Global energy-tech majors want a slice of the real estate sustainability pie 

"Our solution allows you to switch dynamically different power sources, and use the right source at the right time of the day because of tariff, up-time, and to cut peak-power, because peak (power) saving is also equally important", he added.

Honeywell has firmly set its sights on taking pole position in the real estate energy-tech space; Manish said he would like for this to happen by 2030 when CREDAI has pledged to construct 4,000 green buildings. But this won't be easy; competition is heating up.

At the launch of its innovation centre in Bengaluru, American HVAC, fire and security firm Johnson Controls said it was prioritizing de-carbonization of buildings through digitisation, as its primary goal in India. This target comes even as internal estimates project that buildings account for 40% of carbon emissions all the world over.

Swiss-headquartered Hitachi Energy, meanwhile, is banking on its new global technology centre in Chennai to drive its work in energy-transition in sectors like mobility and buildings, in India and overseas. The newly inaugurated centre will see 2,500 engineers work on over a thousand projects across 40 countries.

"We need to continue to enable the integration of more renewables into the energy system, and India is doing great work there," said Claudio Facchin, CEO at Hitachi Energy, in an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18, "Then there's the need to electrify, transport, industry and buildings. In order for us to do that demand-supply, we need to continue to invest in our core, which is the grid."

Facchin added, "We need some key technologies that are here at the centre — power electronics, because you need power across the value chain; and then there's digitalization — the system will be more complex, but the good news is that the technology is there and digitalization is an essential part of that."

Earlier this week, a NITI Aayog study projected that India's GDP would hit $30 trillion by 2047. The Knight Frank and NAREDCO study added that real estate would contribute 15.5% to the GDP by this time, more than double its present-day share of 7.3%. Green technology firms believe there's a strong chance that these projections will drive investment in sustainability initiatives.