Query
For GRIHA Existing building(EB) projects what are the considerations for virtual boundary creations?
Response
For projects registering in various GRIHA variants, the project team must ensure that the virtual boundary is continuous and must not contain any area/property that is not registered with GRIHA or falls under foreign ownership.
For new buildings:
- Any upcoming building/structure (individually) or any upcoming building (s)/structure (s) which is part of a large campus/township but are to be registered individually should define a closed virtual boundary for the proposed project aspiring for GRIHA rating.
- The virtual site boundary created for the proposed project should include the existing supporting services/infrastructure which will also serve the proposed project.
- However, for instance, if the existing road provides access to the proposed block, then half of the road (dividing longitudinally from the median of the road) towards the site should be included in the virtual site boundary. Only in case if the project team has ownership rights of the road. If the ownership of the road is not under the project team, the same cannot be considered for creating a closed virtual boundary.
- For new construction, if the buildings to be registered are set apart at distances with other built forms in between, then they must be registered individually with separate virtual boundaries with all infrastructural services for the registered project falling within the ownership of the client.
For existing buildings:
- For GRIHA existing building projects, the virtual site boundary created for the proposed project should include the existing supporting services/infrastructure which will also serve the proposed project.
- However, for instance, the existing access road provides access to the proposed block, then half of the road (dividing longitudinally from the median of the road) towards the site should be included in the virtual site boundary. Only in this case the project team has ownership rights of the road. If the ownership of the road is not under the project team, the same cannot be considered for creating a continuous virtual boundary.
- For EB projects, if the buildings to be registered are set apart at distances with other built forms in between, then they must be registered individually with separate virtual boundaries with all infrastructural services for the registered project falling within the ownership of the client. The project must create separate virtual closed boundaries for different buildings and do the calculations accordingly.