Innovation

GreenTree Global works on Research Projects with the State Government and Central Government and currently working on the design for an electric vehicle adoption model for the municipality of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

“Under our energy efficiency and climate change advisory vertical we are looking at adoption of the model with respect to retrofitting the existing fossil fuel-based vehicles to electric power units. Looking at it from the government side, not only the supply, but also the demand needs to be developed well, and that is where we are focussing on the project that we are working on with Kakinada becoming a smart city recently.

With different stakeholders like the students, automotive workforce and also the government we are looking from each perspective in terms of building their capacities so that when there would be procurement or when the retrofit of the existing vehicles will happen - What should the response be and how they'll be responding to the market demand is something that we are designing the model for," shared Mr. Bajpai.

Their work in Energy Efficiency Implementation, Green Building certification or Integrated Green Building Design is GreenTree’s specialty. GreenTree Global is helping Nalanda University's Master Plan achieve a 5 Star rating from GRIHA and also the status of a net-zero energy campus. The proposed Nalanda University campus would be a heritage world-class institutional hub, which offers a superlative educational experience, in a sustainable environment.

GreenTree also focusses on the development of the future generations by their initiative in sustainability education – The GT Academy – which is an online, self-paced learning module where students and professionals alike can access online courses which provide them certifications and help them get placed in dedicated sustainability roles in organizations where they can design and implement sustainable growth ideas for the future to come.

Inspiration

Founded in 2009, GreenTree Global was started to explore opportunities in the sustainable business world, with a key focus on green energy and sustainability.

Further to our query as to what inspired GreenTree’s birth and delving into such a niche sector at that point in time, Mr Anurag Bajpai, the Director and Founder of GreenTree Global says – “I started my career with Siemens in the power sector - primarily the CHP plant design and substation design. Then I moved to USAID to work in a policy assistance program with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency which is the Regulatory agency from the Ministry of Power in India for creating a framework to develop energy-efficient buildings.

That is how I got to know about the prospective opportunities in this domain of energy efficiency and climate change and that combined with my understanding of the buildings and architecture business allowed me to identify the niche opportunity available in the two fields which further led me and one of my partners – Mr Dhruv Jain to set up a business in 2009, even though it was at a very nascent stage. Starting a business in this niche market was also a risk for our career at that point in time but we thought that all the activities which we are doing are certainly new and quite exciting as well. So again, there is always a risk, but when the players are less in number there is bound to be growth. Now we have been working in this domain for the last 12 years and have also diversified into other related markets.”

With an inspiration to be a Clean Tech firm by 2025 GreenTree plans to experiment by investing more in R&D which may lead to expansion in new business avenues.

Overall impact

The government attempts to balance the needs to develop the country while also encouraging innovations and technologies that help with energy production and better utilisation of produced energy. This is where GreenTree Global’s work fits in. Being a developing nation, India is a country that is very hungry for energy. This not only makes developing green, renewable sources of energy imports, it also makes increasing the energy utilisation efficiency something we cannot afford to ignore.

Organizations approach GreenTree Global to make their buildings more energy-efficient and get an accredited certification. They look into the energy usage of the building and provide them with solutions to reduce their electricity usage.

GreenTree global also works on research projects with the central and state government. They provide them with solutions and ideas on how the government can improve its energy usage.

The learning initiative by GreenTree Global, The GT Academy draws its inspiration from a decade long experience of GreenTree Global in the energy efficiency and design industry by bridging the gap between the curriculum taught in schools/colleges and the actual fieldwork of sustainable development. GT Academy helps professionals and especially the students from tier 2 and 3 cities to get access to very targeted learning and be better equipped to produce future sustainable solutions.

As Mr. Anurag said, “Students have begun to have an understanding in terms of sustainability or energy efficiency in climate change, but in general, either the curriculum has some limitations, or the students are not eager enough as the problem of climate change might seem distant to them.

I think awareness has always been an issue in this domain because this is not something that is a primary focus for the people. One would require electricity, but energy efficiency is majorly secondary. One would always require the light but wouldn’t question whether it is coming from fossil fuel-based sources or clean sources of energy? - is not what everybody concerns themselves with.”

Business benefit

GreenTree Global helps businesses optimize their energy consumption by providing them consulting services in order for them to obtain accreditation and hence decrease their overall energy consumption costs, which is very lucrative to businesses. But along with decreasing costs, they also help decrease the operational burden on the electricity-producing companies which would, in turn, lead to efficient consumption of resources and help us get closer to the goal of achieving a sustainable world.

But with their business model, their main focus revolves around SDGs no 9 i.e., Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 11 i.e., Sustainable Cities and Communities and 13 i.e., Climate Action. This is done by the three verticals of the business and with collaboration with the other major companies and the government. They also have a huge focus on developing the future generation about this SDG and teaching them about sustainable development.

Currently the company has 650+ projects under its belt in 6 countries with projects ranging from Metros (Lucknow , Mumbai , Pune etc.) and Airports(Patna, Leh, Vijaywada) to Hotels(JW Marriott, Kathmandu ; Hotel Samrat, New Delhi).

Social and environmental benefit

GreenTree Global being a Consulting company in the sustainability domain, covers 9 SDGs – “Good Health and Well-Being”, “Quality Education”, “Gender Equality”, “Clean Water and Sanitation”, “Affordable and Clean Energy”, “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”, “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, “Climate action” and “Partnership for the Goals”.

Interview

Mr. Anurag Bajpai, Director