"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another," Albert Einstein had famously quipped a century or so back, thereby defining our perceptions about energy. The fact that most of us grow up learning that energy is almost limitless in the universe, makes us a wee bit immune to the consequences of our action from an energy perspective. If indeed e=mc2, then all we need to do is burn some matter at the speed of light, and to generate all the energy we ever need.

Practically speaking, there are two ways to make a building green, one is to plan it green even before it is built, or make turn an existing building green (called retro-fitting). There are a couple of standards that are available and recognized in the marketplace. The most popular one is LEED by USGBC, GRIHA by TERI (now aligned with LEED), IGBC Green Ratings by CII, and Energy Conservation Building Code by BEE.

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