As per the "Implementation of Green Norms in Defence Projects", married/ OTM Accommodation projects costing more than Rs. 20 crore are required to obtain GRIHA 3 Star Rating for all works from FY 2018-19. In this context a 3-day awareness programme on GRIHA variants was organized by GRIHA Council from 18th to 20th February, 2019 at Hotel Fortune Inn Grazia, Noida to sensitize the teams from various locations on the aspects of GRIHA. The programme was attended by 30 participants from various commands of MES all over India.

The programme focused on GRIHA variants which included GRIHA for Existing Buildings (EB), GRIHA for Large Developments (LD) and SVAGRIHA and covered the rating process and in-depth discussion of various parameters like site planning, water and wastewater management, building design optimization, energy performance optimization, renewable energy utilization, solid waste management etc.

The workshop was concluded with a site visit of the "TERI Gram" where various sustainability features were showcased like earth air tunnel, waste water management (Root Zone), bio-mass gasifier etc. were explained to the participants. It also included a visit to the Mahindra- TERI Centre of Excellence, which is a 5 star rated SVAGRIHA building.

The experience has been extremely enriching and the programme was well received by the participants. MES has shown commitment in taking up sustainable practices in their projects and have ensured regular trainings of such kind to train their teams on the technical aspects of GRIHA.