GBCI Providing with Better Green Building Initiatives

GREEN BUSINESS Certificate Institute (GBCI) for the first time is bringing their annual Greenbuild conference to India which be held from 2nd to 5th November, 2017 at Bombay Exhibition Center (NESCO), Mumbai. Greenbuild has been held annually in the United States since 2002. BW Hotelier spoke to GopalaKrishnan Padmanabhan, Managing Director, Asia Pacific & Middle East, GBCI to know more about the green building initiatives.

 “Apart from the conference, that will bring together global industry leaders, experts and frontline professionals in the ideal space to learn about ground breaking green building products, services and technologies in the region, we also want to increase the knowledge base about green buildings amongst working professionals and government officials,” said Padmanabhan.

Beginning his journey with GBCI in 2014, with over 20 years of prior corporate experience in Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, Padmanabhan feel privileged to be the spear header of LEED initiatives in India for GBCI.

According to the 2016 LEED in Motion report, there are more than 2,070 hotels participating in LEED, representing 1.1 billion square feet. Of that, there are more than 400 LEED-certified hotels comprising nearly 134 million square feet of space. And in India, there are more than 20 LEED-certified hotels, from major brands, compromising 11 million square feet of certified space.

How does GBCI certification set its outreach different from others? Answering to this, Padmanabhan said, “GBCI is a dynamic brand that has been synonymous with LEED and green buildings which provides LEED certification to green buildings. The various tools and products that GBCI brings to the table to certify buildings is what sets GBCI apart from the others, along with the expertise and global presence.”

GBCI has certified three hotels in New Delhi - The Leela Palace Hotel, Hyatt Regency and ITC Maurya with LEED Platinum certification. “While our Prime Minister Modi is talking about Make in India, our endeavour is to create jobs in the green job segment. To ensure that students post completing their education get employed, we have a structured curriculum which is called the green curriculum,” said Padmanabhan.