller Foundation, Fucure Cicies Demonstrator Program in UK (United Kingdom) by Technology Strategy Board of United Kingdom, Smart Cities Mission in India by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and many more. In India, similar programs have been successfully initiated, ‘but few have slow downed and/or failed due to challenges . resource reallocation, establishing continuous revenue streams for publicizing the encountered in encouraging stakcholde: scheme and implementation difficulties. To give an example, the ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) developed by Ministry of Power, Government of India in the year 2007, its mandatory enforcement in the state of Maharashtra has witnessed slow downed progress, due to anticipated challenges at various levels like inadequate manpower in the government agencies to handle the technicalities, fixing responsibilities at the level ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) that are not adequately trained on the ECBC requirements, availability, appropriate usage and cost difference of ECBC imited awareness on compliant materials with respect ro normal building materials, avoidance of monopoly situation and so on (Limited, 2014) Given the complexity of the established Indian systems, on the global scale India ranks 132 among a toral of 185 countries when i comes to ease of doing business, where rank 1 is the easiest and a rank of 182 when it comes to acquiring construction permits (PricewatethouseCoopers, 2013).“Approximately 40 procedural steps have to be followed to get the final completion certificate for the project from the local municipal authorities, which requires almost 147 working days, Whereas in Singapore which ranks nos 1 only 10 procedures have to be followed, and this requires approximately 26 days (World Bank Group, 2016). The take away heres that, the best policy practices developed and deployed by other economies can be assessed and tailored to fit in the Indi context, so as to augment the present efforts of Government of India in achieving ‘Sustainability in Built Environment’ along with The necessity for doing so is purely other national _ prio because India is still developing, 80% of India of 2030 is yer to be buile(McKinsey & Company, 2009). This projected soffers two options in which the snowballing demands ean be catered to (i) Continuing the implementation/applicationof effective as well as less effective policies and attain not so satisfactory results (ii) Consider it as a unique opportunity to redefine and develop new policy’ windows such that sustainability and inclusive growth. is at the core of its planning. The dormant policies could also be relooked to facilitate smoother processes and ease of doing which would undoubtedly promote sustainability and environmental stewardship. business urban Legislative Instruments To Endorse Urban Sustainability “The building and construction sector belongs to a complex industrial chain, involving a wide range of actors, extendingan eee 2001_| ECA (Energy Conservation Act) 2001_| Establishment of GBC (Indian Green Building Council), part of Cll (Confederation of Indian Industry) 2002 | Formation of BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) under ECA 2001 2005 | Bureau of Indian Standards published the National Building Code 2006 | Planning Commission, under the direction of the Prime Minister of India, issued the integrated energy policy draft. 2006. | MoEF (Minisiry of Environment ond Forests) makes EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) mandatory for all buildings with built up area of 20,000 square meters. 2007 | BEE formulated ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) 2007 | GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) was adopted as the national rating system for green buildings in India. 2008 | National Action Plan on Climate Change was launched, Integrated Energy Policy 2008 approved by the client 2014 | Announcement of smart cities program 2015 | india Signs UN Climate Change Paris Agreement 2016 | First 20 Smart Cities announced 2016 | States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana adopting mandatory compliance measures for building efficiency from user's preference until the life cycle of the building, making it one of the most complex environmental policy carget groups (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003). In India, different legislative instruments are conceived and propagated to achieve certain degree of sustainability in the given urban development spectrum, Some of the policies/act/progeams and the year of initiation have been enlisted below Vestian , 2016): Broadly the aforementioned interventions can be classified either as economic incentives, rating system, energy audit programs, strategic partnerships, technology transfer programs, information and education campaign, competitions and so on. Amongst these, the rating system may act as one of the most efficacious policy instrument ro achieve urban sustainability GRIHA- National Rating System For Green Buildings In India GRIHA is an abbreviation for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment. Going by the old proverb ‘What gers measured, gets managed; GRIHA attempts to quantify aspects such as energy and water consumption, waste generation, renewable energy generation and so on, so as to optimize and reduce the same to the best possible extent. Thus, GRIHA is a star rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of building against acceptable benchmarks. The environmental performance of a building is holistically evaluated over ts entire life cycle, thereby providing, a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’ Having the foundation of the rating system on accepted energy their certain nationally and environmental principl pursues to strike equilibrium between the traditional practices and emerging concepts, a both national and international level, In the year 2005, TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) launched the aforementioned rating system specifically designed for the Indian building and construction sector. It was further modified and adopted by the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) Gol (Government of India), in the year 2007 as the National Rating System for green buildings in India. TERI along with MNRE and other ished GRIHA Council with the mandate to promote green buildings and habitats in India through GRIHIA. Since then, many ULBs and state government have incentivized GRIHA in their respective jurisdiction by either offering free of cost additional FAR/FSI (Floor Area Ratio/Floor Space Index), discount in the sectoral experts jointly estal premium amount paid co the municipality by the project proponent and discount in the property tax paid by thebuilding occupant. Recently, Government of Sikkim has adopted GRIHA for all government and semi- government buildings including residential, non-reside institutional, industrial, , healthcare, These structures and also. the proposed development of the recreational and so. on. autonomous bodies like Boards, Corporation, Companies and PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) shall conform to minimum GRIHA 3 star rating, Financial and Environmental Benefit- Case of A Residential Project From Peme (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) The Ga Developers, \ga Skies residential project by Goel Ganga near Vallabh Nagar, Pimpri was the first green building project in the jurisdiction of PCMC which has been awarded the final GRIHA star rating, Upon incorporating green building principles at the right stages of the design, planning and implementation, the project could achieve 8% reduction in the projeet cost(Council, 2014). In addition, given that the project has received a 3-star rating from GRIHA Council, the:project received 30% discount in che premium amount that seas initially paid to the corporation, Moreover, as per the incentive sc c, even the occupants of the flats were entitled for a % discount in the property tax. The environmental benefits achieved by the project are as enlisted below(GRIHA, 2007): + 30 % reduction in energy from GRIHA energy benchmark (encourages energy demand optimization and installation of renewable energy systems) +* 25 % reduction in building water consumption (encourages water demand optimization) « 40 % reduction in landscape water consumption (encourages recycling and reuse of treated waste water) * More than 50% of the living areas are day-lighted (reduces the req} ement of artificial lighting) ‘ More than 40% fly-ash used in block work (low embodied energy material) Challenges in the Uptake of Policies/Scheme In order to achieve the aforementioned, the rating system acts as a guiding tool and the incentives linked to the performance of the built form may encourage the developer to endeavor for the highest star rating, which indeed abridges the negative impact of the built on the environmental. Moreover, it also adds to the brand value of the company/developer, benefits the occupants of the building in the form of discounted property tax along with a healthier environment to Y live. This model works well because every stakeholder sees a share of benefit in it. Bur che point of aration here is that very few developers opt for this scheme in spite of lucrative fiscal benefits. The reason being che complexity of the existing systems, the developer/ project proponent has to mainly take the approvals and NOCs (No Objection Certificate) at different stages of the project from the local municipal authority and its varied departments like Fire and Water. In addition, the developer may also have to take special approval from Environment Department, Government of Maharashtra, if the built up area exceeds 20,000 square meters, MCZMA (Maharashera Zone Management Authority) clearance if the plot falls under CRZ (Costal Regulation Zone) and simi Coastal consents depending of the specifications of the plot. Over and above this, the developer has to simultaneously process its building proposal with the rating authority and the department in charge of the green building scheme at the corporation (in case of PCMC, ic is the Environment Department that facilitates the internal processes). Thus, making the entire process for the developer very cumbersome. These policies/schemes have few takers in spite of environmental and financial rewards. Opportunities ‘Thete is immense potential in replicating these policies/ schemes in different parts of che country. However, the functionality aspect and ease of doing should be critically looked at while formulating these policies/policy windows and its integration in the local building bylaws/developmene plan ofthe region. Ph iy ‘Authored By: ‘AR. NAMRATA MAHAL, Fellow, TERI & Program “ate, GRIHA ‘Council India