ITC Grand Chola, Chennai has been recognised as the newest inductee to the ACREX Hall of Fame 2019 for their commitment to energy efficientand sustainable infrastructure. ACREX Hall of Fame is a coveted recognition jointly instituted by ISHRAE and Danfoss India in 2015 seeking to recognise best practices and to encourage innovation in technology, design and systems to promote the highest standards of energy efficient HVAC systems in Commercial Buildings. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the ACREX Expo that took place at BEC, Mumbai.
This year, the initiative seeks to promote the incorporation of sustainable technologies in the healthcare and hospitality sector which have set a benchmark among infrastructure projects in the country. The other top finalists for ACREX Hall of Fame 2019 were ITC Maurya, Delhi; Radisson Blue, Bangalore; Awasa, Hyderabad and HN Reliance Hospital, Mumbai.
With over 1.6 million sq. ft. space, the ITC Grand Chola, Chennai is the largest hotel of the ITC Limited and the world’s largest LEED Platinum rated building while being the first to be rated 5-star by TERI GRIHA. The hotel is also a pioneer in the use of heat pumps in the hospitality industry.
Speaking on the recognition, N. Ramamoorthy – Chief Engineer, ITC Grand Chola said, “At ITC Grand Chola, we believe in responsible luxury, that’s how we deliver world-class customer delight and comfort without compromising on sustainability. Our systems and design have been installed in a way that guests can enjoy a guilt-free luxury when they stay with us. We have been carbon positive, water positive and waste management positive. With the current challenges of global warming and water scarcity, we have made an active effort to source over 71% of our electrical energy from renewable sources while ensuring that 100% of the wastewater is recycled by the in-house Sewage Treatment Plant. The specific energy footprint for our building is the lowest when compared to other buildings of the same stature and grandeur. We are extremely pleased to be receiving the honour of being inducted to the ACREX Hall of Fame and truly believe that this initiative will further encourage us in our pursuit of responsible luxury. We consider this recognition a befitting culmination to all the sustainable initiatives we have taken so far.”
Every year, nominations for the ACREX Hall of Fame are invited from various states and cities across India. They are judged on various criterion such as Energy Performance Index, IEQ Initiatives (Indoor Air Quality), Energy Saving Initiatives including Renewable Energy, Building Management System including Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) and one-year operational data wherein the nominated buildings should not be more than 4 years old at the time of induction.
Speaking on the initiative, Ravichandran Purushothaman, President,Danfoss India said, “The ACREX Hall of Fame is a novel step towards encouraging all stakeholders across the infrastructure value chain to incorporate sustainability and energy efficiency. With the infrastructure sector poised to grow three-fold by 2030, we believe that this initiative of benchmarking buildings will provide an opportunity for newer projects to learn from their best practices and also lead to buildings adopting efficient technologies, as we make India the hub for innovation, manufacturing and a hotbed for capacity development in the area of sustainable infrastructure development”.
The initial scrutiny and shortlisting of entries was done by the ISHRAE technical committee headed by RS Kulkarni, Head of the Technical Committee, ISHRAE and final selection was done by a Jury consisting of eminent personalities in the field of HVAC, Government, Architecture and the Building Industry headed by the Jury Chairman, Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI.
V Krishnan, Chairman, ACREX 2019 said, “In the present climatic scenario of the world, a positive transformation can be brought in by initiatives such as the ACREX Hall of Fame that will play an important role in contributing to knowledge sharing of excellence in HVACR sector. Over the past years, ACREX Hall of Fame has been able to bring in a new lease of momentum and with each passing year, the mission to build a future of sustainable growth seems more achievable than ever”.
The previous inductees into the ACREX Hall of Fame include Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Terminal 2, Mumbai (2016), Infosys EC-53 Building, Bengaluru (2017) and the Reliance Corporate IT Park, Navi Mumbai (2018).
Source:- Architecture Update