Guwahati, Aug. 17: The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is eyeing the grassroots to spread the green movement in the Northeast.

The council, which now has a Guwahati chapter operating since June 24, will launch a student chapter at IIT Guwahati on Friday.

"We want to spread awareness on the significance of green building movement and the need to maintain a balance between development and ecology among engineering and architecture students of the region," P.K. Sharma, co-chairman of IGBC Guwahati, told The Telegraph today.

As part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the IGBC, since 2011, has been spearheading the green building movement in the country.

The Guwahati chapter of the council is the 21st chapter in India and the first in the Northeast. The council's mission is to work closely with the stakeholders in spreading the green building movement across the region, reduce carbon footprint, use of water and energy, production of waste and protect the environment.

The wing at IIT Guwahati will be the fourth student chapter under the IGBC.

"We already have our student wings at Royal Global Institutions, Guwahati, Guwahati College of Architecture and the North Eastern Hill University (Nehu), Shillong. The three, which had been functioning under the parent body (IGBC), will now be operating under the council's Guwahati chapter," Sharma, who is also the president of Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers Association (Areida), said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a green building as the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's lifecycle.

"We plan to open more such chapters in engineering and architecture institutions of the Northeast as we look forward to spread the green movement, from the grassroots to the policy level. The institutions will be taken aboard at a nominal membership fee," Sharma said.

The council has in its fold corporate members, practising technical professionals, construction industry, builders and developers, building material producers/vendors, government and nodal agencies and policy makers on the need for sustainable environment-friendly development.

"A core committee was formed recently by the council here with members inducted primarily from Areida, Association of Architects, Assam (AAA) and the Meghalaya Architects Forum. The committee will look into policy and technical matters, aspects such as capacity building, green products and technologies, education and awareness and membership drive," he said.

The IGBC's intervention has helped increase the footprint of registered green building across the country from 20,000 square feet in 2001 to 3.82 billion square feet at present. In the Northeast, the council has been active since 2014. CII sources said the footprint of registered green building would be more than 2.5 million square feet in the across region.