IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Source: IGBC Green New Buildings Abridged Reference Guide (Version 3.0)
Certification Levels
Owner-occupied Tenant-occupied
Certification Level Recognition
Buildings Buildings
Certified 40-49 40-49 Best Practices
Silver 50-59 50-59 Outstanding Performance
Gold 60-74 60-74 National Excellence
Platinum 75-100 75-100 Global Leadership
Source: IGBC Green New Buildings Abridged Reference Guide (Version 3.0)
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
7. SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Integrated Design Approach
✓ The intent of integrated design approach is to construct a high performance building, thereby
reducing negative environmental impacts.
✓ The Sustainable Design section addresses the ecology and environmental concerns related to
residential construction & site development activities.
✓ The major ecological features of the site should be identified, including the site topography,
existing trees, vegetation, wildlife, and prior site history.
✓ The erosion and sedimentation control plan can be implemented during construction to
ensure that the existing vegetation on site is protected and the nutrient rich topsoil is not
washed away with the site water run-off.
✓ Projects shall involve team members from multi-disciplinary fields for effective decision-
making and enhanced building performance, right from conceptual stage till completion of
the project.
➢ Ensure that the project owner involves the following project team members, as
applicable, at each stage of the project: Architect, Commissioning Authority, Energy
Modeler, Facility Managers, General Contractor, Green Building Consultant, Interior
Designer, Landscape Architect, MEP Consultant, Project Management Consultant,
Structural Consultant, and other project team members.
➢ Document at least three project meetings at different stages of the project.
Site Preservation
✓ The intent is to retain the site features to minimise site damage and associated negative
environmental impacts. For the credit compliance following measures needs to be considered,
➢ Existing Topography / Landscape: Retain at least 10% of the existing topography /
landscape.
➢ Existing Trees: Preserve 75% of existing trees.
➢ Natural Rocks: Retain at least 50% of natural rocks (by surface area), excluding building
footprint.
➢ Site Contour: Retain site contour of at least 50% of the site, including building
footprint.
➢ Water Bodies and Channels: Retain 100% of water bodies and channels existing on
the site.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Passive Architecture
Intent is to adopt passive architectural design features to minimise negative environmental impacts.
Compliance can be done with adopting two options,
1. Simulation Approach
Demonstrate at least 2% energy savings of total annual energy consumption (through whole building
simulation approach). The approach shall address the following,
➢ Climate-responsive concepts and design features:
Orientation
Skylights
Light wells
Courtyard
Shaded corridors
Shading devices
Shading from trees & adjacent buildings
Pergolas
Punched windows
Extended louvers &
Horizontal and vertical landscaping
➢ Passive cooling / heating technologies:
Wind tower
Earth tunnel &
Geothermal technologies
2. Prescriptive Approach
Demonstrate that the project has implemented at least one of the following passive measures that
result in energy savings:
Exterior Openings: At least 80% of the exterior openings (fenestration) have a Projection
Factor of 0.5 or more.
Note: Project Factor is a ratio of the length of overhang projection divided by height from window sill
to the bottom end of the overhang (must be permanent).
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Skylights: Skylights shall comply with the maximum U-factor and maximum SHGC
requirements as prescribed in Energy Conservation Building Code 2007 (ECBC).
✓ Open courtyards &
✓ Skylights open to sky.
To meet these criteria, the percentage of skylight area should be minimum 10% of the building
roof area.
Daylighting: 50 % of the regularly occupied spaces with daylight illuminance levels for a
minimum of 110 Lux (and a maximum of 2,200 Lux) in a clear sky condition on 21st September
at 12 noon, at working plane (through simulation or measurement approach)
Passive cooling/Heating Technologies.
Building Envelope
✓ The building envelope refers to the exterior façade and is comprised of opaque components
and fenestration systems.
✓ Opaque components include walls, roofs, slabs on grade (in touch with ground), basement
walls, and opaque doors.
✓ Fenestration systems include windows, skylights, ventilators, and doors that are more than
one-half glazed.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
8. SITE SELECTION AND PLANNING
Local Building Regulations (Mandatory Requirement)
✓ Intent is to ensure that the building complies with necessary statutory and regulatory codes.
✓ The project shall comply with following statutory approvals from the Government of India or
State Government authorities, as applicable:
Approved site plan (and/ or) building plans for construction,
Status of completion or Completion certificate signed by Architect/Engineer/Owner
or Third-party Commissioning Authority (OR) Occupancy certificate from Local
Authority.
✓ Buildings with 20,000 m2 built-up area or more shall submit ‘Environmental Clearance
Certificate’ or ‘Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study Report’, as applicable, approved
by Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) or State Environment Impact Assessment
Authority (SEIAA).
ECBC Code and Guidelines
ECBC code is applicable to building or building complexes that have a connected load of 100kW
or greater.
Contract demand of 120 KVA or greater.
Conditioned area of 1000 m2 or more.
Soil Erosion Control (Mandatory Requirement)
✓ Soil erosion control measures for pre-construction and during construction must conform to
the best management practices highlighted in the National Building Code 2016 (NBC) of India
Part 10.
✓ Ensure that fertile topsoil (10-20 cm) is stockpiled for reuse later.
✓ Stockpiled soil can be donated to other sites for landscaping purpose.
✓ Consider adopting measures such as temporary and permanent seeding, mulching, earth
dikes, silt fencing, sediment traps, and sediment basins as appropriate.
*Mulching: A covering, as of straw, compost, or plastic sheeting, spread on the ground around plants
to prevent excessive evaporation or erosion, enrich the soil, inhibit weed growth, etc. Mulches are
used to retain soil moisture, regulate soil temperature, suppress weed growth, and for aesthetics.
*Silt Fencing: A silt fence is a temporary sediment control device used on construction sites to protect
water quality in nearby streams, rivers, lakes & seas from sediment (loose soil) in stormwater run-off.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Mulching & Silt fencing
✓ Develop a storm-water management plan during construction to ensure that the storm-water
run-offs during construction are filtered to remove the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) prior to
conveying into the municipal storm water drain.
Basic Amenities
✓ Intent is to provide access to basic amenities, to reduce negative impacts caused from
automobile use.
✓ Select a site with access to at least seven basic amenities, within a walking distance of 1 km
from the building entrance.
✓ List of Basic Amenities:
ATM / Bank
Clinic / Hospital
Crèche / School
Grocery store / Supermarket
Laundry / Dry cleaners
Park / Garden
Pharmacy
Post office / Courier service
Restaurant / Cafeteria
Service apartment / Hotel
Sports club / Fitness center / Gym
Theatre
Utility bill payment center (Electricity / Water)
Proximity to Public Transport
✓ Intent is to encourage use of public transport, so as to reduce negative impacts caused from
automobile use.
✓ Locate the building within 800 meters walking distance from an intra-city railway station (or)
a bus-stop (or) other modes of public transport.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
✓ The project can operate or have a contract in place for shuttle services (from / to the nearest
intra-city railway station or bus-stop), for at least 25% of the building occupants.
Low-emitting Vehicles
✓ Intent is to encourage the use of non-fossil fuel vehicles, thereby reducing negative impacts
resulting from fossil fuel based automobiles.
✓ Electric Vehicles: Project shall install electric charging facilities within the projects parking area
to cater to the electric vehicles.
✓ Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Powered Vehicles: Designate preferred parking spaces for CNG
powered vehicles within the site.
✓ One CNG filling station within 5 km distance from the project’s campus entrance.
✓ Provide charging facilities for low-emitting vehicles within the site, to cater at least 5% of the
total parking capacity (excluding visitor parking).
Notes:
*Preferred parking spaces refer to the spaces that are easily accessible to the building entrance.
*Charging facilities for low-emitting vehicles include electric, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), bio-
diesel, etc.
Natural Topography or Vegetation
✓ Intent is to minimize site disturbances so as to reduce long-term negative environmental
impacts, thereby promoting habitat and biodiversity.
✓ Retaining ‘Natural Topography’ (at least 15% of the site area) in its broad sense means
preserving the natural features of the terrain such as exposed natural rocks, water body, etc.
✓ Vegetation/ Soft landscape shall not be designed with monoculture plant species, since such
species would not promote habitat and biodiversity.
✓ Vegetation on the ground shall only be considered; vegetation over built structures such as
roofs, basement, podiums, etc., shall not be considered.
✓ Only native / adaptive vegetation shall be considered for this credit calculation.
✓ Potted plants shall not be considered as vegetation.
✓ Artificial vegetation shall not be considered for this credit calculation.
✓ Grass medians, grass pavers, jogging track, open-air theatre, parking areas, driveways,
walkways, playground, swimming pool, etc., are considered as site disturbances.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Note:
What is development footprint?
Development footprint includes building footprint and other hardscapes areas such as parking,
footpaths, walkways, roads, grass medians, grass pavers, etc.
Preservation or Transplantation of Tress
✓ Intent is to Preserve existing fully grown trees and plant new tree saplings, so as to promote
habitat and biodiversity.
✓ The compliance can be achieved by following cases:
Case A: Preservation or Transplantation of Existing Trees: Preserve or transplant at
least 75% of existing fully grown trees within the project site / campus.
Case B: Plantation of Tree Saplings: Plant tree saplings that can mature into grown up
trees within the next 5 years on the project site, as per the below criteria,
Source: IGBC Green New Buildings Abridged Reference Guide (Version 3.0)
Notes:
*Existing fully grown trees does not include those which are meant for harvesting (e.g.: bamboo trees,
eucalyptus trees, etc.)
* Trees/ Saplings shall be in place at the time of occupancy.
*Trees / Saplings planted in pots shall not be considered for credit calculations.
Heat Island Reduction
✓ Intent is to minimize heat island effect so as to reduce negative impact on micro-climate.
✓ Heat islands are urbanized areas that experience higher temperatures than outlying areas.
✓ Structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat
more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies.
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
✓ Urban areas, where these structures are highly concentrated and greenery is limited, become
“islands” of higher temperatures relative to outlying areas.
01. Heat Island Reduction for Non-roof Areas
Option 01: Non-roof Impervious Areas
Provide one or combination of the following, for at least 50% of exposed non-roof impervious
areas within the project site:
Shade from existing tree cover/ newly planted saplings within 5 to 8 years of planting
Open grid pavers or grass pavers
Hardscape materials (including pavers) with SRI of at least 29 (and not higher than 64)
Notes:
*Non-roof impervious areas include, but are not limited to, footpaths, pathways, roads,
driveways, uncovered surface parking, and other areas that do not allow water to
penetrate.
*The reflectance materials used should have SRI (Solar Reflectance Index) values that meet
ASTM Standards.
*The project can use SRI materials that are certified by CII under the Green Product
Certification Programme (GreenPro) or by a third-party agency approved by IGBC to
demonstrate compliance.
*Utility areas such as those covered with DG sets, transformers, STP, etc., do not need to
be included in the calculation of exposed non-roof area.
Option 02: Covered Parking
Provide at least 50% of the parking spaces under cover. ‘Parking spaces under cover’ here
refers to structured covered parking.
02. Heat Island Reduction for Roof Areas
Option 01: High Reflective Materials
✓ Use material with a high solar reflective index to cover at least 75% of the exposed roof area,
including covered parking.
✓ Material with high solar reflectance index (SRI) include white / light coloured broken China
mosaic tiles or white cement tiles or other high reflective materials / coatings.
✓ Below are the minimum Solar Reflective Index (SRI) values specified for various roof types:
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IGBC AP Exam Study Material
Source: IGBC Green New Buildings Abridged Reference Guide (Version 3.0)
Option 02: Vegetation
Provide vegetation to cover at least 50% of the exposed roof area, including covered parking.
Option 03: Combination of High Reflective Materials and vegetation
Install combination of materials with high solar reflective index and vegetation to cover at least 75%
of the exposed roof area, including covered parking.
Outdoor Light Pollution Reduction
✓ Intent is to reduce light pollution to increase night sky access and enhance the nocturnal
environment.
✓ Design exterior lighting such that no external light fixture emits more than 5% of the total
initial designed fixture Lumens, at an angle of 90 degrees or higher from nadir (straight down).
✓ There are several components of light pollution, which are as follows:
Glare - This refers to an excessive level of brightness that can lead to discomfort and visual
disturbances.
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