According to the Global Status Report, 2017, the building and construction sector is responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions globally, with operational emissions (from energy used to heat, cool and light buildings) accounting for 28%. The remaining 11% comes from embodied carbon emissions or 'upfront' carbon associated with materials and construction processes throughout the whole building life cycle. To put it in perspective, the existing building causes more harm to the environment than the new building stock added year on year. With rapid urbanization across India's major metropolitan cities, Hyderabad is not very far away from being the next big metropolis.
Therefore, the built environment sector has a vital role in responding to the climate emergency, and addressing upfront carbon is a critical and urgent focus. Especially, existing residential communities, schools and offices have an enormous potential to retrofit systems and technologies, resulting in improved health and well-being of occupants, optimized operational expenses, and carbon emissions reduction.
We at Organo have learnt and unlearnt many things during our journey of building Rurban eco-habitats. Through our new initiative, Organo Et Communities (OEC), we aim to spread awareness on the benefits of green measures & retrofits to existing communities and help bridge the gap between technology suppliers and residents. We realized that developing Rurban eco-habitats is solving the more significant problem to a certain extent. However, we realized that sustainability is a collective effort and helping other communities live sustainably would create a larger impact in minimizing carbon emissions and improving the residents' health and well-being. This is the need of the hour, and there a long gap that needs to be filled.
We are actively reaching out to communities to understand improvement areas by conducting a preliminary feasibility study through our in-house sustainability engineers and architects. The assessment helps identify the potential for solar installation on rooftops, converting balconies, podiums, and terraces into productive food gardens, minimizing water consumption through flow fixtures and improving STP efficiency, etc. We believe this will provide an impetus for technology suppliers to provide the right solutions, making it a win-win for both stakeholders in this value chain.
OEC is open to collaborating with communities, technology providers, subject matter experts and sustainability consultants in this endeavor.
