RATING PROCESS AND RATING STRUCTURE OF GRIHA ⋆ Archi-Monarch

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GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) is a green building rating system in India that evaluates the environmental performance of buildings and establishes standards for designing and constructing energy-efficient, sustainable buildings.

The GRIHA Council has been working persistently since 2005 to enhance sustainability of our built environment with more than 2000 registered projects under various GRIHA variants with a combined footprint of over 850 million m2 spread across the country. These projects account for about 2525 MW of installed renewable energy generation capacity to offset 28.2 MtCO2/annum emissions.

The GRIHA v.2015 has undergone an extensive revision in order to account for the ongoing advancements in the highly dynamic construction sector.
Recently, Government of India has revised several standards such as ECBC 2017, NBC 2016, and so on, and has also introduced guidelines for waste management. These revised standards have been well addressed in the varied requirements of GRIHA v.2019 such that it acts as a single scheme that can empower and push towards global sustainable development goals.

Eligibility

All new construction projects with built up area more than 2500 m2 (excluding parking, basement area, and typical buildings) are eligible for certification under GRIHA v.2019. Building typologies have been further defined in the subsequent sections.

Note – Typical buildings can be defined as the ones with exact same orientation, height, floor plan, and plinth level and are constructed within a defined site boundary

1) Rating process

i) Online registration

The project team can initiate the registration process by filling the EOI Form available on the GRIHA website.
The process of registration is completed after the successful payment of registration fees by the project team.
Once the project is registered, the project team is provided with a username and password for submitting the documentation on the GRIHA online panel.

ii) Orientation workshop

The registration is followed by an orientation workshop conducted by GRIHA Council officials, which intends to provide detailed information of the rating along with an elaborate explanation to all the criteria, and post addressing project-specific queries of the teams.

iii) Due diligence I

The site visit shall be conducted by GRIHA Council officials to validate sustainable measures adopted during the construction phase.
It will be scheduled post the project has reached its plinth level.
The Due diligence report should be uploaded on the panel within 20 working days from the site visit, followed by an uploading of a compliance report by the project team within the next 15 working days.
This is to ensure that the project abides by the mandatory requirements of the rating.

iv) Due diligence II

The second site visit shall be conducted by the GRIHA Council officials to validate internal finishes, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical components installed during the construction phase.
It is scheduled post completion of the building structure work.
The Due diligence report should be uploaded on the panel within 20 working days from the site visit, followed by an uploading of a compliance report by the project team within the next 15 working days.

v) Submission of documents

As the project is nearing completion, the project proponent will upload the documents for all criteria on the online panel using the username and password provided at the time of registration.

vi) Preliminary evaluation

After the online submission of the documents, the preliminary evaluation is carried out by a team of professionals from GRIHA Council and external evaluators, who are experts in their respective fields recognized by GRIHA Council.
The documentation must be complete in every aspect for all attempted criteria along with the commissioning report.
Any attempted criteria with incomplete documentation shall not be evaluated.
Online calculators provided for specific criteria need to be filled and submitted.
The GRIHA Council officials shall first review the compliance of all criteria and establish compliance with mandatory criteria, followed by estimation of the total number of achievable points.
A preliminary evaluation report shall be submitted within 60 working days after document submission.

vii) Final due diligence

The final site visit shall be conducted by the GRIHA Council officials to verify the submitted documentation with on-site implementation.
The visit is done once the project is complete and all equipment and systems are installed and commissioned.
The Due diligence report shall be uploaded on the panel within 20 working days from the site visit.

viii) Final evaluation

The GRIHA Council officials along with external evaluators shall then evaluate the final round of submitted documentation and the final site visit report in response to the preliminary evaluation.
On the basis of this evaluation, The GRIHA Council shall prepare a final score card within 30 working days after the project team furnishes requisite information sought during preliminary evaluation and due diligence visits.
The final rating is awarded based on the final evaluation and is valid up to 5 years.

ix) Additional due diligence Green awareness drive

The GRIHA Council conducts an additional due diligence visit post the final rating, for green awareness and education amongst project occupants.
This visit aims to impart basic knowledge and understanding on green buildings and their way of working.
This awareness programme could be organized within 12 months of occupancy of the project.

x) Rating renewal

There are two ways in which the rating can be renewed and the project gets to enjoy the perks of being called a rated building.
This can be done either by submitting an audit data report (over a span of three consecutive years) comprising energy, water, and waste (report to be prepared by BEE-certified energy auditor), or by enrolling the project for GRIHA EB rating to maintain its certification for the next cycle of 5 years.

Notes

If the project fails to comply with any mandatory requirement/s of the rating, in such a scenario, it shall be denied rating.
Any additional request of evaluation/re-evaluation from the project team shall be concluded by the GRIHA Council on chargeable bases @ INR 10,000 per criterion.
All logistics related to travel and accommodation of GRIHA Council officials are not included in the registration cost and shall be borne and arranged by the client.
The project team must submit all the document to GRIHA Council and attain their rating within 7 years from the date of registration, failing which an extension fee must be paid by the project team to the GRIHA Council.
Criterion requirements for precertification in this variant shall be the same as specified under this manual.

2) Rating structure

The overall sequence of criteria and their appraisals has been changed in the GRIHA v.2019.
This version now has 11 sections subdivided into 30 criteria.
Table below elaborates on the new rating structure.

i) Table Rating structure for GRIHA v.2019

Section weightages in percentage

The thresholds for achieving GRIHA rating as per the GRIHA v.2019 are given in Table below.

ii) Table Percentile thresholds for achieving stars

PERCENTILE THRESHOLDS OF ACHIEVING STARS IN GRIHA

In conclusion, the GRIHA rating process is a comprehensive and rigorous assessment of a building’s environmental performance, and the rating structure provides a clear and transparent method for evaluating buildings and promoting sustainability in the built environment.