India’s push towards sustainable housing could make homeownership more affordable in the long run, even as green homes typically cost more to build, according to a new report by proptech firm Square Yards.
The report argues that while green residential projects carry an additional construction cost of around 3.5-4 per cent compared to conventional developments, they can reduce household water consumption by 30-50 per cent and lower energy costs by 20-30 per cent over their lifecycle, creating tangible savings for homeowners.
The findings come as India confronts a massive urbanisation challenge. By 2050, nearly 400 million additional people are expected to move to cities, while the country’s urban residential building stock is projected to double by 2070. At the same time, the construction sector accounts for nearly one-third of India’s greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the growing importance of sustainable housing.
Despite India emerging as one of the world’s largest green building markets, with over 19,700 green projects and more than 16 billion sq ft of green-certified building footprint, homebuyers still lack a simple way to compare the sustainability credentials of residential projects, the report noted.
To address this gap, Square Yards has launched the Square Yards Green Living Index (SYGLI), a standardised scoring framework that evaluates residential developments across sustainability, liveability and long-term performance metrics. The framework converts sustainability disclosures, RERA filings, developer information and geospatial data into a consumer-facing score designed to help buyers compare projects more effectively.
“The future of Indian housing will be defined not only by location and amenities, but by how intelligently homes respond to climate challenges, resource efficiency and long-term affordability,” said Tanuj Shori, founder and chief executive officer of Square Yards.
The ‘green housing paradox’
The report identifies what it calls a “green housing paradox”. While buyers increasingly value lower utility bills, better indoor comfort, climate resilience and healthier living environments, sustainability information remains fragmented across certifications, technical reports and marketing materials, making project-to-project comparisons difficult.
According to the report, sustainability is gradually becoming as important as traditional homebuying factors such as location, price and amenities because it directly affects long-term affordability and quality of life. Factors such as energy efficiency, thermal comfort, water management and climate resilience increasingly influence household expenses.
India’s green building footprint expands
The report highlights the scale of India’s green building ecosystem. The country has over 19,715 green projects, more than 130 net-zero projects and a certified green footprint exceeding 16 billion sq ft. Collectively, these projects are estimated to generate annual savings of 199.3 billion litres of water and 66.4 billion units of energy while reducing carbon emissions by 53.1 million tonnes annually.
Yet unlike markets such as the UK, France, Australia and Singapore, where sustainability scores and energy ratings are increasingly integrated into property discovery platforms, India currently lacks a standardised consumer-facing green score for residential real estate.
Sustainability becoming a homebuying factor
The report argues that sustainability is evolving from a niche environmental consideration into a mainstream housing metric with implications for affordability, comfort, resilience and long-term property value.
As India targets net-zero emissions by 2070 and prepares for a future where 1.1 billion people are expected to live in urban areas, transparent sustainability information is likely to become an increasingly important part of residential decision-making, alongside location, price and amenities.
The Green Living Index evaluates projects across four broad pillars — resource efficiency, health and comfort, safety and resilience, and connectivity — with the aim of helping buyers understand how a home is likely to perform over time rather than simply how it looks at the time of purchase.
“India has made significant progress in green building adoption, but information asymmetry continues to limit consumer participation in the sustainability journey. Sustainable housing should be understood not only as an environmental imperative but also as a financial and health imperative for households. By making sustainability performance visible, measurable and comparable, SYGLI has the potential to reshape how residential value is assessed in the market,” said Dr. Priyanka Kochhar, CEO and Co-Founder, The Habitat Enterprise.