Infosys BPO Limited, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of
Infosys Technologies Limited, has won the 'Platinum' rating by
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for its
building in Jaipur, India. Platinum certification is the highest
level of green building certification under the Indian Green
Building Council's LEED rating system. The LEED Green Building
system is an internationally accepted benchmark for the design,
construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
Built on a total floor area of 3,30,000 square feet, the Infosys
BPO building in Jaipur is one of the largest Platinum rated
buildings in India. The building was conceived and built with a
holistic approach to sustainability in five key areas: sustainable
site development, water saving, energy efficiency, materials
selection and indoor environmental quality. This building is
expected to consume 30 percent less energy as compared to the base
case building, as per ASHRAE 90.1-2004 requirements.
Salient features of the Infosys BPO building in Jaipur include:
•
Efficient building envelope: High
performance building envelope consisting of insulated walls and
spectrally selected windows with a low window to wall ratio,
reduces the total heat gain in the building.
•
Efficient lighting & equipment:
Lighting design of 0.65 watts per square foot achieving 40 percent
improvement over traditional designs. Lighting design coupled with
the use of 5-star rated, energy efficient computers reduces energy
load as well as internal heat gains.
•
Efficient air-conditioning:
Air-conditioning system equipped with multi-stage air handling
units which operate on free cooling, evaporative cooling and
air-conditioning modes during nights and winters, achieving more
than 30% efficiency over a traditional system.
•
Onsite renewable energy: A
battery-free 250 KW roof top solar photovoltaic installation
meeting 7.5 percent of the total power requirement is being
provided, taking advantage of the high solar insolation in
Jaipur.
•
Low energy materials: 13 percent of
the total material is recycled material, thereby reducing virgin
material exploitation. 80 percent of the total material is
manufactured locally and over 59 percent of this material has also
been extracted regionally, thereby reducing the pollution due to
transportation.
• Water sustainability: 57
interconnected recharge wells have been built across the campus to
capture & sequester every drop of rain water. Low flow
dual-flush toilets, sensor based urinals and other water efficient
fixtures have been provided, reducing water consumption by over 40
percent. Sewage water is treated in the state-of-the-art Membrane
Bio Reactor (MBR) plant and reused for flushing and
air-conditioning. 100 percent of the water required for landscaping
is from treated water and no potable water is used.
Commenting on the certification, Ramadas Kamath, SVP –
Administration, Infrastructure & Security at Infosys
Technologies said, “Energy consumption by buildings
constitutes more than 40 percent of global CO2 emissions; hence we
are investing heavily in green buildings and working on existing
ones to reduce our energy consumption. Jaipur is the starting point
of our journey towards high performance buildings. Our endeavour is
to ensure that all our new buildings meet the highest standards of
LEED/GRIHA certification. We hope that our achievement will pave
the way for more such initiatives in the industry”.
Speaking about the focus on environmental sustainability at
Infosys, (Swami) Swaminathan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing
Director of Infosys BPO said, “The issue of environmental
degradation is a serious one, and at Infosys, we strongly believe
that everyone at all levels needs to contribute towards protection
and preservation of the environment. As a corporate citizen with a
conscience, Infosys is committed to reducing the ecological impact
of its operations”.
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