Marvel Realtors, a leading real estate company based in
Pune, is one among the few realtors which have adopted green technologies in
every stage of construction.
Greentech Lead recently got an opportunity to interact
with Vishwajeet Jhavar, CEO of the company, to discuss how green building
concept is evolving in India and what role companies like Marvel play in the
green building sector in the country. Here’s the excerpt of our interaction:
Q: What are the
major green building initiatives/ technologies from Marvel?
Every employee at Marvel right from design, contract,
purchase and project execution departments undergoes extensive training in
green building technologies and norms. We have at least one employee who is IGBC
accredited working in each project.
We evaluate our designs for effectiveness through
extensive energy simulation study. The idea is to minimize energy consumption
while deriving the maximum benefit from nature. This is done by selecting
materials and equipment for construction which are environment friendly and
enable saving of energy.
Q: What are the highlights and advantages of Marvel
technologies?
Under guidance of our in-house Green Initiatives
department, we have undertaken various measures to make a project more
sustainable right from its planning and designing stage. These measures/ green
features are as below;
Site selection, Planning and Design:
With the aim to build sustainable buildings, we select sites for these projects after assessing their
topography, vegetation, ecosystem, soil conditions, solar paths, and wind
availability and drainage patterns as well as their proximity to basic
amenities such as schools, hospitals, banks & supermarkets.
Measures for water conservation and energy efficiency:
Thorough study of building orientation, envelope design
and material selection to get max benefit from nature to save energy through
energy simulation study
Installation of solar panels on the roof-tops which helps
to provide sustainable electricity for streetlight.
Generation of hot water through solar water heating
systems for 100% of its requirement.
Use recycled water for toilet flushing and landscape
Rainwater harvesting with detailed hydrogeology study.
Use of Drought tolerant species (i.e. native plants) with
well adapting features & less water consumption are used
Use of energy efficient light fixtures with many more
energy efficient lighting techniques reduces building energy demand cost by 25%
Water Efficient irrigation systems
Use of advanced home automation system that senses
occupation in a room and regulates lighting and air-conditioning
Construction materials used:
Another aspect that significantly contributes to the
sustainable development of a building is the use of green materials. In order
to keep an ecological balance, we have used eco-friendly construction materials
in all our projects such as fly-ash based autoclave aerated concrete blocks to
reduce energy load on air conditioning system, solar reflective roof tiles,
recycled steel, wood manufactured through environmentally responsible
techniques, precast slabs etc.
Use of salvaged materials recovered from demolished
structures and processed on site reduces demand on virgin materials.
Materials with low VOC content ensures to provide better
indoor air quality in the building.
How are these technologies designed to adapt to Indian
building requirements?
All the measures that have been described above have been
tailor made for Indian building requirements.
Q: Who are your major green solutions partners? What is
your partnership strategy?
Indian Green Building Council is the major guide in all
our green activities. Apart from this all the material and equipment suppliers,
our knowledge partners who are involved in design are our green solution
partners.
We involve all the knowledge partners and suppliers right
from the beginning of each project. This leads to seamless decision making
right from selection of materials, design and equipment. This leads to
achieving the required green result at minimum cost.
Q: What is the significance of the Platinum badge? What
are the benefits to customers?
The recognition is a testimony to the company’s
commitment towards providing greenenvironmentally friendly homes. Marvel
Realtors has emerged as the greenest developer in India by securing seven
Platinum ratings at the pre-certification stage for its projects in Pune. The company now enjoys the distinction of
bagging the maximum number of such ratings in India. The seven projects that
have secured the Platinum badge are Marvel Kyra, Marvel Cascada, Marvel Cerise,
Marvel Arco, Marvel Albero ,Marvel Fria and Marvel Selva Ridge Estate. This
certification also lends great prestige to a project and customers gain
confidence in the developer.
Q: How do you see the adoption of green building
technologies to grow in India in the coming years?
The green concept is fast gaining ground among
developers. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) expects to have nearly 2
billion square feet of green buildings under development by 2015. Further proof
of the demand for green buildings comes from the fact that Maharashtra has also
decided to implement a ‘green code’ which are thumb rules for constructing
eco-friendly buildings.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests gives speedy
clearances for such projects and certain banks give loans at reduced rates for
green certified projects.
Rajani Baburajan
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