A green construction event, Ecobuild India is all set to enter the Indian market this month. Date: April 16-18, 2013 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai Organiser: UBM India Scheduled to be one of the largest events for sustainable design and construction in India, Ecobuild India will be launching this month in India. The international sustainability conference and exhibition programme has a strong presence across UK, China and Malaysia. This event will be a global platform, which brings together government, developers, architects and consultants under one roof to discuss eco-friendly methods. Different segments The event's conference and seminar programme will comprise two streams titled 'Beyond the built environment: Achieving India's sustainable future' and 'Making sustainable design and construction happen'. The first stream of the conference programme will engage key industry speakers, government and academia in cutting edge debates and high level discussions to cover topics such as tackling climate change - what's the best strategy for India?, key challenges before the government in balancing environment and development?, resolving the water conundrum, collaboration in the area of energy poverty, protecting our rich biodiversity and many other issues. Stream two of the conference will include topics such as embracing India's heritage in sustainable planning and design, improving urban planning and design, the future of house building; green construction and design, sustainable infrastructure in tall buildings, future of design and the role of architects; taking the lead in creating an energy efficient property sector, investment in urban regeneration and smart infrastructure, amongst other topics. Charismatic personalities Some of the prominent speakers at the event will include one of the leading green developers, Dr Chandrashekar Hariharan, CEO, Biodiversity Conservation India; S Padmanabhan, Director, South Asian Regional Initiative for Energy and Senior Energy Advisor, USAID/India; Aaron B Schwarz, Managing Director, Perkins Eastman; Hans Brouwer, Founder, HB Design; Arun Kumar, Managing Director, Sun Power; Dr Anil Gupta, Prof at IIM-Ahmedabad; Dr Dipankar Dey, Dean, IBS Business School, Kolkata; Prof Rajiv Mishra, Principal, JJ School of Architecture; NK Ranganath, Managing Director, Grundfos India; Manit Rastogi, Managing Director, Morphogenesis; Aamer Azeemi, Managing Director, Emerging Solutions Advisory, CISCO; Mili Majumdar, Director, Sustainable Habitat Division, The Energy & Resource Institute; Niranjan Khatri, Gereral Manager, ITC Hotels; Architects Yatin Pandya, Karan Grover and Ashok Lall, amongst others. Green rewards Ecobuild India 2013 will offer innovative solutions and practical advices through its interactive sessions. "A growing awareness of environmental, social and economic problems associated with contemporary architecture and industry have led business leaders, corporations and nations across the world to adopt practices that are deemed to be more sustainable over the long term. While at present, most of these practices have been aimed at reducing resource consumption, energy use and emissions, there really hasn't been a drastic or fundamental redesign of the entire approach to visualising and creating the built environment," says Sachin Sandhir, Managing Director & Country Head, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, South Asia. He adds that as a rapidly growing phenomenon, sustainable development needs to redefine the responsibility of the built environment towards natural habitat and also its responsiveness towards its inhabitants. Sandhir believes that forums such as Ecobuild are undoubtedly playing a pioneering role in creating a seismic shift in the design and construction industry, it changes people's perceptions towards buildings and enables to bring awareness regarding the impact of the built environment on the planet. Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman & Managing Director, Kumar Urban Development Ltd and President, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, says, "Developers play a crucial role in making cities a better place to live in and ensuring a better future for generations to come. Sustainable buildings use design techniques, materials and technologies that minimise a building's impact on the environment." According to Vijay Adhikari, Director, Ecobuild India, the event strives to reflect the changing dynamics of the sustainability agenda and is supported by leading associations including GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment ), CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India), IIID ( Indian Institute of Interior Designers), RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), BRE (Building Research Establishment, UK), CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building , UK), and UKTI (UK Trade and Investment), Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, Indian Paint and Coating Association.