Green ratings certify how a building was made. Vāstav labels how a home actually performs for the person living in it. Different instruments, different questions, and a building can deserve both.
There is an everyday version of this difference.
The process
An organic label certifies how the food was produced: the seed, the soil, the methods kept out. It is a promise about the making.
The outcome
A nutrition label reads what the food does once it is inside you: the energy, the salt, the sugar. It is a measurement of the effect.
Green ratings are the organic label of buildings. Vāstav is the nutrition label.
Side by side
| What is compared | A green building rating | A Vāstav label |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays for it | Usually the developer or the project owner. | The person who lives in the home. |
| When it is assessed | At design, and again at completion. | Any time, at any age of home. |
| What it reads | How the building was designed and constructed. | How the home performs for the person inside it. |
| The unit it works on | A whole project or building. | A single flat or house. |
| What you receive | A certification and a points score. | A performance label and a ranked list of moves. |
| Repeatable over time | Rarely; it is a certification, not a habit. | By design, as often as you want to re-read. |
| Depth of documentation reviewed | Extensive, across the whole project.In their favour | Light: a plan and a few photos. |
| Recognised in institutional and corporate procurement | Yes, widely.In their favour | No; it is a reading, not a recognised certification. |
| Who it is really for | Investors, developers and CSR teams. | The occupant. |
Certification costs vary widely by project, city and consultant, so no figure is stated here. A Vāstav reading is ₹999, fixed. Green ratings are legitimate instruments for a different job; this page is about the difference in the question each one answers, not a ranking.
Common questions
Can a Vāstav-labelled home also be GRIHA or IGBC certified?
Yes, and the two sit happily together. A certified building can carry a Vāstav label, and a labelled home can go on to pursue certification. One records how the building was made; the other reads how it performs for the people in it. They answer different questions.
Is Vāstav a certification?
No. It is a reading. A certification is an institution's stamp that a set of criteria were met, awarded through an accredited process. A Vāstav label is a measurement of how one specific home performs, made from its plan and evidence, that you can repeat whenever you like. No plaque, no points, no accreditation body.
Why doesn't my certified building feel comfortable?
This is a known and well-documented challenge across the building industry, often called the performance gap: the distance between how a building was designed to perform and how it actually performs once it is lived in. Certification records intent and construction; a label reads outcomes. That gap is the reason we exist.