The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a policy research organization, said it will work towards making 15 million sq. m in both government and private buildings GRIHA-compliant in the next three years. GRIHA, an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, is the national rating system for green buildings in India. The energy savings through the GRIHA initiatives, TERI said in a release, will be sufficient to light up at least 200,000 urban homes and provide solar water heating to 67,500 urban homes cumulatively. According to the TERI release, GRIHA has been adopted by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for compliance in all its future projects. The Cabinet of the government of Delhi and the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in Maharashtra, too, have passed resolutions calling for all future buildings to be GRIHA rated. PCMC is offering financial incentives to developers and occupants of such buildings. TERI has also signed an agreement with the government of Assam to adopt GRIHA standards in all construction projects, said Mili Majumdar, director, sustainable habitat, at TERI. "We are working with more municipalities like Noida (Uttar Pradesh) to give additional floor space, and with banks to give lower interest rates to consumers of green buildings," Majumdar said.

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