A two-day intensive GRIHA training program was organized for Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra (PWD, GoM), from 6th - 7th September 2018 at Ravi Bhavan, Nagpur. The prime intent of the program was to give a detailed understanding of the national green building rating system, encourage the officials to undertake GRIHA certified professional and evaluator exam; and further enlist and address the anticipated challenges by PWD officers while implementing government projects in line with the requirements of the GRIHA rating system.

Altogether, there were 19 participants from across various wings of PWD including civil, architecture and electrical; representing Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Amravati division/circles of PWD GoM. The program focused on sustainable site planning, water and wastewater management, building design optimization, energy performance optimization, renewable energy utilization, solid waste management, selection of sustainable building material and construction technology, health and well-being of the occupants and environmental quality. The 2-day program was divided into ten sessions and each session was complimented, either with a group or individual exercise so that the concepts get well embedded and are easy to implement in the practice. Furthermore, the reference material and presentations made during the program were also made available to each participant so as to have better understanding of the rating system. Participants found the training programme very informative and expressed interest in appearing for the upcoming GRIHA evaluator's and certified professional's exam.