Ela Green School in Tamil Nadu is the first K-12 school in the world to receive the prestigious LEED Platinum certification under LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M): Interiors

Ela Green School in Tamil Nadu is the first K-12 school in the world to receive the prestigious LEED Platinum certification under LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M): Interiors
Ela Green School in Tamil Nadu is the first K-12 school in the world to receive the prestigious LEED Platinum certification under LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M): Interiors

Ela Green School in Tamil Nadu is the first K-12 school in the world to receive the prestigious LEED Platinum certification under LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M): Interiors

Chennai, 20 October 2021 – Today, GBCI India, the nation’s foremost authority on sustainability in building design, construction and operations, announced that it has awarded Ela Green School with the prestigious LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M): Interiors Platinum certification, making it the first K-12 school in the world to receive Platinum, the highest level of certification offered. LEED v4.1 is the next generation standard for green building design, construction, operations, and performance. With this notable certification, Ela Green School has taken yet another important step toward environmental preservation and sustainability.

"We at Ela Green School have always looked to pioneer sustainability learning in the country. To this effect, our school building has been designed to function at the highest sustainability levels so that we can help children learn from the environment they function in,” said Ms. Samhita. M, Founder Director, Ela Green School and Managing Director, Ela Green Buildings & Infrastructure Consultants. "Our school has been planned and constructed to provide children with a healthy and happy learning space – and with both their safety and productivity as our main focus. Achieving Platinum certification under the LEED v4.1 rating system and also using the Arc performance platform to track our school’s energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience data in real-time is another step towards our commitment to green. And we also strive to ensure our school is COVID-19 resilient through use of Arc’s Re-Entry tool, which allows us to document and benchmark infection-control policies and procedures, collect and analyze student and employee experiences and measure and track our indoor air quality.”
As part of its ongoing sustainability programmes, Ela Green School has addressed energy efficiency in the building through periodic energy auditing, reducing ozone impact through enhanced refrigerant management and the optimization of their energy performance. The school has managed to achieve energy savings that offset its power consumption resulting in tangible cost savings of INR 6.2 Lakhs.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, Managing Director – Southeast Asia & Middle East, GBCI India, said, “Ela Green School is a true role model for both its students and other institutions. When it comes to sustainability, what better place than to start with the custodians of the future. Leading by example, Ela Green is empowering its students to think green and more importantly act green. We would like to congratulate Ela Green School on achieving its well-deserved LEED v4.1 O+M: Interiors Platinum certification and wish its students a safe return to school.”

Ela Green School is a private, co-educational independent school in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu. The school holds great importance upon fostering in the next generation a green consciousness that will enable them to tackle global environmental challenges and bring about a positive impact. Enroute to achieving its LEED Platinum certification, the school has made conscious efforts to reduce its water consumption. In addition to this, all organic waste generated on site is composted and used for landscaping. On the design front, the placement and scale of openings have been considered from the early design phase of Ela Green School, which prioritizes occupant comfort and well-being. This has resulted in sufficient natural ventilation in all regularly occupied spaces while also meeting ASHRAE 62.1 standards. 

In light of the present risk of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has implemented Arc Re-Entry as a tool for monitoring KPIs and, thereby, reducing the risk of transmission on its premises. Arc Re-Entry comprises a series of human experience metrics that can be used to effectively communicate infection control strategies and policies, engage occupants constructively and measure key aspects of indoor air quality such as relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration and particulate matter.

About GBCI
GBCI is the premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green business industry performance and practice globally. Established in 2008, GBCI exclusively administers project certifications and professional credentials and certificates within the framework of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems, as well as the PEER standard for power systems, the WELL Building Standard, the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), TRUE certification for zero waste, Investor Confidence Project (ICP) for energy efficiency retrofits and RELi for resilient design. Visit gbci.org.
About GBCI India
GBCI India was incorporated in 2016 to facilitate the global growth of GBCI and its sustainability programs and to provide on-the-ground support to the project teams and professionals advancing LEED in the region. The more than 50 technical experts and professionals who make up GBCI India’s core team bring years of subject matter expertise and come from diverse backgrounds, but all share a passion and underlying commitment to being part of the sustainable transformation of the real estate and construction sectors in India. For more information, please visit www.gbci.org/india and follow @GBCI_India on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About LEED
The LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction, maintenance, and operations of green buildings. Every day, more than 2.6 million square feet of space is certified using LEED. More than 110,000 projects are currently participating in the commercial LEED rating systems, comprising nearly 25 billion square feet of construction space in 182 countries and territories. In addition, there are nearly 2 million registered and certified residential units. India is currently the fourth largest market in the world for LEED. Learn more at usgbc.org/leed and review the Foundations of LEED development process.