Seminar on Plastics for Green Buildings held in City

Hyderabad|India|September'2010: Mr. D. Chandra Sekhar, Director – MSME - Development Institute, Hyderabad of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India inaugurated the Half-day seminar on Plastics for Green Buildings here at HICC, Hyderabad today. The seminar was attended by 150 participants comprising of Architects, Builders, Contractors, Construction Companies, Government and Non Government Institutions and Members of AP Plastics Manufacturers Association.

Addressing the gathering, immediately after inaugurating he said, “Plastics are green in the sense that they can mean conservation of energy, conservation of water and other resources. Ancient man constructed a hut for the first time using bamboo and coconut leaves to protect himself from sun and rain. It was the beginning of exploitation of natural resources. Imagine now after thousands of years how much damage is done to environment by felling trees and exploitation of natural resources.” About environment protection we are now trying to address the problem by taking lot of initiatives, he added.

He appreciated the concept of green buildings to protect the environment. This approach envisions saving water, energy and raw material in the construction and maintenance of buildings. By preferring green buildings over conventional buildings, we can help planet and people to retain nature to a maximum extent possible in three ways: 1. Retain external environment at the location of the building , 2. Improve the internal environments for the occupants, 3. Preserve the environment at a place far away from the buildings, he informed.

Adding further, Mr. Chandra Sekhar stated that as far as possible natural light and air should be tapped to minimize use of electricity. We all know that building are constructed using cement, sand, steel, stones, bricks and lot of furnishing material. These building materials are responsible for about 20 % green house gases emitted by the building during its lifetime. The green building shall use the products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable and recyclable wherever possible. As per a study green buildings can save 35% of the carbon emissions, 40% of water, 50% of energy, and 70% of solid waste during its lifetime, he said. So plastic material can play a major role in substituting conventional material like wood, glass, steel, etc. he informed.

Through technology and quality upgradation schemes, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises provides funding support to MSME units who adopt energy efficient technologies. A grant of 25% of the project cost subject to ceiling of Rs.10 lakhs would be given to MSME units who adopt energy efficient technologies, he informed.

Further he added that 16 carbon credit accredited centres would be set up in the selected clusters across India and funding support of Rs.15 lakhs per centre would be given as a grant from Government of India, he informed.

He also announced that a 40 member MSME delegation from AP Plastics Manufacturers Association are to visit Dusseldorf International Trade Fair (K 2010, Germany). The Ministry of MSME, Government of India has given an approval of Rs.12 lakhs towards the travel expenses of the 40 member delegation, informed Chandra Sekhar.

Earlier, Mr. V. Anil Reddy, Chairman, Plastmeet and Seminar Committee of Andhra Pradesh Plastics Manufacturers Association welcomed the gathering. Mr. D. Chandra Sekhar inaugurated the seminar. The Seminar was organised with a theme “Let us live green. Plastics enable to do so...”. Battenfeld Cincinnati and Gruber Extrusion companies from Austria gave a presentation on “Green Machinery for Green Building Products”. Indofill Chemicals spoke on “PVC Additives for Green Building Products”. Elumatec India presented “New Technology Window Making” and NCL Wintech gave presentation on “uPVC Doors & Windows — How it works for Green”. Reliance Industries Ltd made a presentation on “Plastics — The Building Blocks for Green Construction”. The presentations were followed by question and answer sessions.

-Sept'2010