Environment Ministry`s new green building inaugurated

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday inaugurated Environment Ministry`s new office - a green building which has adopted several measures to save energy.

The Prime Minister was briefed about the various energy saving and energy generating features of the building, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, by Environment Minister Veerappa Moily and Ministry officials. Speaking on the building, the Minister said, "This is a very unique structure and it has five blocks named after the five elements of nature namely earth, air, sky, water and fire. This also corresponds to our senses." He said the building with its large solar panels, is "self sufficient in terms of power and we can even sell some power to the grid. It is the best building in the country and has been developed by the CPWD." Moily said the logo of the building has been designed by the National Institute of Design which captures "the concept of the green building. The motif is of tiger, which is our national animal along with the national aquatic animal gangetic dolphin." He credited his predecessor and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for the idea behind setting up of the building. Moily termed the increasing use of diesel cars as a "matter of concern" and said the Government was promoting the use of CNG and PNG as fuel in cars. He said a proposal to make vehicles adhere to Bharat 5 standards of emission was "making good progress" as the Government is keen to cut down pollution drastically. Speaking on the occasion, Ramesh said the "new building has been able to cut down on air conditioning load from 1,000 tonnes to 500 tonnes. If all buildings are built like this, we would be able to meet our greenhouse gas emission targets." Cutting air conditioning load by using innovative methods such as geo thermal and solar energy will help in cutting energy requirements, he said.