TERI and Mahindra Lifespaces to Establish Center of Excellence for Sustainable Habitats

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Mahindra Lifespaces today announced the creation of a Center of Excellence (CoE) focused on improving energy efficiency in India’s residential buildings sector. The ‘Mahindra TERI CoE for Sustainable Habitats’ – as this Center will be known - will evaluate both traditional and innovative technologies and alternative materials customised for the Indian buildings sector and climate zones. The Center will bring the much needed informed validated knowledge about better performing materials and ways to use the ample daylight available, that will greatly help to mainstream greener buildings in the country.

Key focus areas of the CoE will include energy and water efficiency and use of low cost green materials. Another important intended outcome of the research efforts of the CoE will be to address the existing gap in available statistical datasets relevant to the Indian residential buildings sector. The research output from the CoE will be disseminated to multiple stakeholder communities via conferences, workshops, academic courses, reports, journal archives and webinars, amongst other mediums. Wider industry participation and contribution will be sought to increase capacity and reach.  The CoE will be located at TERI’s Gual Paharicampus near Gurgaon, initially with a five-year horizon, with research initiatives split into modules based on priority and scale.

“Buildings are experiencing unprecedented growth in India, leading to increasedenergy demand and consumption. Extensive research is needed to enable energy efficiency in buildings, and the ‘Mahindra TERI CoE for Sustainable Habitats’ aims to evaluate innovative technologies tailored to the Indian consumer and climate, and available in the form of easy-to-use tools to the Indian building industry. We are delighted that Mahindra Lifespaces has come forth to support the establishment of this Center that will benefit the entire industry,” said Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI.

“The significance of energy efficiency in the Indian buildings sector has been highlighted over the last few years; however, there remains substantial potential for further advancements in knowledge assimilation and technology adoption that can benefit the industry and consequently, ensure a sustainable future for India’s urban areas. With its firm conviction that efficient utilization of energy and natural resources is crucial to drive urban development in the right direction, TERI is appropriately placed to drive this agenda and we are happy to support the establishment of the CoE,” said Anita Arjundas, Managing Director, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited.

Rapid growth in urban population over the past few years has resulted in accelerating urbanisation and infrastructure development, resulting in an increasing demand for energy. It is estimated that a significant part of urban India is yet to be built, building a strong case for the need to do it well.

At present, the buildings sector accounts for 30% of overall electricity consumption in the country, of which almost 72% is consumed by the residential sector. Studies have indicated that the average household will likely consume five times more electricity in 2020 than it did in 2000. Thus, the buildings sector in India offers huge potential for energy conservation, making initiatives such as the Mahindra TERI CoE for Sustainable Habitats the need of the hour.

About TERI

The Energy and Resources Institute is an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment and sustainable development and devoted to efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. Since its inception in 1974, TERI has emerged as an institution of excellence for its path-breaking research, and is a global brand widely respected by political leaders, policy makers, corporate entities as well as the civil society at large.http://www.teriin.org/

About Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd., the real estate and infrastructure development business of the $16.9 billion Mahindra Group, is a leader and pioneer in sustainable urban development, through the creation of residential and integrated large format developments across nine Indian cities - Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The Company’s residential & commercial development footprint includes over 1.20 million sq.m (12.94 million sq ft) of completed projects and over 0.88 million sq. m. (9.44 million sq. ft.) of ongoing and forthcoming projects.

Mahindra Lifespaces has pioneered the concept of an integrated business city through ‘Mahindra World City’ developments in Chennai and Jaipur; built on the philosophy of ‘Livelihood-Living-Life’, these developments span 1796 hectares (4,437 acres), house over 125 global and Indian companies and serve to drive economic growth and community development. In addition, Mahindra Lifespaces enables access to quality housing at affordable prices via its brand ‘Happinest’. 

A pioneer of the green homes movement in India, Mahindra Lifespaces is the first Indian real estate company to have voluntarily released its triple bottom-line focused, externally assured Sustainability Report based on the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) framework. In 2015, Mahindra Lifespaces has been recognized as Regional Sector Leader in Asia, in its category, by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for the second year in a row.

www.mahindralifespaces.com; www.mahindraworldcity.com