GRIHA for Existing Schools has been developed as a framework to evaluate and rate the environmental performance of existing schools across India. The rating intends to develop a proactive attitude amongst the students and teachers to reduce their environmental footprint and adopt a greener lifestyle. The evaluation would be done using calculators with pre-fed data and the students and teachers will be working collaboratively to meet the requirements of the rating. The rating intends to imbibe the concept of resource conservation by means of learning through play activities thereby converging towards the national targets.

Eligibility:

All schools which have been operational for at least 1 year are eligible for rating under GRIHA for Existing Schools rating.

Rating Process

• Online registration – The project proponent can initiate the registration process by filling the expression of interest (EoI) form available on the GRIHA website. The registration is complete after the feasibility checklist is successfully completed by the project team. On successful payment of the requisite fees, the project gets registered for GRIHA for Existing Schools rating.
• Orientation workshop – The registration is followed by an orientation workshop conducted by the GRIHA Council which intends to provide detailed information of the rating, all criteria, and to address specific queries of the project team.
• Collection of building data and filling survey forms and calculators – Eco Team, under the guidance of teachers, will collect the various building-related data and use the survey form and calculators to analyse their school's environmental performance.
• Interim site visit (optional) – The project team can choose for an interim site visit to be conducted by GRIHA Council officials by paying additional charges. The interim visit helps the team to collate the data required and clarify any specific doubts at the site.
• First submission of documents – The project team will then compile and submit documents according to the criteria.
• Final site visit – Once the data is collected, forms and calculators are filled and submitted; the GRIHA Council officials will conduct a final site visit to verify the submitted documentation with the on-site implementation and also to verify compliance with various criteria in the rating.
• Final submission of documents – After the GRIHA Council officials’ visit on the site, the project team will submit the second set of documents for review based on the comments made during the first site visit.
• Final review by GRIHA Council – The GRIHA Council shall evaluate the submitted documentation.
• Award of rating – Final rating will be awarded based on the documentation submitted and observations made during site visit/s.

Criteria and their weightage

GRIHA for Existing Schools rating is a performance-oriented rating where points are earned for meeting the intent (appraisals) of the criteria. Each criterion has a certain number of points assigned to it. Compliance, as specified in the relevant criterion, has to be submitted in the prescribed format.

GRIHA for Existing Schools rating is a 50-point system consisting of 16 criteria categorized under the following six sections—Energy management; Occupant health and comfort; Air quality; Water management; Solid waste management; Well-being and social aspects and Bonus section. 8 of these 16 criteria have mandatory clauses while the rest are optional. It means that a project fulfilling the criterion requirement would qualify for the corresponding point/s. Also, if the project is not complying with the mandatory clauses, the project would be denied the rating.

Different levels of certification (one star to five stars) are awarded based on the number of points achieved. The minimum percentile required for certification is 25.

Table 2: Rating threshold

Percentile threshold	Achievable Stars as per GRIHA for Existing Schools
25-30
31-35	;
36-40
41-45
46 and above

Certification Fees

The registration cum rating fee is as follows:

The fee includes:

• Registration and certification costs
• Evaluation costs
• Professional time for carry out one on-site audit* cum site visit to cross-check the data towards the end
• Cost of GRIHA for existing schools plaque
• Orientation Workshop

*Travel and accommodation for 1 GRIHA Council professional will have to be provided for by the client for the on-site audit cum final site visit (for projects outside Delhi).

In case an intermediate site visit is requested, then that can be conducted on a case to case basis. The professional charges for every additional site visit by GRIHA Council are Rs. 10,000 + Taxes. The travel and accommodation for 1 GRIHA Council professional will have to be provided for by the client for each site visit (for projects outside Delhi).

The fee does not include:

• Government taxes as applicable to be paid on the registration and certification fee

It may be noted that award of the rating is subject to fulfilment of all requirements as elaborated in GRIHA for Existing schools rating document.

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