India's 20 amazing green corporate offices

"The earth can provide for everybody's needs but not for everybody's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

The World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year. With the theme, 'Forests - Nature at your service', this year India played the global host reaffirming its commitment to protect the environment and promote a green economy.

A green building movement was initiated in India in 2001 by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), a part of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote eco friendly buildings.

More than 67 countries have adopted the LEED Rating System.

The LEED green building rating system - developed by the US Green Building Council, is designed to promote ecofriendly buildings across the world.

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognised green building certification system, which recognises a building's energy saving, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction and environmental sensitivity.

Platinum certification is the highest level under the Indian Green Building Council's LEED rating system.

A green building is one which uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for the people compared to a standard building. Energy saving to the extent of 30 to 40 per cent is possible in these green buildings.

Here's a look at India's 20 green corporate offices...

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Patni Computer Systems, Noida
Rating: LEED Platinum

Patni was awarded the prestigious LEED Platinum (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating for its green IT-BPO centre in Noida.

Set up with an investment of Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion), the centre is spread over 5 acres of land.

The LEED Platinum rating recognises the company's superior standards of quality, efficient utilisation and conservation of energy, water and natural resources.

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Suzlon One Earth, Pune
Rating: LEED Platinum

Suzlon One Earth is the global headquarters of the Suzlon Group of Companies, one of Asia's largest wind energy provider.

Designed by architect Christopher Charles Benninger, this impressive building has a built up area of 8,16,171 sq.ft.

The building has facilities to recycle all the water it uses, has roof gardens and generates 154 KW of energy on site through a combination of windmills and photovoltaic panels.

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Infosys BPO, Jaipur
Rating: LEED Platinum

The Infosys BPO at Jaipur is one of the largest platinum rated buildings in India.

Built on a total floor area of 3,30,000 square feet, the Infosys BPO building focuses on five key areas : sustainable site development, water saving, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

The building has been designed by architect C R Narayana Rao.

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Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Rating: LEED Platinum

Great Lakes's sprawling new campus inaugurated in April 2009 at Manamai near Chennai houses environment friendly buildings.

The building is designed with the concept of 'Global mindset-Indian roots.'

It is one of the few campuses in India with a LEED rating. The campus recycles water and waste and uses recycled products.

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ING Vysya Bank
Rating: LEED Gold

The ING Vysya Bank building, at the Bandra Kurla Complex office in Mumbai received the gold rating for its energy saving initiatives.

Commerzone IT Park, Pune
Rating: LEED Gold

The Commerzone building in Pune is surrounded by ponds and sprawling lawns.
Landscaped gardens, vast open spaces and trees, make it a green hotspot. It has a built-up area of 4,78,199 sq. ft.

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Cognizant Green Campus, Kolkata
Rating: LEED Silver

Cognizant's eco-friendly office at Kolkata has a built-up area of 6,41,837 sq.ft.

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Wipro SEZ, Tower S2, Bangalore
Rating: LEED Silver

Designed by C R Narayana Rao, the office has a built-up area of 6,01,300 sq.ft. Wipro has the maximum number of LEED rated offices in the IT sector.

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Nokia, Gurgaon
Rating: LEED Gold

Nokia's corporate office in Gurgaon has a range of energy saving features including high-efficiency chillers, a smart lighting system and a heat recovery wheel to pre-cool the fresh air in the building.

The building consumes 33 per cent less energy than a standard office building.

About 85 per cent of the IT equipment and appliances in the staff pantry are also 'star rated' to further reduce the building's energy consumption.

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Olympia Tech Park, Chennai
Rating: LEED Gold

It is one of the world's largest LEED 'gold' rated buildings, spread across an area of 18,00,000 sq.ft.

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Technology Centre, L&T Campus, Chennai
Rating: LEED Certified

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded silver rating for ECC's Engineering Design & Research Centre (EDRC) located at its corporate campus in Chennai, under LEED certification for the Existing Building (EB) category.

EDRC is the second building in India and the second one in Chennai to get this rating under LEED-EB category.

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TCS Technopark, Chennai
Rating: LEED Gold

TCS Technopark has seen a 100 per cent reduction in potable water for irrigation, besides energy savings.

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GE India Technology, Bengaluru

The Odyssey building houses GE's largest research and development centre in Bengaluru.

Spread over 3,85,000 sq ft., the Odyssey building offers 30-40 per cent reduction in operating costs, 25 per cent savings in energy and 20 per cent reduction in water consumption.

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Wipro Special Economic Zone, Hyderabad
Rating: LEED Gold 

Wipro's initiatives to conserve energy, water and reduce waste have helped in reducing energy consumption and conserving water.

The use of local material has reduced the carbon footprint by cutting down on transportation.

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Wipro Development Centre, Chennai
Rating: LEED Silver

The centre has a built-up area of 5,05,000 sq.ft. Over the last 3 years, Wipro has been the trend setter in LEED certified buildings.

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Thermax, Pune
Rating: LEED Silver

The Thermax Corporate Office at Pune is spread across an area of 64,000 sq feet.

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Bagmane World Technology Centre, Bengaluru
Rating: Gold

The Bagmane Tech Park in Bengaluru houses major IT companies. It is spread across 52 acres of land.

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Technopolis, Kolkata
Rating: LEED Gold

The Technopolis IT Park  is a 14-storey office building with 425,000 sq. ft. of workspace. This project ensures high energy savings with an excellent infrastructure in place.

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Novartis Building, Hyderabad
Rating: LEED Platinum

The Novartis Building at The Mindspace IT park offers a world-class environment.

It includes residential, recreational, entertainment, and retail spaces. The compalex has about 4,000,000 square feet of office space. Spread across 110 acres, this layout offers about 40 per cent open space.