Tata Realty becomes one of the biggest commercial office developer in India to achieve EDGE Certification  

Project Overview

Tata Realty Infrastructure Limited (Tata Realty) is one of the fastest growing real estate companies in India today. Its primary business is the development of residential, commercial and retail properties. Currently, Tata Realty has a portfolio of 16.8 million square feet, of which 5.5 million square feet makes up Tata Realty’s existing building stock. The company also has 20 million square feet under development.

Tata Realty became the first company in India to achieve the EDGE Zero Carbon certification for its Ramanujan Intellion Park project, which was announced in time for COP27 in Egypt in November 2022. The company has also achieved EDGE Advanced certification for 3 projects with an additional project at the Preliminary EDGE Advanced Stage. This portfolio, compromising of three commercial offices and one five-star hotel, makes it the largest office portfolio to receive EDGE certification in India.

The projects have been supported with consultancy and EDGE Expert advice from Essential India, a company with significant expertise in the fields of building physics, green building, education, and the environment. Founded in 2019, Essential India’s vision is to work towards healthy and quality life for each individual and to mitigate the challenges faced in achieving the essential requirements for decarbonisation of the built environment through validation and design, research and advisory, as well as capacity development.

Improving the efficiency

Across all four projects, the minimum energy, water and material savings are 42%, 28%, and 25% respectively. Tata Realty improved the energy efficiency of their building through implementing a range of design features such as reducing the window-to-wall ratio, installing cavity and external wall insulation and using high performance glazing. The projects also applied measures to reduce the water consumption of the building through water efficient faucets, a rainwater harvesting system and a condensate water recovery system. PT slabs and low embodied materials were also some design features used to achieve the material savings, which reduced the total embodied energy used.  

Reaching zero carbon

Ramanujan Intellion Park is located in Chennai within Taramani’s IT corridor, which is a hub to renowned IT Giants. Spanning 25.75 acres, the park has created an office environment that inspires efficiency as well as innovation and wellbeing. The office was designed to create a community workspace with a mixture of the traditional office set up including meeting rooms, a conference centre and flexible workspaces, coupled with informal settings such as meditation spaces, a food court and a gym.

After achieving the EDGE Advanced Certification level, Ramanujan Intellion Park went on to achieve the prestigious EDGE Zero Carbon certification level, which was awarded in November 2022. To achieve the certification, these projects have to account for all the actual operational energy used in the buildings through a mixture of renewable energy and offsets. Both buildings use 91% of off-site renewable energy and 2% on-site renewable energy. The remaining 7% of usage comes from the grid, and this has been offset to help the project achieve net zero operational carbon.  

Why EDGE?

In the operation of its core business, Tata Realty & Infrastructure Limited is dedicated to operating in a way that positively impacts the planet and the people. The company’s primary ESG targets are categorised into the 5 R’s which demonstrate Tata’s commitment to responsible real estate.

These are:

• Responsible value chain
• Resilient structures
• Replenish Nature
• Reap Talent
• Respect lives

Tata Realty believes that green buildings offer one of the biggest opportunities, with about 24.7 trillion dollars of investment opportunity across emerging market cities by 2030. With a clear vision and commitment to a sustainable future, Tata Realty wants to act as pioneers in the region in supporting a shift towards clean energy and spurring low-carbon economic growth. Green building certification is not a new thing for Tata Realty, who had already certified several existing & new buildings with LEED, IGBC, GRIHA. The company is also currently looking into WELL certification, showing a commitment to sustainability and an understanding of the importance of third-party verification when it comes to developing green real estate.

Despite experience with several other green building standards, Tata Realty decided to pursue EDGE certification to make sure all environmental components were covered across the selection of certifications and to make the selected buildings as energy efficient and green as possible. The company also chose EDGE for its prestige. As a World Bank brand, EDGE allows Tata Realty to elevate their profile and enhance their reputation. It also is a certification that adds value to Tata Realty’s tenants. The cost saving benefits of lowering the operational energy are very attractive to future and current building tenants and can be communicated clearly and easily due to the quantitative nature of the certification.

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning for Tata Realty, who is strongly committed to sustainable and energy efficient solutions to real estate. Currently, Tata Realty has another five office buildings that are currently going through the EDGE certification process. With Tata’s broad scope across India and their influence on the real estate market, the company has the potential to catalyse a significant market transition.