Bombay House: A jewel in Tatas' crown

The headquarters of the $96.79-billion Tata Group, the building known as Bombay House, which was completed in 1924. In March 2014, it was the first heritage structure in the country to get a gold rating as a green, environmentally friendly building. The rating, following an audit, is awarded by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), the Indian chapter of the US Green Building Council.

Bombay House is located on a 2,365-square-yard plot which was bought in 1904 when the then offices were too small. In 1942, it got an additional fourth floor - its last major change - which the Tata Sons chairman, the effective head of the entire group occupies.

(From left) Chitranjan Kaushik, COO, Ecofirst Services; Rakesh Bhatia, Vice President, Ecofirst Services; F.N. Subedar, COO, Tata Sons; Freddy P. Talati, CEO, The Associated Building Co. at the Bombay House entrance, formed a dedicated team to convert 90-year-old heritage structure into environment friendly building.

George Wittet, the same architect who designed the Gateway Of India and Prince of Wales Museum build Bombay House.

For Health and hygiene, the ozone system was installed to clean air conditioning ducts.

The Chairman's Office, which was occupied by the likes of J R D Tata and Ratan Tata, and now by Cyrus Mistry, is on the fourth floor.

Elevator with Braille Buttons to aid visually challenged lift users.

Traded landscaping requirement for green buildings because there was no space for it around Bombay House. Several gardens in Mumbai like Horniman Circle Garden were maintained by Tata Trusts.

LED Lights were installed and sensors were placed in public areas of the building (e.g. restroom) to cut off power when the space is not in use.

Valves that control water flow and low flow fixtures were installed in restrooms.

Ducts built to draw in more fresh air and improve air quality in the building.

Stair lift is installed to aid people that have difficulty climbing stairs.