March 23, Bengaluru, India – Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), has been awarded the prestigious Indian Green Building Council’s (IGBC) Green Cities Platinum certification for its exceptional Green Master Plan, Design and policy interventions. The certification recognises BACL’s master planning in land use categorization, sustainable mobility, water management, energy efficiency, waste management, information & communication technology (ICT), green cover, and various other strategies.
BACL is setting new standards for sustainable urban development. BACL provides sustainability-centric urban design guidelines with mandated policies and design interventions that architects, designers, engineers, concessionaries & developers follow, to achieve its holistic vision of sustainable development. The initiatives include:
- Mixed-use and compact development with 15% reserved for Green and Open Spaces. And additionally about 55 acres of public spaces including large gardens, amphitheatres, water bodies with landscape trails, within an accessible distance of 400m across the Airport City.
- 100% barrier-free accessibility in public spaces and 100% road network with dedicated pedestrian pathways and bicycle lanes with tree plantation to foster sustainable mobility
- Mandated ‘Green Building’ certification for buildings.
- Metro rail, suburban rail, and bus transport connectivity for multi-modal integration
- The wastewater treatment and reuse system allows for 100% waste collection, 100% wastewater treatment, and 95% reuse of treated water for irrigation, flushing, and air conditioning.
- Targets to achieve 100% renewable energy consumption via on-site and off-site renewable energy sources.
- Waste management targets zero waste to landfill and an integrated waste management system addressing 100% waste segregation, minimum 60% waste recycling, and less than 5% diversion of inert waste to landfills.
- ICT applications such as an Integrated Command and Control Centre, smart water metering, smart street lighting, smart traffic management, city surveillance Infrastructure, and an airport city App.
- Usage of plastic waste in road construction as a step towards responsible recycling of plastic
BACL is developing an Airport City to standards that will be unprecedented – a futuristic city that will embrace innovation and would be a launch pad for ‘Global Urban Solutions’. This multi-asset destination aims to create the right mix of asset classes that include Business Parks, R&D Hubs, Global Capability Centres, Education & Health District, Hospitality, Central Park, multipurpose Concert Arena, Retail, Dining & Entertainment Village and more.
Speaking on the certification, Rao Munukutla, CEO of BACL, said, “We are proud to receive the IGBC Green Cities certification, which recognises our unwavering commitment to sustainability. This recognition is an acknowledgment of the Airport City’s overall design sensibility which is innovation and sustainability driven. We have aligned with the UN sustainable development goals to ensure that our development focuses on all three areas of sustainability – Environment, Social and Economic. This certification serves as an inspiration for us to work towards creating a greener, more sustainable future for the airport and its surrounding communities.”
Mr Gurmit Singh Arora, Chairman, IGBC said “We in IGBC are pleased to award ‘Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL), Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (KIAB)’ the IGBC Green City ‘Platinum’ Certification. This is an excellent achievement and IGBC would like to congratulate Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) and Bengaluru Airport City Ltd. (BACL) teams for their efforts. We are glad to see that the sustainability pillars of BACL focus on a robust scalable effective plan of actions charted in 7 pillars – inclusive built environment, sustainable mobility, water stewardship, net zero carbon emissions, digital transformation, circular economy and economic propeller. This is a wonderful demonstration of BACL’s leadership and commitment towards sustainability by adopting IGBC Green Cities rating programme and developing the BACL as a Green City. We are sure that BACL would emerge as a model green & smart city and will inspire many cities in India. We look forward to working very closely with Bengaluru Airport City team in all their green pursuits.”
Over the years, BIAL’s dedication towards sustainable practices has earned numerous accolades, including prestigious certifications such as the ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 3+. BIAL received the prestigious “Platinum” rating from IGBC, which is the highest rating possible, for its new garden terminal building. The IGBC certification acknowledges BIAL’s commitment to sustainability and recognizes its efforts in reducing the environmental impact of airport operations by minimizing its carbon footprint, conserving resources, and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources. It also demonstrates BIAL’s leadership in the aviation industry toward building sustainable infrastructure and promoting a green economy.
