The global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, Bureau Veritas has established a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified product testing laboratory in Noida region of Delhi-NCR. Given a gold rating for Commercial Interior (v2009) by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the lab provides multiple services such as testing, audit, inspection and training services for the textile, apparel, leather & footwear, toys, furniture, electrical & electronic appliance and food product markets where textiles enjoy over 80 per cent of market share.
“Since consumers are now conscious and want to be associated with business partners who are aware and responsible in all fronts whether social, economic and environment, we as service providers felt the need to do something about the environment, therefore we incorporated Green concept in our systems,” informs Paromita Roy, Country Chief Executive, Director, Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services India.
The building which was made Green from a bare shell structure consumes less water using water efficient fixtures, lead-free and VOC-free paint, has an effluent treatment plant which treats laboratory chemical waste and ensures that the water can be reused for flushing purposes. This has resulted immediately in the reduction of energy consumption in the facility by at least 30 per cent, and a similarly reduction in the electricity bill too. The achievement has been further supported by installing occupancy sensors in more than 80 per cent of the lab. Though the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) with treated fresh air systems is 20 to 40 per cent more costly than a usual Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system, but has ensured good air quality in the building and energy saving of up to 55%.
[bleft]“We as service providers felt the need to do something about the environment, therefore we incorporated Green concept in our systems.” – Paromita Roy Country Chief Executive, Director, Bureau Veritas[/bleft]
Contrary to huge capital investment involved in the construction of the Green building, Bureau Veritas designed their building in such a way that the costs incurred were minimal, just around 3-4 per cent of the total project budget. The organization reduced its cost through various ways, such as installing Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) which reduced the watt/sq. ft. by 25 per cent. The company exerted influence and earned their trust in other ways too, most importantly by making vendors understand the need of a Green building.
