The Indian government is considering adopting a new rating system for all new planned government and public-sector buildings. The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), developed by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Dehli, was first introduced in mid-2008 as a way to rate buildings’ environmental performance in a variety of climates. It rates buildings on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest performance rating.

GRIHA has been developed for all types of buildings in different climatic zones of the country, said Deepak Gupta, secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in New Dehli, at the first conference on GRIHA, held on Jan. 4 in New Dehli. The ministry has introduced incentives for using GRIHA that include waiving registration fees to promote design and construction of green buildings, Gupta says.

TERI’s director general, Rajender Pachauri, notes GRIHA is “more suited to Indian conditions” than more-developed countries. The GRIHA rating system takes into account the provisions of the National Building Code 2005, the Energy Conservation Building Code 2007 and other codes.

Some projects whose owners are considering using the new rating system include the $110-million, 700-acre Central University, to be set up in the eastern state of Jharkhand and expected to go out for bid in February, and Tyagaraja Stadium on the outskirts of Dehli.