With sky high land values and lack of existing infrastructure to accommodate the low and marginal income householders, affordable housing is one of the major problems that India has to address today. Recognising the importance of this fact, the government has committed to providing ‘Housing for All by 2022’. This translates to 25 lakh housing units annually for the next eight years to meet just the current demand. Large scale affordable housing programmes under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) and other state level schemes, which have ventured into experimenting with public – private – partnership (PPP) models by involving developers and facilitating agencies such as NGOs and technical providers, have only managed to reach a little over 70,000 units per annum. Thus a lot still has to be done to meet the exponential housing demand in urban areas.

70% of the construction needed in 2030 in India is yet to be built. This in itself sounds alarm bells. Cleaner technologies and practices exist and could substantially reduce the ecological footprint of the sector if properly mainstreamed. Scaling up is stagnant due to cumbersome regulatory procedures of accessing finance, inadequate information, incentives and consumer demand. Current levels of iimplementation of environmental regulations and research for new alternatives are not able to manage the pace of soaring demand and related desperate measures. Moreover regulation is not strictly enforced by state agencies due to shortage of manpower and knowledge on appropriate technology and legislation.

While much has been written and discussed on urbanisation and access to housing for the urban poor in India, the integration of environmental sustainability into social housing is to a large extent a virgin field of investigation and action.

Green affordable housing at present is still marginal in urban India. Green buildings have mostly taken off in the non-residential sector. Affordable housing provision, on the other hand, is marred with a series of problems that are linked both to the quantity and the quality of the public affordable housing stock delivery. Unavailability of land, hike in the cost of labour and materials, low capacities at the local level and bureaucratic procedures in the schemes’ implementation are the major obstacles in bridging the housing gap.

On top of these challenges in producing affordable housing at scale come specific challenges linked with the diffusion of green building materials and techniques in the affordable housing space. Some incentives do exist for local stakeholders to experiment with green technologies but capacities on the ground remain insufficient to reap the benefits of such incentives. At the state level, appropriate regulations are not in place. Most states have not integrated environmental sustainability into their housing bylaws yet. Schedules of Rates (SoR), which list out materials which may be used in public construction, do not always include a wide range of green options.

Implementing organisations, be they public or private, have a very limited awareness of environmental problems. Their awareness of green building solutions is also limited, as those are spontaneously dismissed as costly options, not well-accepted by the customers. Stakeholders who show some interest for alternative materials lack guidance to make choices and face considerable difficulties in sourcing these materials locally, as supply chains are very fragmented.

Lack of acceptance of green building solutions is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed at the level of the society as a whole, so that green building solutions become desirable for all income groups, including the economically weaker sections of society.

Alternate and green building construction materials and technologies have shown tremendous potential for delivering significant cuts in emissions at low or no-cost or net savings to economies. There is a large scope for growing the housing and construction markets in the developing world and it is the perfect time for incorporating green technologies. Addressing the demand at large scale will leverage housing cost, hence opening the door for housing construction practitioners in India such as Developers and Housing Finance Companies.

Awareness generation efforts are required to convince stakeholders of the benefits of using alternate materials. The economic lens is key, as cost-efficiency is the main driver in the affordable housing space. Affordable housing stakeholders need to be accompanied through their initiation with green materials to gain confidence both in the structural soundness of the materials and in their own ability to successfully use them. Similar awareness generation efforts are necessary to increase the acceptance of green buildings among low-income housing customers. Capacity building efforts need to fit within a stimulating policy framework.

Mainstreaming green solutions in other spaces, such as public buildings and higher income group construction has tremendous potential in making green buildings more desirable and aspirational for lower income groups. Spaces where the financial stakes are not so overwhelming for the low-income group members, such as rental housing could also be interesting avenues to showcase the benefits of green construction practices.

At the Central government level, preferential green building material procurement and mandatory reforms in social housing schemes, coupled with stronger monitoring would strengthen and facilitate the implementation of environmentally-sound projects. Green building by-laws in all Indian states would then automatically incorporate sustainability into all housing projects, both in the public and in the private sector. The expansion of Schedules of Rates to accommodate the wide range of green building options is necessary to enable Urban Local Bodies and other public implementing agencies to use environment-friendly construction techniques and materials.

It is crucial that the context of sustainability is integrated in India’s growth path. While attention is being paid to economic and social sustainability, pressing environmental concerns fair low on the political agenda. As much as it is a challenge, the upcoming urban housing boom is also an opportunity to embrace a greener development trajectory. q