Overview
GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), India’s national rating system for green buildings, was developed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and TERI. It evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically throughout its life cycle.
To achieve points across GRIHA's material and resource categories, project teams must provide documentation tracking embodied energy reductions, material mass fractions, and volume percentages. More specifically, GRIHA uses a 100-point scoring system. Certification is awarded at five levels based on the percentage of applicable points achieved:
% of points scored | Rating |
50–60 | One star |
61–70 | Two stars |
71–80 | Three stars |
81–90 | Four stars |
91–100 | Five stars |
The minimum threshold for any certification is 50% of applicable points. Material and embodied energy criteria contribute directly to this score, so accurate carbon quantification in One Click LCA has a direct effect on the rating level a project can achieve.
Life Cycle Results & Scope
Coverage of embodied carbon impacts across A1–A5 (product and construction stages), B4 (replacements), and C1–C4 (end-of-life) stages.
Optional inclusion of D-stage benefits (recycling, energy recovery).
Results expressed in kg CO₂e/m² and total project emissions.
Data Scope
For embodied carbon reporting under GRIHA, the recommended calculation method in One Click LCA is the Level(s) Carbon tool.
One Click LCA integrates:
EPDs (EN 15804/ISO-compliant) for construction products
Generic material datasets where EPDs are not available
Indian-specific data where applicable
Certification & Compliance Scope
One Click LCA helps project teams address GRIHA criteria related to materials and embodied energy, such as:
Criterion | GRIHA Requirements |
Criterion 15: Utilization of fly-ash in building structure | Structural Concrete (1–2 points): Achieve a minimum 15% replacement of Portland cement with fly-ash by weight; get an additional 1 point if replacement exceeds 30%.
Wall Systems (2 points): Ensure a minimum 40% utilization of fly-ash by volume across 100% of all load-bearing and non-load-bearing walls.
Plaster/Mortar (2 points): Achieve a minimum 30% replacement of cement with fly-ash by weight in overall plaster and masonry mortar. |
Criterion 16: Reduce volume and weight, and time of construction by adopting efficient technologies | Structural Applications (2 points): Demonstrate a minimum 5% reduction in overall embodied energy compared to equivalent conventional structural systems.
Non-Structural Applications (2 points): Demonstrate a minimum 5% reduction in overall embodied energy for infill wall systems compared to conventional baseline materials. |
Criterion 17: Use low-energy material in interiors | Threshold (All Categories): A minimum of 70% of the total quantity (gross surface area) of interior materials must be certified low-energy, recycled-content, or industrial-waste products. Sub-assembly/Partitions/Ceilings: 2 points. Flooring: 1 point. Doors/Windows/Frames: 1 point. |
Criterion 26: Use low-VOC paints/adhesives/sealants | Interior Paints (1 point): Ensure 100% of internal paints meet zero/low-VOC chemical thresholds. Sealants & Adhesives (1 point): Ensure 100% of interior adhesives are water-based rather than solvent-based. Composite Wood (1 point): Specify 100% composite or agri-fibre wood containing no added urea-formaldehyde resins. |
One Click LCA supports GRIHA projects through embodied carbon assessment, low-energy material evaluation, EPD-based documentation, and whole-building life cycle assessment. The platform helps teams compare materials, optimize environmental performance, and generate supporting documentation for sustainable building strategies.
Guidance
1. Create a project and select the right calculation tool.
Create a building project using the Level(s) Carbon tool.
2. Create your first design and set up the LCA parameters
Set up your first design and go through the LCA parameters.
3. Input required material data
Fill in your project information in One Click LCA by entering the design either manually or by importing your data (see different import options here; guidance for data import can be found here). Mass data for the materials is automatically added to the detailed report.
When preparing documentation for Criteria 15 and 16, ensure you record manufacturer-supplied documentation (cement specification sheets confirming fly ash content in PPC; cut sheets and bill of quantities for low-energy technologies) alongside the One Click LCA outputs. GRIHA appraisers require both the carbon calculation and supporting manufacturer evidence.
Adjust the localization of each material as needed (Expert feature). This information will be used to compensate for any material data chosen from another area to match your project’s local material manufacturing conditions.
4. Input construction site operations data (A5 & Optional C1)
Input construction site operations data and include a C1 deconstruction/demolition scenario if you have used one of the advanced end-of-life options (market-based or EPD EOL) in the LCA parameters.
5. Building Area
Fill in the building area query. This information will be used as a divider for the results in a separate result row, and it will help you to understand how the results compare to other projects. Gross floor area is required.
6. Calculation Period
Set your calculation period (50 or 60 years for buildings). GRIHA does not specify a calculation period.
Results
Navigate to the results page, click on 'more actions' and download the detailed report.
The results report has mass data on each of the categories that can be used to assess compliance with above-mentioned credits.
Design Optimisation
After you have done one LCA calculation, you can create as many additional designs as you wish, either by copying the first one or by creating a new empty one. This can be used for creating a reference building to then make reductions against. To copy a design, click its name and choose 'Copy'. To create a new one, press the '+ Add a design' button on the project main page.
Once you have a proposed and a baseline building, you can go to the results page of the proposed building, click 'Compare Designs', then choose to compare with your reference building. This will then allow you to see the percentage reductions you've been able to make in your results table. Results can be seen for each life-cycle stage, and results per square metre are available at the bottom of your results table.