Green Energy Summit 2009

Bangalore, India - This summit will bring together green energy experts, heads of state, top government officials, heads of large international organisations, policy makers, sustainability experts, environmentalists and global investors.

World Leaders Gather at Green Energy Summit 2009 to Plug Bailout ScenariosClean Technology, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability as Sound Engines for Economic GrowthBANGALORE, November 5, 2008 -- Don't wait for a bailout. There is none. This deepening understanding is bringing together leading green energy experts, heads of state, top government officials, heads of large international organisations, policy makers, sustainability experts, environmentalists and global investors at Green Energy Summit 2009 (GES 2009), March 4-7, 2009 to be held at the Palace Grounds, Bangalore, India.

Going green is both a corporate advantage and an opportunity for humanity to enable change. GES 2009 (www.greenenergysummit.com) will bring together the government, civil society and private business leaders in a bid to develop and drive new initiatives, provide insights, showcase sustainable product development and green business opportunities, and facilitate interaction between entities from all over the world and India.
The summit will also address policy options and practical applications that have proven successful in ramping up development of environmentally and economically sound solutions that truly benefit all stakeholders.At GES 2009, participants can:Tune in to four focus areas - Green Power, Green Buildings, Green Fuels & Transportation, Green IT. Discuss solutions to some of humanity's most compelling issues: energy security, climate change, renewable sources of energy & sustainable human development. Unlock sales opportunities in India: must-attend for International companies interested in meeting Indian buyers, partners and representatives. Find your match and shortlist potential business partners: the GES concierge will work away at your shortlist and arrange up to 6 one-on-one appointments. Expertise, advice and strategy: benefit from the expertise, credibility and mandates of a powerhouse team of influential RE and clean technology experts.

Speakers at GES 2009“GES 2009 will be a wholly interactive event with accent on the application of renewable energy and clean technologies in green power, green buildings, green fuels and transportation and green IT. The program will comprise high-level keynote sessions, expert case studies on specific themes, awards function, networking dinner and guided tours of green energy installations”, says Dr. Arcot Ramachandran, chairperson of the organising team.
Speakers include Dr. Jose Achache (Director, Group on Earth Observations), Dr. Mohamed T. El-Ashry (Chair, REN21), H.E. Corrado Clini (Director General, Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, Italy & Chair, G8 Global Bioenergy Partnership), Dr. R.K. Pachauri (Chairman, IPCC), Dr. Dan Arvizu (Director, NREL), Dr. Jamshed J. Irani (Director, TATA Sons Limited and Chairman, Tata Quality Management Services), Michael T. Eckhart (President, ACORE & Co-chairman, WCRE), Dr. Marianne Osterkorn (International Director, REEEP), Dr. Yogi Goswami (Former President, ISES), Dr. Pramod Deo (Chairman, CERC), R Seshasayee (MD, Ashok Leyland), Nitin Desai (Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the World Summit on the Information Society), David Bohigian (Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce), Dipal C Barua (MD, Grameen Shakti), Dr Ajay Mathur (Director General, BEE), and several other important stakeholders.

Asia's largest exhibition for renewable and clean technologiesGreen Energy Expo is spread out over 10,000 sqm and will enjoy a footfall of more than 100,000. The exhibitions will have separate pavilions for Green Power, Green IT, Green Buildings, Green Fuels & Transport, Sustainable Brand Showcase, Nano in Sustainability and Biotech in Sustainability.Featuring Indian and International exhibitors from the US, Europe, Canada, Middle East and Asia Pacific, meet manufacturers, builders, vendors and investors of unconventional energy technology (solar, wind, biofuel, thermal), enterprise hardware & software technology vendors, semiconductor companies, financial institutions, venture capitalists and government bodies.
Sponsor GES 2009 and join the winner's circle“Climate change and sustainability strategies, renewable, green and clean technologies are as important for our planet as was perhaps financial jurisprudence to the current economic downturn. When the chips are down, customers and prospects will always look up to brands and businesses that are sustainable, conservative, and willing to assume corporate social responsibility for a cleaner future,” says Dilip Thomas, Steering Committee Member/Program Chair & CEO of Saltmarch Media, the organizers of GES 2009.

If you have a sustainable brand, product, or service, your presence as a sponsor at GES 2009 sends out the right signals to your various marketing initiatives including customer touch points, CSR and branding, besides demonstrating clear commitment towards a clean, green and sustainable planet.

GES 2009 is the world-class forum for varied stakeholders from the Solar, Wind, Biomass, IT, Transport, Construction, Aviation, Nanotechnology, and Biotechnology, to showcase your brand, propagate your leadership message, and unlock sales opportunities.

About Saltmarch MediaGES 2009 is conceived and organised by Saltmarch Media in association with the Renewable Energy Action Forum (REAF) — like-minded bodies that believe passionately in the role of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in national development, reducing our dependency on fuel imports and protection of the environment. The organising committee is chaired by Dr. Arcot Ramachandran (Chairman TERI Governing Council, Former Under Secretary General UN, and Secretary, DST). Committee members include Dr. J Gururaja (Former Sr Adviser, United Nations and Adviser, MNRE, GoI), Dr. V Balasubramanian (Former Additional Chief Secretary, GoK), Dilip Thomas (Chairman & CEO, Saltmarch), A K Vora (Former MD, Tata BP Solar India, K Jairaj (Principal Secretary, Energy, GoK), Indu Britto (Group Publisher, Saltmarch Media), Shri. M N Vidyashankar (Ex-officio Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka), K Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar India Limited, Dr. Bhaktavatsalam (Former Chairman, IREDA, GoI), and Dr. Harish Hande – Founder & CEO, SELCO India.For more information on GES contact the GES HotlineMobile: +91 99015 08099, Tel: +91 80 4005 1000Email: info@greenenergysummit.comKey objectivesGreen IT, green buildings, green power, green fuels

Registration details

To Register: http://www.greenenergysummit.com/registration.htmlContact DetailsContact: Shaguf MohtishamTel: +91 80 4005 1000Address: # 3/18, Corporation Building, Residency Road,Bangalore 560025,Karnataka, IndiaEmail: info@greenenergysummit.com

Behind the glitz of ‘green’ buildings - The Hindu story

The green concept has to be developed for local contexts so that they can be applied within the parameters determined by local financial needs, writes Ananth Krishnan

Green homes and buildings are increasingly in vogue in neighbourhoods and corporate circles around the world. Industry experts say that they can help save on energy and maintenance costs in homes and offices.

However, they are yet to become widely popular in the country. High input costs, particularly with regard to green buildings, continue to deter Indian consumers, and eco-friendly appliances remain available only in relatively small quantities in the market. Indian arc hitects too remain divided on both the necessity and the economic feasibility of the idea.

Saving resources

Green homes are designed to be efficient in energy and water consumption, right from the outer design shell of the home to the use of eco-friendly appliances such as Compact Fluorescent Lamps ( CFL) and solar water heaters to replace their energy-guzzling alternatives (see graphic). Green homes are also designed to incorporate systems such as rainwater harvesting and waste management. Harsha Sridhar, chief anchor (design and architecture), Biodiversity Conservation (India), says that the concept brings benefits to not just homeowners and developers, but to conservationists as well.

Sridhar believes that green homes will allow homeowners to significantly save on electricity and water, even generate less waste. Developers will have lower construction costs as a result of greater efficiency in material use, as well as lower recurring maintenance costs.

“Studies show that a home that is fitted with CFL lamps, solar water heaters and recycling facilities will save around Rs. 2.56 lakh over six years, or around Rs. 3,500 a month,” says Sridhar. “Solar water heaters alone will save around Rs. 71,000 over six years. But going green is not just about costs. It is about using resources more wisely, as well as a shift in the professional attitude of architects, managers, corporates as well as everybody else.”

The same idea applies to larger buildings as well – the green mantra is becoming increasingly popular in corporate circles. Architect Sharukh Mistry is the chairman of the Bangalore chapter of the Indian Green Building Council, an organisation set up by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mistry says that a change in the way both architects and their clients envisage their homes and buildings is needed for the green concept to really catch on. He believes that to a certain extent this is already happening.

“When multinational companies started coming in, their initial directive to architects was to build the same structures they were used to elsewhere, such as tall glass buildings,” Mistry says. “I think the companies are increasingly realising the importance of the local connections that they can build.”
Non-issue in India

Industry lobby groups such as the CII have been trying to propagate the green building idea for Indian businesses, in part because multinational companies are increasingly valuing buildings with high green ratings.

Architect P.T. Krishnan says that a lot of the green concepts propagated by Indian industry are predicated on Western needs, and hence do not make much sense in India.
“The whole green building idea starts from a platform that assumes buildings are energy intensive and completely dependent on power,” says Krishnan . “In the tropics we have a different tradition of building, where we allow natural light and ventilation. But we’ve lost our way in architecture, as we have blindly absorbed Western standards.”

Mr. Krishnan says that Indian architects, as well as corporates, have been taken in by the “glitz” of glass, which does not make either environmental or architectural sense in India where sunlight is not scarce.
“We used to illuminate office buildings with 120 lux bulbs, but we then brought in 300 lux bulbs that consume more energy just because they are being used in the U.S.,” Krishnan points out. “So, now we have to spend a lot more money [on eco-friendly appliances to save on energy costs] to rectify what we have wrongly brought in. The justification is that the technology will pay us back in three or four years. But we have to ask why we incur these costs in the first place.”

Architect Prashant Hedao says that if eco-friendly products are brought into the mainstream and if sustainable technologies are subsidised, the concept will become more economically feasible.

“People do not realise that by using a solar water heater instead of a geyser, they will recover their installation costs in two to three years,” Mr. Hedao says. “After that, they will actually be making a profit. For instance, purchasing costs for CFLs are more expensive than other lamps, but over a course of time they will save energy.”

With the higher costs involved – according to the CII, buildings with the highest green rating of ‘Platinum’ will cost 30 per cent more than a normal building – the green building concept remains limited to a very narrow, wealthy spectrum of society.

“The green building concepts apply to offices and IT buildings alone,” Krishnan confirms. “So we must remember that we’re talking about a very narrow spectrum here. When we design schools and colleges, we keep in mind natural light and natural ventilation. They are not dependent on air-conditioners. So, for me, it is a non-issue in India.”

According to Puducherry-based architect Suhasini Ayer, the corporate emphasis on green appliances misses the point. “Green homes are about more than just getting appliances such as solar panels,” says Ayer .

“Even the design of the shell of the construction should take into account climatic considerations in its orientation. Most architects are taught climatic design, but in an urban area you don’t always have the opportunity to incorporate every aspect. But even within fixed parameters, climatic considerations can be taken into account.”

Sensible design

So, your homes can still be designed in ways that are environmentally friendly, without you necessarily having to turn to fancy fittings. For example, Ayer says bedrooms should be located on the northern or southern faces of homes to keep them naturally cool and away from the glare of the sun. Plumbing, on the other hand, should be installed on the western side of homes, to tap the sun’s heat and save on electrical heating.

The drive to ‘go green’ is undoubtedly welcome, as the problems of water shortage, energy crisis and climate change are seemingly here to stay. However, if the concept is to truly catch on, Indian architects and the industry need to get past the “glitz” of the idea, as Krishnan says.
The green concept has to be developed for local contexts, so that they can still be applied within the parameters determined by local and financial needs. Otherwise, ‘going green’ will be a mantra that applies to only a privileged few – and a hollow one.

http://www.hindu.com/pp/2007/10/06/stories/2007100650310100.htm