AS THE green building movement in India gathers steam with growing numbers of real-estate developers adopting eco-friendly construction methods, it is trying to overcome a huge shortage in green-friendly industry professionals.

ALREADY acknowledged as one of the leaders in environmentally-friendly construction, India could surpass the United States within four years to become the country with the most space covered by 'green buildings', according to the agency that sets standards and certifies eco-friendly realestate development. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), which today has about 110 million sq ft of green real estate registered with it, is targeting a nearly ten-fold increase in eco-friendly property development to a billion sq ft, the council's chairman Prem C Jain said.

Members of the public were shown how to make their homes greener as one of Channel 4's flagship programmes hosted a nine-day exhibition in London. An exhibition of eco-friendly homes was one of the core elements of this year's Grand Designs Live. Programme host Kevin McCloud got his hands dirty this year, joining a team of builders to construct an eco-friendly house in front of the cameras over the course of six days.