The Sunday Indian: Jealously green?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Rustomjee Spaces

Rustomjee Elanza, Malad

The commercial and residential sectors constitute the major markets for the real estate industry in India. These sectors also consume a lot of energy and contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. As per an official draft (Modern Building Bylaws for Construction of Green Buildings) by the Town and Country Planning Organisation, Government of India, “In a typical residential building in India, approximately 60 per cent of the total electricity is consumed for lights, 32 per cent for air conditioning and 8 per cent for refrigeration.” Considering this, it’s a no-brainer that if investment were not an issue then there’s no reason that any building should shy away from the green option.

Notwithstanding the ECBC, there are certain top builders who believe that the process of constructing green buildings commences at the site selection and the design level itself. Reasons Boman Irani, Chairman and Managing Director, Rustomjee Developers, “The windows and the doors must be placed in the manner that they cut direct sunlight to reduce heat gain, while letting the rooms get enough air flow through cross ventilation. The site’s closeness to the public transport system too is reckoned, which helps in reducing the dependence on private vehicles that contribute to the carbon emission.” Apparently, post designing, construction material must be procured within the vicinity and must be compliant to the principles of re-use. Instead of bricks, fly-ash concrete blocks for building purposes should be used.

Times of India – Makeover: Redevelopment: Turning dust to gold

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Rustomjee Spaces

Rustomjee Aspiree – A commercial redevelopment project undertaken by Rustomjee

For a space starved city, redevelopment offers residents of dilapidated and old buildings the twin advantages of a new, modern home with latest amenities without the need to relocate.

The Times of India – Makeover, highlights the challenges for the same, commented by Mr. Chandresh Mehta, Director, Rustomjee. Mr. Mehta says that there is immense growth in physical infrastructure in terms of open spaces, roads, water and sewerage and the social infrastructure like schools, colleges and hospital development activity of the belt. While huge quantum of money is being collected by the government by way of premiums towards redevelopment, the fluctuating government policies and norms and the colossal approvals are amongst the biggest challenges for redevelopment in the suburban region.

Mydigitalfc: Office space demand set to revive, may grow 21% in ’13

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Rustomjee Spaces

Office space demand is expected witness an year-on-year increase of 21 per cent to 38 million sq ft in the calendar year 2013, mainly driven by demand from information technology (IT and IteS), banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

Boman Rustom Irani, CMD – Rustomjee, said for the past two years there has been very less addition of office space as there was an oversupply situation and developers mostly focused on residential segment. Now with demand slowly picking up, office space absorption is likely to increase in 2013. He expects a 10-15 per cent price increase in commercial space rentals as demand starts reviving.