Net Zero 2070 Starts Now: Greening Existing Buildings for India’s Climate Goals

In recent years, India has really stepped up as a passionate and dedicated player in the global climate conversation. At COP26, the country made a significant commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 — a daring goal that showcases its ambitions for development alongside its environmental duties. While the world has been focused on renewable energy and electric vehicles, one of India’s quieter triumphs is happening in the built environment. This sector is gaining recognition not just for its emissions issues but also for its huge potential for decarbonization.

From metro stations and IT hubs to hospitals and hotels, more and more existing buildings in India are undergoing green makeovers, demonstrating how retrofitting and smart management can lead to real sustainability benefits. As of 2024, India proudly ranked amongst the top three countries worldwide for LEED-certified buildings outside the U.S., highlighting the growing enthusiasm for energy-efficient design and operations. This change reflects a wider realization that the journey to net zero must start not only with innovative infrastructure but also with the buildings that already play a crucial role in our daily lives.

India’s Built Environment Today

India is experiencing rapid urbanization like never before. The World Bank Report predicts that by 2030, around 600 million Indians will be living in cities, which is going to put a huge strain on our infrastructure, energy systems, and housing. The buildings sector in India is responsible for about 30% of the total electricity consumption, and urban commercial buildings are amongst the biggest energy consumers.

However, a large portion of India’s urban buildings are still energy inefficient, having been constructed before sustainability became a priority. They often lack modern insulation, efficient HVAC systems, and renewable energy integration. This means that new construction alone cannot decarbonize our cities; we must address the emissions from existing buildings too.

Why Existing Buildings Are Central to the Net-Zero Conversation

A lot of the conversation around sustainable construction tends to focus on new, green buildings, but these only represent a small fraction of India’s overall environmental impact. Existing commercial, residential, and public buildings—like schools, hospitals, offices, and hotels are still running on outdated systems that consume excessive energy and water, leading to high operational carbon emissions.

Operational carbon refers to the emissions produced from everyday energy use such as lighting, air conditioning, water heating, appliances, and ventilation. According to the World Green Building Council, operational carbon makes up nearly 28% of total CO₂ emissions from buildings worldwide. For India, where cooling demand is expected to grow eightfold by 2037, tackling operational emissions through energy-efficient retrofits is both urgent and impactful.

Retrofitting vs. Rebuilding:

While demolishing old buildings and constructing new green-certified buildings may seem ideal but, it is not economically or environmentally viable. Retrofitting—upgrading an existing structure’s energy and environmental performance is a far more pragmatic and cost-effective approach. Studies suggest that retrofitting commercial buildings in India can reduce energy consumption by 15–20%, with a payback period of just 3–5 years in many cases. Upgrades like efficient HVAC systems, smart lighting, improved insulation, and advanced metering can significantly lower utility costs while reducing carbon emissions. More importantly, retrofitting avoids embodied carbon — the emissions generated during new construction through steel, concrete, and material transport.

LEED O+M:

To make retrofits measurable, scalable, and credible, globally recognized standards are essential. LEED for Operations + Maintenance (O+M), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is designed specifically to improve the performance of existing buildings across key metrics like energy, water, indoor air quality, waste, and occupant health.

Notably, in 2024, India witnessed significant growth in LEED-certified projects, with LEED O+M leading the way, accounting for 153 projects. These projects have reported up to 30% energy savings and 40% water savings after adopting LEED O+M protocols. The certification not only helps track sustainability outcomes but also boosts asset value and attracts ESG-conscious investors and tenants.

GKNM Hospital achieved the LEED v4.1 Operations + Maintenance (O+M) Platinum certification, marking it as the first in India’s healthcare sector to attain this level. The hospital implemented energy-efficient lighting, resulting in annual savings of over 300,000 units of electricity. Additionally, the replacement of existing VAM chillers with screw chillers led to savings of more than 1.4 million liters of biodiesel. The installation of a 250 kW solar power plant further contributes approximately 1,000 units of energy daily. Case studies like this demonstrate that LEED-certified retrofits can achieve significant energy savings, validating the economic viability of sustainable retrofitting.

Smart Technologies: Making Buildings Intelligent and Efficient

The digitization of building systems is also unlocking new efficiencies. Technologies like IoT sensors, AI-powered energy analytics, and automated building management systems (BMS) allow real-time monitoring and optimization of energy consumption. For example, Google applied DeepMind’s AI to control data centre cooling systems, reducing cooling energy by 40% and overall power consumption by 15%.

Predictive maintenance tools help identify equipment faults before failure, avoiding energy waste and downtime. Such innovations are especially valuable in commercial real estate, where energy is a major operating cost and tenant experience is a differentiator.

Benefits of Retrofitting:

Retrofitting existing buildings is no longer just an environmental imperative—it’s a strategic business move. It leads to significantly lower energy and water bills over time, enhances asset value, and improves marketability in a rapidly greening economy. Beyond cost savings, retrofitted buildings offer better indoor air quality and healthier spaces, critical in a post-pandemic world. They also support ESG compliance, strengthening brand reputation, and attracting environmentally conscious investors. Importantly, retrofitting drives employment across construction, facility management, and cleantech sectors. In an era of rising utility costs and sustainability-driven valuations, buildings that don’t adapt risk becoming stranded assets, losing both relevance and returns.

The Road Ahead: Making It Work for India

Although the rationale for retrofitting is strong, certain barriers remain, such as limited financing options, a lack of awareness among small developers, and the shortage of a skilled green workforce. To tackle this, India requires:

• Policy incentives, including tax breaks, carbon credits, and fast-track approvals
• A green retrofit fund through a public-private partnership
• Training programs to impart green skills to facility managers and O&M teams
• Greater usage of certification frameworks like LEED O+M for standardization and trust

In this regard, some states have also taken the lead, with Maharashtra and Haryana giving incentives for green buildings. But to ensure that retrofitting takes centre stage, what is really needed is a national-level decarbonization strategy for buildings with the support of industry, government, and finance.

India’s vision for achieving net-zero emissions can’t just rely on waiting for future infrastructure to come into play. We need to start with the spaces we already occupy, making them cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable. Retrofitting our existing buildings isn’t just a minor detail; it’s at the heart of climate action. With the right tools like LEED O+M, the right technology, and a genuine commitment, India has a chance to take the lead in greening its built environment—not in 2070, but starting right now.