Gurgaon, July 19 (IANS) An eco-friendly building that recycles its water and solid waste and uses minimal electricity so impressed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that she said it deserves equal mention like the Taj Mahal and India Gate monuments.
The ITC Green Centre, where Clinton spoke about climate change Sunday, has been certified by the US Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (USGBC-LEED).

Clinton said at the venue: “We know that there are wonderful monuments throughout India from the India Gate to the Taj Mahal. The ITC green building may not be a regular stop on the tourist calendar, but it is a monument in its own right.”

The ITC Green Centre, an L-shaped building, boasts of 100 percent water harvesting - in other words it catches every drop of rain water that falls on the premises for later use - and zero percent water runoff, meaning it recycles all the water that it uses.

The office complex had been built by the ITC group that is into hospitality, tobacco and infotech.

The building has also been successful in significantly reducing its energy consumption by allowing natural light to penetrate a greater percentage of the interior space.

Large windows ensure maximum use of natural light during the day that helps to a large extent eliminate the use of artificial light. Its double glazed glass windows allows light in, but not the heat - thus decreasing the load of air conditioners - and helps keep the building cool.

Pointing to the sharp lights used by the media, Clinton said: “As you can see, other than the lights that are for the television cameras there are no lights on in the building. There are so many features of this building that really demonstrate the viability of the use of low carbon but at the same time very attractive and efficient approach to saving energy.”

“If all new buildings were designed in the same standards as the ITC Green Centre, we could eventually cut global energy use and green house pollution by more than 20 percent and save money at the same time,” she said.

“The monument is a building to the future. The Green Centre not only represents the promise of a green economy but also demonstrates the partnership of India and the US in the 21st century,” she added.

Because of its unique design, water consumption in the building has been reduced by 40 percent, and its water recycling plant re-uses the waste water fully. All plants around the complex are native to the place and the landscaping has been done to ensure there is no wastage of water.

The ITC Green Centre was named the world’s largest completed ‘platinum rated’ green office building in 2005.

Earlier Sunday, Clinton flew in from Mumbai after a 36-hour stay in the country’s financial capital and went directly from the airport to the ITC Green Centre Building to talk about climate change.