The Initiative for Green Habitats represents a long term commitment towards providing solutions for the creation of Sustainable Built Environments. This blog attempts to provide an insight to our views, commentaries on our work, ideas that we are working on, and provoke thought where there are more questions than answers.

IGH Communities



The team from IGH has had the experience of working in built environment consulting and in the developer space for over a decade. The ‘IGH Communities’ concept was developed to address such a multitude of the issues that concern us as an organization. While we are part of the broader Real Estate industry, we desire to define our communities as meaningful sustainable developments that make a positive impact on:
  • the residents, and the social groups that they create, 
  • the sustainability of communities, with an agenda to make them self reliant with minimal ecological impacts to both the micro and macro environment, and more importantly 
  • the model of developments itself, in terms of its financial and operational impacts it has on the potential residents and the ethics of such business in general.
As a result the 'IGH Communities' idea stands apart and showcases aspects of what modern-day community living can be. Some of the differentiators are
  • We do not own or buy any land - We only procure land on behalf of individuals who would like to do a project and live as community.
  • We do not design using templates – We conceptualize projects that will suit the terrain and other conditions prevailing the area.
  • We promote stewardship – We empower owners to participate in the development of the community in the long run.
  • We bring the environment to the fore– All our projects attempt to leave the least ecological footprint on the land that is being developed. Rather, if possible, we try to rejuvenate any denuded aspects of the land or other resources. The environment is central to all developmental decisions and not treated as an extra/special feature.
  • We aim to be local – Our projects have programs that embrace the local community. This could be in terms of providing employment opportunities in our projects, or by sourcing material that is local, or by participation in social and environmental concerns in the area.
  • We advocate transparency – We report:  Progress Reports on projects, Costs and estimates related to purchases, and all regulatory and legal aspects related to the project. Transparency is a process and not an option.
The 'IGH Communities' agenda is to launch many demonstrable parcels of sustainable living be it in urban or rural settings. Over time we intend to string together the various communities and so that each community can share their learnings and experience with each other. We even intend collaborate with groups such as the Global Environment Network (GEN) which facilitates interaction amongst various global eco villages around the world. There are only a handful of such examples in India, and we hope that we give sustainable communities the push that is needed to make them the preferred model of living in the future.

It is also our mandate to innovate as we go along. While we are developing these projects, we intend to develop or discover efficient systems, technologies, and products that will make a difference to our lives. These innovations will straddle across multiple disciplines: water, energy and waste management, building materials and systems, and efficient gadgets and products. Many such demonstrative technologies and products are already being examined and deliberated so that they can be used in our projects.

IGH has started registration of individuals and groups interested in the ‘IGH Communities’ project. Anyone can sign up for a current ‘IGH Communities’ project, or, lodge their interest to participate in a future date. Those interested are also encouraged to specify an alternate location that interests them, and if there is a sizeable group, IGH could consider customising a project to suit that location and the group’s specific needs. Click here to take a peek at current ‘IGH Communities’ projects.

We are putting together specific articles that concern community living. We believe that a sustainable future revolves around sensitising ourselves to issues discussed in these articles and adapting ourselves from our current consumptive lifestyles to more sustainable alternatives. Here are a few links to articles that are relevant to communities.
We value the feedback of our readers. Do feel free to write to us with your specific views and suggestions. Write in to write@ighindia.com
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)