Should you buy a house in a green project

When Manoj Nair (35) shifted into his new home, he was surprised at the kind of savings he was doing on the utility bills.

The electricity bills were reduced to nearly half and his society maintenance bills were relatively lower. Nair had to pay a premium to buy a house in building. “I was not fully aware of the concept of a green home when we bought the house. But it was more because we liked the location,” he said.

Nair is a resident of a green building in Mumbai which helps him save in the monthly bills.

Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director of Hiranandani group of companies who are into such green projects informed that the cost of construction involved for developing a green project is more by at least 10 to 15 percent.

“We have to pass on the increase in the construction cost to the customers. However it’s just a matter of 3 to 4 years that they are able to recover the costs with the savings in the bills,” he said.

On an average the electricity bill savings can be 25-50 percent and water savings can be 20-30 percent. Considering solar water heater and/or LPG gas heaters, insulation etc. at 25 percent, savings in real terms can be Rs 6000-12000 in a year for a 2000 sq ft house. These numbers are quite approximate and depend on the design elements and location, which can vary.

S Raghupathy, Senior Director, CII Green Business Centre, one of the bodies provides ratings to realty projects in the country, informed that there has been lots of awareness about green homes in the last two years.

According to Raghupathy, projects are rated platinum, gold or silver based on the various parameters with platinum being the highest rated.