The Green Building Concept

Imagine working in an office that uses sunlight instead of artificial lights for illumination and that has in place central air conditioning instead of the split or window air conditioners. In an increasing revolt against over-urbanization, companies are opting for ecofriendly options.

The concept of environment-friendly buildings, or green buildings as they are popularly known, is catching on in India. While the green building movement has been around globally since the 19 !s, it has picked up momentum in India only in the last couple of years. " green building essentially uses better design and construction material to minimi#e the consumption of power and water within the building. $uch buildings are eco-friendly and energy-efficient. They are those that

use eco-friendly technology to reduce the consumption of electricity, water and other natural resources and minimi#e the impact of the building on the local environment. %ut in most case, the e&ternal appearance of green buildings does not differ very much from that of normal buildings.

Features of Ecological Building and Some Techniques

'any options are now available to those wishing to design and build green buildings or eco-friendly buildings.. "rchitects, engineers and builders worldwide are now using construction techni(ues that have been developed throughout human history, in response to local environmental concerns and the physical resource opportunities available, coupled with )1st century technological refinements. These ranges from rammed earth construction, which involves clay-based material mi&ed with water and then rammed into brick or solid wall form, suitable in hot and dry climates, to straw bale houses, literally using bales of straw as the core structure. $traw is a great insulator, is a breathable material that filters the air passing through it, and contrary to e&pectation, is fireresistant when compressed. "nd it is low cost. *ther options are so-called earth ships, which use recycled car tyres filled with earth as the buildings walls, or +urts or ,ears, the semi-permanent nomadic tents

of Inner "sia, that utili#e local wood, wool and canvas, to literally live on, with the land. These e&amples can be seen as development that has a low impact upon the environment, which utili#e and blend in with the local environment, and could be dismantled and moved easily. In more conventional building construction, it is how technology and building materials merge and create ecological resources that are the key to green success, as well as using simple and readily available materials. -or e&ample, using pulped recycled paper for roof insulation is a simple but highly effective ecological resource. The damage to human health from asbestos insulation, laid out in rolls in thousands of ./ homes, is now wellknown. "sbestos also takes hundreds of years to decompose in landfill. *ther features of an ecological building might includes 0 1 The varied use of solar panels for domestic hot water heating, 1 Water conservation, possibly including biological waste water treatment and re-use, and the simple collection and recycling of rainwater for garden use, 1 2ow energy light bulbs, which can last up to 1!! times longer than regular bulbs, 1 3ellulose insulation 4like the paper in the above e&ample5, 1 6on-to&ic or lead-free paints and wood preservatives, 1 2ocally grown and harvested timber from sustainably

managed forests. ,reen buildings are steadily increasing their footprint in India with an increase from 7,!!! s(. m of green space in )!!8 to 8!9,:!! s(. m e&pected by the end of )!!:, according to the Indian ,reen %uilding 3ouncil, which is promoting the green building movement in India. The first green building in India was the 3II - $ohrab;i ,odre; ,reen %usiness 3entre in <yderabad. /olkata=s Technopolis lays claim to be the country=s first green building for information technology. " mi& of green building pro;ects is coming up in the country, which includes residential, commercial and hotel properties.

ANTILLA BUILDING , MUMBAI

"s cities get hemmed in by concrete buildings and green spaces rapidly disappear, companies are looking at green buildings to do their bit for the environment. In turn, some of them can earn carbon credits for the clean buildings. Indian companies seem to be turning over a new leaf, literally. 'ore than )!> of the :! million s(. ft of commercial real estate e&pected to come up in the top seven metros in India in the ne&t two years will be green buildings. "bout )) buildings with varying degrees of ecofriendliness are e&pected to come into the market by )!!9. ?evelopers constructing green buildings include ?2- 2td, @maar ',- group, / Aahe;a group, /alpataru Broperties Bvt. 2td, A'C 3orp. and 2odha ?evelopers group. 3lients include 'icrosoft 3orp, Aeliance @nergy 2td and ,odre; D %oyce 'anufacturing 3o. 2td. The Indian ,reen %uilding 3ouncil 4I,%35 estimates that by )!1!, the space available in commercial buildings in India could go up to 1!! million s(. ft. In Eanuary, Indian ,reen %uilding 3ouncil 4I,%35 started a system of certifying buildings, known worldwide as 2@@? 42eadership in @nergy and @nvironmental ?esign5 ,reen %uildings Aating $ystem. .nder this system, buildings can be certified as certified, silver, gold and platinum. $o far, around F: buildings in India have received 2@@? ratings. Typically, a green building with a platinum certification reports )F-8!> energy savings.

The 6ew ?elhi-based The @nergy Aesearch Institute 4T@AI5 has also instituted a certification programme, known as ,riha, that offers star ratings one through five with five being the highest. T@AI has registered 1) pro;ects, including a 9.) million s(. ft integrated township pro;ect in /olkata. The <yderabad international "irport developed by the ,'A group is a registered green building with a 2@@? silver rating. The airport, with a built-up area of 1.)7 million s(. ft meant to accommodate 8,)!! people per hour at peak capacity, will use rainwater harvesting and waste water technologies and ma&imi#e the use of natural light through gla#ing and skylights. "mong other green buildings, the ).!7 million s( ft @cospace %usiness Bark in /olkata, a registered platinum building being developed by "mbu;a Aealty ?evelopment 2td and A'C, procures :F> of its construction materials locally, and uses solar energy for e&ternal lighting and thermal insulation to reduce air-conditioning load. Water-saving fi&tures at A'C 'illenia %usiness Bark in 3hennai are e&pected to reduce water consumption by F!> while 6irlon 2td=s ).: million s(. ft /nowledge Bark at ,oregaon in 'umbai is being built with steel salvaged from its other sites and using energy-recovery systems to reduce energy consumption. The 1.9 million s(. ft ,odre; IT Bark in 'umbai=s Gikhroli, with a gold certification, uses 1!!> water recycling and solar energy for lighting. The company=s upcoming 7F!,!!! s(. ft IT park at 'umbai=s $anta 3ru# has a platinum

certification and uses locally-sourced materials. It has a 2@@? ,old certification, uses light and carbon dio&ide sensors for energy saving, and recycled material for construction. 2odha ,roup is building two green buildings in 'umbai0 the :F!,!!! s(. ft silver-certified 2odha i-Think Techno 3ampus on the EogeshwariGikhroli 2ink Aoad and the 9!!,!!! s(. ft 2odha @&cellus, with a basic certification. %oth buildings will have water recycling and recharging. Worldwide, the popularity of green buildings has grown and green buildings are fast turning out to be the need of the hour to save our degrading environment.