Delhi’s air pollution is no longer a seasonal inconvenience—it is a public-health emergency that is reshaping how Indians live, build, and buy homes. And for the Building Products & Home Improvement (BPHI) industry, this crisis carries a clear message: the real estate sector now wants wellness-ready solutions that make homes healthier by design, not just greener on paper.
Leading this shift, Godrej Properties has placed wellness by design at the heart of its new sustainability narrative. Through its initiative ‘Breathe a Little Deeper’, the company has sparked an industry-wide conversation about how design, materials, and technology can combine to fight air pollution and improve urban living.
At a recent panel held at Godrej South Estate, Okhla, New Delhi, the developer brought
together experts from healthcare, sustainability, and community leadership to explore actionable strategies for wellness-centric living. The event also demonstrated how targeted clean-air interventions at the South Estate project have measurably improved outdoor AQI levels—an unprecedented achievement for a residential development in Delhi NCR.
Designing for Health, Not Just Comfort
For Godrej Properties, wellness is not a luxury or an afterthought—it’s a design imperative. The company’s innovations include Centralised Treated Fresh Air (CTFA) systems that filter and circulate oxygen-rich air indoors, and Mechanical Filter-less Fresh Air (MFFA) systems that cut particulate matter outdoors. Double-glazed windows for acoustic insulation and dense green buffers for natural filtration complete the ecosystem, turning homes into living wellness environments that embody the essence of Wellness by Design.
“Air quality isn’t just a statistic anymore—it’s shaping how we live and what we value in our homes,” said Geetika Trehan, CEO – North Zone, Godrej Properties. “Our goal is simple: create spaces that make families feel healthier, happier, and experience Everyday Joy.”
Dr Nikhil Modi, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, underscored that wellness must begin inside homes:
“Delhi’s air crisis demands immediate action starting at home. Families can lower risk by maintaining air-purifier filters, avoiding dry dusting, and using wet cleaning methods to limit airborne particles. Simple behavioural shifts—using N95 masks outdoors, avoiding early-morning walks when AQI spikes, and prioritising hydration and balanced diets—can build resilience. But long-term change will come only when the built environment itself supports clean air and better health.”
Real Estate’s New Ask: Wellness-Ready Supply Chains
For suppliers and manufacturers in the BPHI industry, the Delhi discussion made one thing clear: developers in high-pollution zones like Delhi NCR, Gurugram, Lucknow, and Kanpur are looking for partners who can co-create measurable wellness outcomes.
Their expectations now include:
- Air-purification and ventilation systems designed for integration at the project-planning stage.
- Low-VOC paints, adhesives, and finishes that contribute to cleaner indoor environments.
- High-performance façades and windows that balance air exchange with insulation.
- Smart sensors and automation tools for real-time AQI monitoring.
- Biophilic and green-buffer solutions that mitigate dust and heat-island effects.
“Wellness-led housing aligns with ESG principles and India’s sustainability goals,” noted Gaurav Vasudev, President, Globaltech Consultancy & Engineering Pvt Ltd (GEPS), the project’s technology partner. “At Godrej South Estate, we integrated CTFA for indoor spaces and MFFA for outdoors. These reduce PM2.5 and other pollutants across common areas, while double-glazed windows and green buffers provide natural insulation. The result is a home that protects health while minimising environmental impact.”
This emerging approach transforms wellness from a marketing tagline into a specification standard, creating new growth opportunities for BPHI brands that can demonstrate real, data-backed benefits. Developers are now explicitly seeking wellness by design partnerships—those that integrate air, acoustics, light, and material health into every layer of construction.
Shared Responsibility, Shared Opportunity
Panelists agreed that clean air must become a shared responsibility. Dr Mohammad Rafiuddin, Programme Lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), pointed out that “while indoor air-purification systems can provide temporary relief, they’re no substitute for systemic change. Developers and suppliers must work together to embed health-focused design and sustainable practices across all housing categories. Policy incentives and innovation will be vital to scale this movement.”
The conversation also underscored that wellness by design is not just a niche luxury concept—it is becoming a core expectation of middle- and upper-middle-income homebuyers who value health as much as aesthetics.
A Blueprint for the Future
With Breathe a Little Deeper, Godrej Properties has set a new benchmark for wellness by design—one that challenges both builders and suppliers to integrate health and sustainability into the DNA of construction.
For India’s building-products ecosystem, the call to action is unmistakable:
- Collaborate early with developers to integrate clean-air and low-emission technologies.
- Reimagine product portfolios to align with wellness and ESG goals.
- Measure and market impact, not just performance.
As Delhi NCR and other pollution-prone regions demand healthier homes, suppliers who can deliver on wellness will be the ones shaping the next decade of India’s built environment.
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