With Goa witnessing a construction boom in the hospitality sector, there is a need for the industry to adopt sustainability and greener practices while designing hotels.
Saint Gobain, a 358-year-old global company in the construction space, is focussing on redefining the country’s landscape with light and sustainable construction in the hospitality sector which will be a game-changer in the years to come.
This is the focus of the 2nd edition of the premium hospitality summit in Goa hosted by Saint-Gobain India and HVS ANAROCK.
Hemant Khurana, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Private Limited, Mr. Venkat Subramanian, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Pvt Ltd- Gyproc, Insulation and Mortars Business and Mr. Sudeep Kolte, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Saint-Gobain India Pvt Ltd – Gyproc Business were present for the press conference held on Thursday at Dona Paula.
Subramanian said that the company’s initiative is to enhance energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprints in building projects.
“Our singular focus is how to promote sustainability. 30% of the carbon footprint comes from buildings in the world which is the cause of global warming. We want to tackle this challenge and contribute to a greener planet, and bring down the global temperature. That is our mission and we want to make the world a better place. The method we are adopting are light and sustainable practices in construction,” he said.
He pointed out that Goa is witnessing a rapid expansion in the hotel sector post the Covid pandemic, and hence the state requires construction practices that are far greener which can promote sustainability.
“Hotels need to be set up rapidly. Our innovative products are fast to install, and can cut 3-4 months in construction. The dead weight of our products is significantly lower as we use lightweight engineered materials. It is fast to construct, hence less labour content is required. And it utilises dry construction, there is no use of water for curing, and several other works like flooring, etc, can be done simultaneously. Our products save a lot of energy like cooling and also cut out the noise inside the rooms due to effective insulation and improve the air quality inside the hotel,” he said.
Khurana said that the awareness of the need for sustainability is low.
“We are trying to bring awareness on this topic. We are gradually working with the government. Our recommendation to the government is that following the right practices should be made mandatory. The livelihood of the future generation lies on our following these practices. The hotel industry is recognising that this is required,” he said.
Khurana also said that 12% of the pollution is caused during construction and transportation and another 28 % is due to operations.
“Saint Gobain is helping customers in reducing the 12% during construction. We are replacing conventional material like brick and block as there is lot of a embodied energy, while water and sand are also utlised. For the 12% in Co2 emissions, we are reducing this significantly by using new technology. Our solutions cut out heat and allow natural light,” he emphasised.
While admitting that some of these solutions may be a bit expension, Kolte said the benefit outweighs this in the long run.
“The capital cost may be a little extra, but through the life of that you have a structure that is consuming less on power, easier to maintain, giving better performance and conform of occupants then the picture changes,” he said.
Subranmanium said that the company is focussed on change and reducing carbon footprint, and has invested in research.
“We believe we are the leaders in light and sustainable construction. We have 8 big research centres and 3000-odd researchers globally working on such challenges in material sciences, building sciences, and new technology. We have a RND centre at Chennai. That is why we can make this difference,” he said.
