Covid-19: CII-IGBC issues guidelines for green buildings

Hyderabad: The Confederation of Indian Industry's Indian Green Buildings Council (CII-IGBC) has issued new guidelines for post-lockdown reopening of buildings. The fresh guidelines, presented as "IGBC Guidelines for Combating COVID-19 in Green Buildings", come in the light of Lockdown 5.0 & Unlock 1.0, with growing expectations of economic recovery in the second half of 2020. It provides comprehensive post lockdown strategies to manage people and workplaces. CII's IGBC is India's premier body for green buildings and has facilitated over 5,890 projects to go green, amounting to7.16Billionsq ft of green built space, since 2001.

Green and healthy buildings have become the need of the hour, for securing business continuity and health, hygiene, safety, and occupant well-being at organizations.

Among other recommendations, the guidelines place great emphasis on methods of maintaining sanitisation and hygiene in the entire building, addressing related aspects of indoor air quality to purify the space, taking into account the role of equipment and technologies to make the interiors safer, detailed protocols for occupants and visitors for entering the premises and using the buildings, prioritising contamination control and reducing indoor emission, creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for transit, managing & advocating best practices related to potable and drinking water quality and methods for handling medical emergencies related to Covid-19.

V Suresh, National Chairman of IGBC, said many IT companies have already begun operating from their offices with reduced staff, while others have resorted to only critical functions operating from workplaces. It's indeed a sensitive topic, and companies should allay the concerns for health, hygiene & safety of their employees, and bring them back to work in a staggered manner.

By implementing the IGBC guidelines, companies can enable their operations to function with adequate safety and improved health and well-being for their workforce. With that taken care of, the companies concentrate on measures to move towards a more fluid, networked environment that empowers each worker to connect with the people and resources they need to deliver new value and connected experiences.