SBI Chennai Local Head Office Achieves IGBC Near Net Zero Energy Certification, Setting a New Benchmark for Sustainable Financial Infrastructure

Chennai: In a significant step towards accelerating India’s transition to a built environment, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and State Bank of India (SBI) highlighted SBI’s achievement of IGBC Near Net Zero Energy (Operations) certification for its Local Head Office in Chennai, at the IGBC Green Tamil Nadu Summit 2026.

The plaque and certificate were formally handed over to senior SBI officials during the Summit, recognising the institution’s efforts to integrate energy efficiency and renewable energy into the operations of one of its key facilities in Tamil Nadu.

SBI’s Chennai Local Head Office has demonstrated a strong focus on reducing operational energy consumption while increasing the use of renewable energy. The building has achieved an Energy Performance Index (EPI) of 130 kWh/sq.m/year,  lower than the baseline EPI of 137 kWh/sq.m/year. A key component of the initiative is the building’s transition towards renewable energy. The project offsets 85.4% of its annual energy consumption through a combination of onsite rooftop solar PV and offsite wind power procured through the Open Access mechanism.

The achievement demonstrates that the Net Zero transition can be embedded into the everyday operations of large institutions by combining energy-efficient technologies with renewable energy procurement and a systematic approach to resource efficiency.

Advancing its Net Zero vision across India, SBI has achieved a significant green building milestone with 285 IGBC-registered projects and 103 IGBC-certified Green and Net Zero projects nationwide

B Ramalingam, Assistant General Manager (Premises & Estates), M Mariappan, Assistant General Manager, Electrical and other dignitaries representing the State Bank of India, participated in the event. The IGBC Near Net Zero Energy (Operations) certification for our Chennai’s Local Head Office is a significant milestone in our sustainability journey. The building currently offsets an impressive 85.4% of its annual energy consumption through a combination of onsite rooftop solar power and offsite renewable energy procured through the Open Access mechanism. This achievement reflects our Bank’s continued focus on improving energy efficiency and accelerating the transition towards renewable energy across our operations. It is also aligned with the Bank’s vision of achieving Net Zero in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030 and transitioning towards Net Zero across Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2055.  This milestone by SBI’s Local Head Office – Chennai demonstrates that sustainability can be integrated into the everyday operations of a large institution through energy efficiency, renewable energy adoption and responsible resource management. As we move towards our 2030 goal, SBI will continue to scale up such initiatives across its offices and branches, contributing to India’s transition towards a greener and more sustainable economy.

Mr. UnniKrishnan AR, National Vice-Chairman, CII─Indian Green Building Council said, “India’s Net Zero transition will require action across every sector of the industry, and the financial services sector has a particularly important role to play. SBI’s Chennai Local Head Office demonstrates how large institutional buildings can move beyond conventional energy-efficiency measures towards a more comprehensive Net Zero Energy approach. The achievement is an important example for other financial institutions and large commercial establishments looking to reduce operational energy consumption and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy.”

The SBI Local Head Office in Chennai brings together two critical elements of the Net Zero pathway, reducing energy demand and meeting the remaining requirement through renewable energy. The building’s energy performance has been strengthened through measures designed to improve operational efficiency, while renewable energy has been integrated through both onsite and offsite sources. This approach has enabled the facility to offset a substantial majority of its annual energy consumption through renewable energy. The achievement also reinforces the growing relevance of green building frameworks in helping organisations establish measurable pathways towards decarbonisation. For financial institutions with extensive physical infrastructure, such interventions can contribute to reducing operational emissions while creating replicable models for sustainable workplaces.

As India advances towards its long-term climate and Net Zero goals, the decarbonisation of commercial and institutional buildings will remain an important component of the transition. SBI’s achievement in Chennai provides a practical demonstration of how financial institutions can address the energy footprint of their own operations while supporting the broader sustainability ecosystem. The integration of energy-efficient systems, rooftop renewable energy and offsite renewable power procurement provides a pathway that can potentially be adapted across other large institutional facilities.

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