IT firms go green with green buildings
By Kukil Bora, SiliconIndia   |   Friday, 26 November 2010, 13:20 IST   |    4 Comments
Printer Print Email Email
IT firms go green with green buildings
Bangalore: With an approach, which revolves round a concern for extending the life span of natural resources, providing human comfort, safety and productivity, green buildings are standing tall today. In India the number is increasing day by day, and it is none other than the IT industry, which excels in terms more green buildings, providing eco-friendly work places. A green building contains a number of green features such as reducing energy and water consumption, minimal disturbance to landscapes and site condition, use of recycled and eco-friendly materials, use of renewable energy and so on. While a variety of green building projects like residential complexes, hospitals, educational institutions, and airports are coming up in the country, Indian IT firms take the lead in terms of going green, and according to the latest data from Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), 19 out of 77 green buildings in India that have been rated by the leadership in energy and environmental design certification (LEED), are owned by IT companies. The reasons why the Indian IT industry stands out when it comes to green buildings may have different dimensions. From one perspective, since IT industry is leading from the front in many other domains, green buildings are just an add-on to it. Another possible reason would be, as the most globally exposed industry in India, IT industry needs to play a significant role in the green bit, which has become a buzz around the world now. However, a broad consideration regarding IT companies opting for green complexes relates it to CSR initiatives as well. Along with manufacturing industries, IT industry is also considered to be a big consumer of energy. Hence, considering the green building concepts is an initiative by IT firms to reduce energy consumption and create the best infrastructure without exhausting earth's resources. No doubt that these green buildings can be beneficial for the companies, but they do require a higher investment compared to the ordinary complexes. Here the question pops up, whether these green complexes are only for the big players in the industry? Well, it is not completely untrue. If we have a close look at the Indian IT industry, almost all the companies that have invested in green workplaces are among the top 20 companies, including Wipro, TCS, Cognizant, Cisco and Microsoft. It is true that we have still to go a bit far to witness midsized companies going for the green campuses, but the trend is on its way to reach the town. Apart from the big guys in the industry, midsized firms like NIIT, Patni and Virtusa are opting for green complexes. Whatever the major push behind the concept of green building, it is gaining huge momentum. The impact of green buildings is so substantial and tangible that the world is already talking in terms of Green Cities.

siliconindia