Comparing Residential Buildings at IIT Kanpur using GRIHA Ratings

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_8How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Green Buildings; Sustainable Design; Resource Conservation; GRIHA

Abstract

India’s construction sector has witnessed significant growth in recent decades, with building sector becoming one of the largest contributors to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This rapid growth has significant environmental impacts highlighting the urgent need for adopting sustainable building practices. Rating systems such as GRIHA provide a systematic framework to assess building performance and identify opportunities for enhancing environmental performance. This paper focuses on assessing the sustainability ratings of the Faculty Apartment, a residential building comprising four blocks [A, B, C and D] at IIT Kanpur, using GRIHA Guidelines. The methodology involved on-site visits, a discussion with the Senior Assistant Engineer [Civil] IWD, IIT Kanpur, and surveys of ten residents of the apartment to gather the current performance data. Based on these insights, retrofitting strategies were proposed to enhance energy efficiency, reduce operational costs, and minimize environmental impacts. The findings show that initial ratings for Block A and B were 36.5% [1 GRIHA star] and for Block C and D were 47% [2 GRIHA star]. After suggested retrofitting, the ratings will improve significantly, with Blocks A and B reaching 63.5% and Block C and D 68% [3 GRIHA stars for all blocks], respectively. A direct comparison of sustainability scores before and after retrofitting highlights the improvements, demonstrating how such interventions can strengthen green ratings while promoting environmental sustainability. The study emphasizes that retrofitting reduces costs and environmental impacts while supporting IIT Kanpur’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and aligning with India’s broader 2070 net-zero commitment.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Tarun Gupta
AU  - Shalini Sharma
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/26
TI  - Comparing Residential Buildings at IIT Kanpur using GRIHA Ratings
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Infrastructure Development and Sustainability (ICIDS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 108
EP  - 127
SN  - 3005-155X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_8
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_8
ID  - Gupta2026
ER  -