ARCH Foundation launches Eco – school Concept and Green Building Certification for 8 government schools of Vadodara, Gujarat

ARCH Foundation, a leading Vadodara, Gujarat based NGO, conducted a workshop on Green Building Certification for 8 government schools in Vadodara district, in association with Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) recently.

These workshops were intended to develop an understanding on various benefits of having a Green Building Certification for a school from IGBC, conducting a Gap Analysis as per the rating parameters provided by IGBC, and accordingly plan out further steps schools can take to score better in ratings.

ARCH Foundation has launched Eco – school models concept for 8 government schools in Vadodara, Gujarat in association with L&T Technology. Eco–school is an innovative concept of transforming government school campuses into friendly 'Eco-Schools', while working on various aspects of building, infrastructure process and practices, that shall be maintained by students and staff itself. The Green Building Rating is the process to assess and rate the premise on different sustainability parameters and is accordingly certified. Green building design provides an integrated approach considering life cycle impacts of the resources used.

Speaking more on the Eco – school concept, Nishant Shah, Director of the ARCH Foundation said, "While schools remain the hub for bringing in change and larger impact in the society, the concept of Eco-schools were taken as pioneering model to teach and give children a hands-on experience on how to develop and sustain an ecologically sustaining world. Influencing children at an impressionable age can actually be a game-changer. To instill a sense of care, it's significant to build a habit of precaution for an environmentally sensitive society.

ARCH launched the project with a vision of imparting environmental education skills in schools that shall help students to shape and sustain future policymaking and nurturing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Environmental Education can become the medium that delivers these goals in a manner that is meaningful to society and humankind at large. By far, ARCH has been successful in transforming 8 schools and positively impacting more than 10000 children. Eco–school is itself a journey that makes a child into an ecologically sensitive and responsible citizen."