IGBC Net Zero Water Rating System

With rapid economic growth and a growing population, decreasing per capita average annual water availability in India has become a cause for concern. Considering the present situation, water conservation has become necessity for every project. Buildings and built environment projects are responsible for more than 10% of total water consumption. In India, the raw water is primarily sourced from ground water and due to over-exploitation of ground water, several cities/municipal corporations are facing huge gap in water demand and supply.

Several buildings from different typologies adopted green building concepts to demonstrate 20-30% reduction in water consumption with respect to the national baselines. Green concepts primarily enabled projects to harvest rainwater, improved water efficiency, wastewater treatment and reuse of treated water in process and non-process applications.

To further improve the water performance in buildings and built environment projects, IGBC launched Net Zero Water Rating system in 2020. This rating is a tool which enables the designer to apply water efficiency concepts and adopt appropriate measures for harnessing alternate water to achieve Net Zero Water Status. In case of an existing building, the tool enables implementation of water efficient measures to reduce overall water consumption and encourages projects to meet rest of the water requirements through alternate water.

Benefits

IGBC Net Zero Water rating system enables reduction in water consumption and use of alternate water to meet the water demand. The benefits of adopting Net Zero Water concepts in a building/ project are as below:

  • Improvement in water efficiency and hence reduction in annual water consumption to the tune of about 30-50% with respect to the National baseline.
  • Overall reduction in water cost by 30%.
  • Reduce dependency on raw water.

The intangible benefits of Net Zero Water include compliance to local regulation and promote water conservation. The rating system evaluates buildings on a performance-based approach. The rating system is evolved to be comprehensive and at the same time user-friendly.
The programme is fundamentally designed to reduce the water demand of a building and address national priorities such as:

  • Reducing the National water demand by enhancing water efficiency.
  • Harnessing alternate water to reduce water demand.
  • Reducing dependency on raw water consumption.
  • Promote water conservation at National level, to ensure water security

Overview

IGBC Net Zero Water System addresses water efficiency and encourages for harnessing alternate water. The guidelines detailed mandatory requirement & credit enables the design and construction of buildings/projects of all sizes and types (as defined in the scope). 

IGBC Net Zero Water Rating System is designed for both New and Existing building’(s) and built environment projects. The project team can evaluate all the possible points to apply under the rating system using a checklist.

Scope

IGBC Net Zero Water Rating System is designed for both new and existing building and built environment projects. These buildings include (but are not limited to) Offices, IT parks, Banks, Shopping malls, Hotels, Hospitals, Transit facilities (Airports Metro and Railway Stations), Convention centres, Educational institutions (Schools, Colleges, University campuses etc.) and industrial buildings (factory buildings and Warehouses).

Validity

The rating awarded for IGBC Net Zero Water under Design & Construction phase or Operations phase would be valid for a period of 3 years. The projects certified under Design & Construction phase shall apply for Operations phase certification with the prevailing version. The projects certified under Operations phase shall apply for recertification with the prevailing version.

Types of Certifications

Projects can apply for IGBC Net Zero certification during Design and Operation phase, and following are the types of certification:

  • Design Certification - For projects in Design and Construction stage.
  • Operations Certification Fee(₹)# - For projects in Operations stage for at least one year. Such projects should have implemented the measures and also have the recent annual performance data for validation.
  • Precertification - For projects in Operations stage for at least three months. Such projects should have implemented the measures and also have the recent three months performance data for validation.

For more details on types of certifications, please click here.

Certification Levels

The threshold criteria for certification levels are as under :

Rating level Compliance Requirement
Near Net Zero Water WPR ≥ 0.75 (Or)
WPR ≥ 0.5 and WBS ≥ 0.75
Net Zero Water WPR ≥ 0.5 &WBS ≥ 1.0
Net Water Positive WPR ≥ 0.75 & WBS ≥ 1.25

WPR – Water Performance Ratio; WBS – Water Back to Source

Fee Structure (effective from 1st February 2025)

Registration Fee:
Membership Category Fee (₹)
IGBC Founding Member ₹ 25,000
IGBC Annual Member ₹ 25,000
Non Member ₹ 30,000
Design Certification Fee(₹)*
Membership Category Base Fee
5,000 sqm & below 5,001 sqm to 75,000 sqm 75,001 sqm & above "For each additional building with built-up area 5,001 sqm and above (Additional fee is applicable for upto 4 buildings)"
Flat Fee (₹) Based on sqm (₹) Flat Fee (₹) Flat Fee (₹)
IGBC Founding Member ₹ 2,20,000 ₹ 2,45,000 plus ₹ 5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 6,20,000 ₹ 50,000
IGBC Annual Member ₹ 2,40,000 ₹ 2,65,000 plus ₹ 5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 6,40,000 ₹ 50,000
Non-Member ₹ 2,60,000 ₹ 2,85,000 plus ₹ 5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 6,60,000 ₹ 50,000
Operations Certification Fee(₹)#
Membership Category Base Fee
5,000 sqm and below 5,001 sqm to 75,000 sqm 75,001 sqm & above "For each additional building with built-up area 5,001 sqm and above (Additional fee is applicable for upto 4 buildings)"
Flat Fee (₹) Based on sqm (₹) Flat Fee (₹) Flat Fee (₹)
IGBC Founding Member ₹ 2,20,000 ₹ 2,45,000 plus ₹ 7.5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 7,95,000 ₹ 50,000
IGBC Annual Member ₹ 240,000 ₹ 2,65,000 plus ₹ 7.5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 8,15,000 ₹ 50,000
Non-Member ₹ 2,60,000 ₹ 2,85,000 plus ₹ 7.5 per additional sqm over & above 5,000 sqm ₹ 8,25,000 ₹ 50,000
Notes:
  • For fee calculation, parking areas need not be considered as part of the built-up area.
  • Fee is exclusive of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • Additional building in the fee structure refers to Projects with multiple buildings including common basements
  • Registration, Certification, and Precertification fees are non-refundable (GST)
Additional Notes:
Registration:
  • The registration fee shall be payable only once for adopting any IGBC Net Zero rating system or a combination of Net Zero rating systems.
  • The green building projects which are already registered under any IGBC rating system (other than IGBC Net Zero rating system) shall register separately for the Net Zero certification.
Certification:
  • The projects which adopt second/third/fourth Net Zero rating (Say NZ Energy or NZ Water or NZ Waste to Landfill or NZ Carbon) shall be offered 20% reduction on the base NZ Design/ Operations certification/ Precertification fee for each additional NZ rating whenever the project applies for certification.
  • Projects which have achieved/ applied for Certification under other IGBC rating systems, a reduction in base fee by 10% shall be applicable for Operations Certification/ Precertification.
Recertification:
  • INR 2,00,000 (or) 50% of the base Operations certification fee, whichever is higher, shall be paid based on the prevalent fee structure of respective IGBC NZ rating system.
Design Certification:
  • Design Certification is applicable for projects in Design and Construction phase.
  • Design Certification is valid for three years from the date of award.
Operations Certification:
  • Operations Certification is applicable for projects in Operations phase which are in operations for a minimum of one year.
  • Operations Certification is valid for three years from the date of award.
Precertification:
  • Precertification is applicable for projects in Operations phase. Such projects should have implemented the NZ related measures and have at least recent three months performance data for validation.
  • Precertification is valid for one year from the date of award and such projects shall be apply for Operations Certification later.
  • The fee for Precertification is same as Operations Certification fee, and projects which apply for Precertification need not pay Operations Certification fee later.

Contact Us

For project registration, please contact :
Anand Sundararajan
Associate Counsellor
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For Technical Queries, please contact:
Mr Gaurav Pershad
Chakka Nagendra Subrahmanyam
Associate Counsellor
chakka.subrahmanyam@cii.in

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