Glass Industry bats for Smart Cities and Swachh Bharat Mission

The venue was purposely chosen to introduce Green Buildings concept to its members and to also debate on use of glass in buildings as eco-friendly measure.As an Industry initiative, talk on Green Buildings was organised in collaboration with Paharpur Business Centre to brainstorm on Indian Govt., vision of smart/solar cities including Green Building concept that could be adopted for the betterment of society. Mr.Barun Aggarwal, Director, BreatheEasy*, a division of Paharpur Business Centre (PBC)* gave a presentation on Introduction on Green Buildings.

Mr. Aggarwal spoke about BreatheEasyTM that helps individuals breathe pure air and helps companies implement solutions for improving Indoor Air Quality while reducing energy consumption. His presentation covered following on glass application in buildings:

• Use of flat glass in doors and windows permits use of sun light and saves energy/power bills




• Use of glass in partitions saves wood and checks felling of forests




• Use of glass and glass products in Buildings is quite popular, especially with glass turning from a fragile to a sturdy material i.e. toughened, noise or bullet resistant structure




• Use of Glass is generally maintenance-free for the lifetime of a building

The session on green buildings was organised in addition to the presentation on GST- Challenges for the Businesses by Mr. Kabir Bogra, Partner (Indirect Tax) Khaitan & Co., coinciding with AIGMF meetings.

As CSR initiative, AIGMF gifted 100 glass water bottles specially manufactured by Hindustan National Glass and Industries to Paharpur Business Centre to further strengthen green building concept. The bottles carried a logo on Act India* which aims at enabling people demand responsible and safe packaging.

Mr. Arun Kumar Dukkipati, Sr. Vice President, AIGMF said, that Glass containers made from cullet or weight reduction technology saves energy. Every ton of glass recycled saves 322KwH of energy, 246 kg of CO2 and 1.2 tonnes of virgin raw material. He also shared some of the main characteristics of glass:

• Glass is 100% recyclable - It does not lead to generation of any solid waste, thus saving land fill space. This is a major advantage from environment point of view in the present times, when municipalities are finding it difficult to find space to dump urban waste




• Glass is resistant to chemicals and solvent - It is used for packaging of chemicals and solvents as it does not react with them




• Glass ensures hermetic seal - It provides air tight packaging for products thus providing longer shelf life. It is the most preferable product for vacuum and carbonation




• Glass is transparent - The customer is afforded the facility of visually examining the content from outside the pack




• Glass has best recycling performance - It is a cradle-to-cradle packaging - meaning it can be recycled infinitely to be re-made into new bottles or jars as good as those manufactured by using fresh raw materials

Mr. Dukkipati congratulated PBC for adopting use of glass bottles in its Green Building Business Centre, which is a step forward towards clean environment.

Mr. Dukkipati mentioned that use of glass bottles supplements Prime Ministers’ vision of Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Campaign) as waste from other packaging material are usually found in streets, drains, rivers, etc., with people having the tendency to litter anywhere and everywhere. On the other hand, Glass being 100% recyclable mostly reaches junk seller for recycling and adds to clean environment.

Mr. Dukkipati concluded by saying that use of glass will make smart cities look more elegant, beautiful and eye-catching. Glass application will not only help buildings lit with natural and solar light but will also lead to huge monetary and energy savings for the economy.

Presentations and select photographs of the event are available at http://www.aigmf.com/past-events.php

*The All India Glass Manufacturers' Federation (AIGMF): The AIGMF, founded in 1944, is the only Umbrella organization of all categories of glass manufacturers from large, medium and small-scale segments of the industry in different parts of India. More details about Federation are available at www.aigmf.com   

*Paharpur Business Centre (PBC): PBC is a green MSME in the service industry offering 24x7 Luxury Furnished Space for Large and Small Offices, Conferences, Trainings, Interviews, Seminars, Product Launches, etc. Built to DDA standards, it is the first building in India that is USGBC LEED Platinum EB Certified (under O & M category - 2010) and a BEE 5 star rated building with an AAhEPI of 28 Wh/hr/sqm. http://www.pbcnet.com.  *BreatheEasy^TM is a division of PBC focusing on creating awareness about air pollution and providing innovative solution to combat air pollution indoors and reduce energy for buildings. www.breatheeasy123.com

*ACT India: With an endeavor to provide solutions with ethical standards and scientific acumen, Medwiz Healthcare Communications Pvt. Ltd**, the largest healthcare communications agency along with Him Jagriti**, a not-for-profit independent organization has launched a movement called Act India.

This campaign has been curated keeping in mind the trendsetting decision by Health Ministry’s notification. This notification was released on Sept 29, 2014, in lieu of recommendations by Drugs Technical Advisory Board prohibiting use of Polyethylene Terephthalate or Plastic containers for primary packaging of drug formulations used for pediatric, geriatric and in case of pregnant women and women reproductive age group.

**Medwiz Healthcare Communications: Medwiz is one of the leading fast paced Medical Communications agency, which is known for its scientific acumen and integrity. http://www.medwizindia.com

**Him Jagriti: Him Jagriti is a small not-for-profit independent organization with national and international aspirations. It focuses on broader health issues and to provide healthcare to poor individuals in hilly areas of Uttarakhand, India. http://himjagriti.in

For further details, please contact: Mr. Vinit Kapur, Secretary, AIGMF

Secretariat- The All India Glass Manufacturers' Federation (AIGMF)

812, New Delhi House

27, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi - 110 001

T:   +91 11 2331 6507   F: +91 11 2335 0357   E: info@aigmf.com                                                             

Please click the following link to view latest issue of Kañch (Glass) Journal: http://www.aigmf.com/kanch.php