Newsletter | May 2019     World Earth Day 2019 On 22nd April 2009 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 22nd April as the “International Mother Earth Day”. The resolution was adopted to reaffirm the agenda of sustainable development and also to acknowledge the role of earth as a mother, who sustains and nurtures all the species, including humans, animals and plants. The resolution was introduced by the unitary plurinational state of Bolivia and was supported by 50 other member states of the United Nations. The term “Mother Earth” implies the interdependent relationship which exists between all the species of planet earth and to acknowledge earth’s role in sustaining them all. “International Mother Earth Day” is aimed at sharing responsibilities and setting agendas for a peaceful coexistence with nature. There is reason behind the title of this celebration as “Earth Day”. It was suggested by number of people in 1969 and the idea came with “birthday” as Earth day (rhyming word of birthday).       GRIHA Four Star Provisional Rating awarded to New Government Medical College, Baripada   The project has demonstrated 69.9% reduction in energy consumption compared to GRIHA benchmark. 53.80% of building water demand has been reduced by installing low flow plumbing fixtures and 56.61% of water savings was achieved in landscape water requirement due to the use of efficient irrigation system. Furthermore, 52.9% of the habitable spaces are day lit and meet the daylight factors prescribed by the National Building Code of India. Also, the project has installed solar PV panels of 16.75 kWp capacity on site to offset the conventional energy demand.       New products have been enlisted in the GRIHA product catalogue   One new product from Retas Enviro Solutions Private Limited has been added under the category of "Rainwater Harvesting Filtration Systems" and three new products from A.K. Panels have been added under the category of " Doors & Windows: panels and frames, Inbuilt Furniture, False Ceiling, Internal Partitions, Flooring.   Company name: K D INFRA Product name:Brikolite AAC blocks Product typology:Fly-ash bricks/AAC Blocks Company name: Somany Ceramics Ltd Product name:Kitchen faucets, lavatory faucets and showers Product typology: Low flow fixtures Company name:Savita Polymers Limited Product name: BIOTRANSOL HF - NATURAL ESTER DIELECTRIC FLUID FOR TRANSFORMERS Product typology: Innovation products   GRIHA Certified Professional & Evaluator Exams in the upcoming months   Exam Date Certified Professional 17th May, 2019 Evaluator 18 th May, 2019     GRIHA Training Programs in the upcoming quarter   Venue Date Bengaluru 29 - th 31 th May, 2019     Editor's choice   Earth Day 2019: A reading list to better understand the climate change crisis facing India Occasions like Earth Day provide an opportunity to reflect on the current state of the environment, and what we can do to improve it. What is the environmental reality that faces India? From an impending water crisis to waste segregation and climate change’s effects — what are the issues we need to tackle head on? What hope do we have of, combating them? Over the past year, Firstpost’s reportage on environmental issues has attempted to answer some of these questions. Want to get up to speed with the burning issues? Here’s a reading list from our archives, pegged to Earth Day 2019 Halfway to boiling: the city at 50C It is the temperature at which human cells start to cook, animals suffer and air conditioners overload power grids. Once an urban anomaly, 50C is fast becoming reality. Imagine a city at 50C (122F). The pavements are empty; the parks quiet, entire neighborhoods appear uninhabited. Nobody with a choice ventures outside during daylight hours. Only at night do the denizens emerge, HG Wells-style, into the streets – though, in temperatures that high, even darkness no longer provides relief. Uncooled air is treated like effluent: to be flushed as quickly as possible. The mathematics of energy efficient ACs in India Energy efficiency in air conditioners (ACs) has caught public attention recently in light of a June 22 announcement by the Union Ministry of Power that it would issue an advisory to AC manufacturers to keep the default temperature of ACs at 24°C. According to a ministry press release, this measure, if adopted by all consumers, could result in savings of 20 billion units of electricity in a year.   GRIHA training and awareness program organized   2 Days GRIHA V 2015 Training Programme at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Date: 8th April - 9thApril, 2019 3-Day GRIHA V 2015 Training Programme at Gurugram Date: May 1th - May 3th, 2019 Register your interest for training on GRIHA Register your products Register your projects   Copyright © 2019 GRIHA Council GRIHA Council, 1st Floor, A - 260, Defence colony, New Delhi, 110024 (Ph : 011 4644 4500)   If you do not wish to receive this newsletter Click here