How Green Textile Unit-4 became world’s top green factory

Green Textile Ltd Unit-4, a joint concern of Epic Group and Envoy Legacy of Bangladesh, became the world’s most environment-friendly factory on Saturday.

The plant in the Bhaluka upazila of Mymensingh scored 104 out of 110, the highest-ever grade in the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

This highest score was achieved by combining the points in nine different criteria, credited by USGBC. The criteria are – Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Material and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation, Regional Priority Credits, Location and Transportation, and Integrative Process Credits.

Green Textile Ltd Unit-4 – categorised as LEED Platinum on February 21 – scored 10 out of 10 in the Sustainable Site criteria. It fulfilled a prerequisite of construction activity pollution prevention and achieved full points in credits like site assessment, site development- protect or restore habitat, open space, rainwater management, heat island reduction, and light pollution reduction.

In the Water Efficiency criteria, the plant scored 11 out of 11 by fulfilling the prerequisites of outdoor water use reduction, indoor water use reduction, and building-level water metering and crediting all points in cooling tower water use, water metering, outdoor water use reduction, and indoor water use reduction.

The plant lost a point in the Energy and Atmosphere criteria and scored 32 out of 33. The prerequisites of fundamental commissioning and verification, minimum energy performance, building level energy metering, and fundamental refrigerant management were fulfilled and maximum points were achieved in credits like enhanced commissioning, advanced energy metering, renewable energy production, enhanced refrigerant management, green power and carbon offsets, and optimize energy performance. However, the plant scored 1 out of 2 in the demand response credit.

In Material and Resources criteria, the plant scored 11 out of 13, losing points in two credits — building product disclosure and optimization -environmental product declaration and material ingredients. It obtained full points in the other credits like building life-cycle impact reduction, building product disclosure and optimization—sourcing of raw materials, and construction and demolition waste management.

Two points were also lost in the Indoor Environmental Quality criteria, where the plant scored 14 out of 16. Fulfilling the prerequisites of minimum IAQ performance, and environmental tobacco smoke control, it achieved maximum points in enhance IAQ strategies, low emitting materials, construction IAQ management plans, IAQ assessment, thermal comfort, interior lighting, quality views, acoustic performance credits but lost two points on a single credit — ‘daylight’.

In terms of Innovation, Green Textile Ltd Unit-4 scored 6 out of 6 by achieving full points in two credits — innovation and LEED accredited professional.

It also scored the maximum, 4 out of 4, in Regional Priority Credits criteria by crediting full points in open space, rainwater management, outdoor water use reduction, and indoor water use reduction credits.

The plant lost another point in the Location and Transportation criteria by scoring 15 out 16 by losing a point in the credit of surrounding density and diverse uses. However, it obtained max points in credits like sensitive land protection, high priority site, access to quality transit, bicycle facilities, reduced parking footprints, and green vehicles.

It also achieved a full point in the Integrative Process Credits.

According to the USGBC, Bangladesh also hosts the world’s top-ranked knitwear factory, which is Fatullah Apparels located in Narayanganj. Currently, the country has consolidated its position among the green manufacturing units with 65 buildings in the LEED Platinum category, 110 in Gold, 10 in Silver, and four in Certified.

Among the world’s top 10 LEED-certified units, nine are in Bangladesh. Also, the country hosts 52 out of the world’s top 100 such units while another nearly 600 factories are waiting for certification.