Abstract

The world is struggling with various environmental threats like global warming and climate change issues. These environmental hazards are the result of years of human activities. The growing need to urbanize has led to the exploitation of various natural resources and added to environmental degradation. The Indian government is putting tremendous focus on building energy performance, as it is identified as the largest energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission sector. Various interventions like the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and green building rating systems have already penetrated the construction industry and have provided a profound place for building construction-industry professionals to evaluate the designed built environment for sustainability; however, their credibility is not as anticipated. This article presents a literature review on the performance-driven building energy sector and associated environmental issues, through a brief description of the development of the Indian green building industry, government policies, environmental initiatives, and current trends leading to sustainable growth and development. It also highlights the gap in performance of green buildings like achieving the three spheres of sustainability—environmental, social, and economic. This article conducts an inquiry into how green buildings can be instrumental in achieving the larger aim of mitigating climate change and can be a tool to communicate sustainable living to its users. Finally, the article concludes by projecting a future development plan by which India can be a global leader in advocating policies to accomplish sustainable building construction practices, further leading to the reduction of various environmental issues.