Kolkata : Green building projects in India are growing at the rate of 20-30 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a US Green Building Council (USGBC) official said on Wednesday.

“This trend provides a huge opportunity for all stakeholders, including us. Yearly, close to 500 new projects are registered in our certification process,” USGBC’s Regional Director (Asia Pacific and Middle East) Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan said here.

The council has developed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a green building rating system. Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) administers the certification programme and provides project certifications in 165 countries around the globe.

According to Padmanabhan, more than 1.17 billion square feet of real estate is registered under the LEED certification with approximately 2,500 projects in India.

He said India secured third position (outside the US) in 2017 in council’s annual ranking of the top 10 countries for the rating. China leads the rankings, followed by Canada. Approximately, 650 Indian building projects earned the certification in 2016.

Globally, there are 90,000 certified commercial projects representing more than 19.1 billion square feet under the rating space.

—IANS