Date | Jan 10, 2017:
Taking cognizance of green initiatives by Hindustan Zinc, CII-Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) awarded Platinum rating to the Company in a ceremony on January 10th, 2017 at Yashad Bhawan- Hindustan Zinc’s Head Office-Udaipur. The award has been constituted by CII-IGBC and the Platinum rating is the highest rating which has been given to the Registered office of Hindustan Zinc at Udaipur popularly known as Yashad (Zinc) Bhawan. Hindustan Zinc is one of the few CII-IGBC Platinum rated buildings in India, the first Company in Rajasthan and also setting the benchmark across other Vedanta companies in India.
The CII-IGBC Platinum Green building certification was presented by K.S. Venkatagiri – Executive Director, CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad and was received by Sunil Duggal – CEO, Hindustan Zinc. On this occasion, Venkatagiri said, “Hindustan Zinc is the 1st building in Rajasthan to receive the Platinum Rating in existing building category and commended to achieve the same in the very 1st attempt. With about 3900 projects built over 3.59 billion sq ft, India’s green building footprint has emerged as the second largest in the world. Hindustan Zinc has set an example for other industries to follow across India.”
While receiving the award, Duggal said, “Hindustan Zinc aims to make its buildings world class structures with zero carbon and zero waste with an objective to create more and more examples for others to follow and with that the management and the employees are committed for the same”.
CII-IGBC Green Existing Buildings O&M rating system addresses green features under the categories – Site & Facility Management, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Health & Comfort and Innovation. Corporate office of HZL– ‘Yashad Bhawan’ was awarded with CII – IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Platinum Rating under IGBC Green Existing Building rating system. Several green features are implemented at HZL to enhance the building performance. The project has achieved energy savings by 27% and water use reduction by 37%. Fresh air ventilation system is integrated with active cooling system to improve indoor air quality, which would enhance occupant comfort. One-site renewable energy of 100 kWp is installed that would generate 1,62,000 units every year. Online energy monitoring system is installed to track the energy performance of the project and would help in identifying energy use by various building component such as lighting, UPS, air-conditioning, exterior lighting usages, etc. water meters are installed at several places to record water usages.
HZL and IGBC would work together to further enhancing the building performance and would play greater role in green building movement led by IGBC.
Hindustan Zinc has developed a lush green belt across its corporate office and residential colony. Hindustan Zinc has already installed solar roof top projects. The Yashad Bhawan, head office of Hindustan Zinc too runs on Solar Power. The Company is also looking to develop solar energy projects in other parts in the State of Rajasthan. Hindustan Zinc has been working progressively towards setting up 115 MW of solar energy projects with an investment of Rs. 630 crores. Hindustan Zinc also has over 1.3 million green plantations across its business locations.
The Company’s mining and smelting operations are based on environment friendly technologies that led the plant to conserve water and energy. The operations are working on zero discharge principle and the Company is putting all efforts and research for gainful utilization of waste generated at its mines, smelters and power plants.
Hindustan Zinc has installed Adiabatic Cooling Towers (ACTs), air cooled heat exchangers for minimizing loss of water through evaporation. ACT installation has resulted in overall reduction in usage of water.
The Company has also installed Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for treating the ‘effluents’ generated by different processes at smelters. The ETP with reverse osmosis plants installed at all smelting locations is resulting in reducing freshwater foot prints of the Company. The treated effluents are recycled in the process ensuring ‘Zero Discharge’.
Hindustan Zinc has commissioned Udaipur’s first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), with a capacity to treat 20 MLD of sewage, under the public-private-partnership model. This STP has effectively addressed the growing problem of pollution in Udaipur city’s water bodies and contributed towards enhancing the overall aquatic life and aesthetic look of lakes. Hindustan Zinc is now considering enhancing the capacity of current STP from 20 MLD to 40 MLD.
The Company also has green wind energy farms with 274 MW of power generation capacity located in Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
(Source: http://udaipurtimes.com/)