Practicing Sustainability in Design and Construction of Buildings: Insights with

Case-Studies
Mr Preetish Kakoty1, Mr Bhargab M Das2
1

UG Student, Civil Eng. Dept., Assam Eng. College, Guwahati, Assam, India, Pin781 013, Phone: +919085223926, Email Id: preetish11-25@aec.ac.in

President & COO; Thai Global Energy Co. Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand, Pin-10520,
Email Id: bhargab@ritta.co.th, Web: www.thaige.co.th

ABSTRACT: In a time when India is suffering from gross scarcity of electricity,

more than ever, sincere efforts are necessary to overcome the situation. To achieve
such an objective, it is important to initiate measures in the relevant fields. Thus,
necessarily building construction industry is needed to be reviewed as the Buildings
of all kinds shares in the range of 30%-40% of overall electricity demand. This paper
discusses the same with relevant case-studies from Thailand. The paper has discussed
the two basic measures necessarily taken which are energy efficiency enhancements
and energy consumption offset implementation via energy generation from renewable
sources. This paper has clearly demonstrated all the mandatory necessities for the
successful implementation of such projects and positives derived from the same. It is
essentially desired that the paper will create awareness on the practical
implementation of sustainability in design and construction of buildings and
encourages more such implementation in India. Such measures will certainly provide
reduction in the adverse effects of power shortage from the conventional sources
which has resulted in the numerous electricity power-cuts. Additionally better aspects
relevant to environmental preservation, recycling promotion and carbon foot-print
reduction can be successfully implemented.
Keywords: Energy Efficiency, Electricity demand off-set, Sustainability, Solar PV,
Design-Construction Coordination, Green Building
1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
The paper basically focuses on the methodology and approach of a Green Building
project to create a synergy between various factors which eventually affects the
efficiency of the building. During the planning and construction of a Green Building a
proper correlation has to be maintained among energy efficiency, ease of execution,
comfort of the occupants, green parameters and financial aspects. The concept of
sustainable design of building is traced back to the energy crisis and environmental
pollution concerns of the late 1960s. The need and desire for environment friendly
construction practices grew more in the following years. Green building brings
together a vast array of practices, techniques, and skills to reduce and ultimately

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eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. In India the
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) aims to create 10 billion square feet of Green
Building footprint by the year 2022, when India will mark 75th year of its
independence. This requires great awareness and discussion among various
stakeholders as to how a Green Building project can be well achieved with the perfect
blending of all its elements. Currently it stands at 2 billion square feet of Green
Building footprint. As per the survey carried out by US Green Building Council, a
green building can save energy upto 20-30% and increases the water efficiency to 4050%. Therefore the successful execution of Green Projects addresses the various
environmental issues at large. Hence, this paper intends to formulate the
methodologies and approach of a Green project with the addition of two successful
green building projects to showcase the synergy between planning, design,
construction and operation at various stages.
2. REQUIREMENTS OF A GREEN BUILDING:
Green Building projects primarily deals with five major elements. These are the areas
where emphasis has to be put in order to successfully implement a Green Building
project. The five elements are:
I.
Sustainable Site Design: This element is more predominant during the
Planning stage and to an extent execution stage. During Planning Stage, the
essence of site selection keeping in mind the important facets such as nature of
site soil, accessibility to the nearest facilities, zoning requirements fulfilment
etc. During Execution stage, significant efforts are needed to be put to assure
utilization of Best Management Practices to execute the site-work in a safe
manner promoting recycling whereas abstaining from creating site pollution,
soil erosion, destruction of natural habitats etc. During operation, the
guidelines prepared during execution stage are needed to be followed.
II.
Water Quality and Conservation: During the planning and execution of the
project importance has to be given on maintaining the existing water cycle and
the hydrological process. The implementation of the project should not
hamper at any stage the natural water cycle significantly. During the design
stage, proper design has to be done for the conservation of storm water. The
design should ensure that minimum wastage of water is allowed. Also the
design should be done in a way that maximum on-site infiltration occurs so
that ground water recharge happens automatically. During the maintenance of
a Green Building emphasis has to be laid on proper functioning of the
conservation mechanism.
III.
Energy and Environment: The design of the Green Building has to be done
in a way to minimise the adverse effect of the building on various
environmental elements such as air, water, land and other natural resources.
Optimized building design should be made with proper materials to
aggressively use energy conservation measures. During the execution phase,
use of renewable source of energy should be maximum. Also during
construction, energy saving equipment and methodologies has to be adapted
for proper execution of Green project. Energy efficient practices should
prevail during the maintenance.

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IV.

Indoor Environmental Quality: It is customary to provide a healthy,

comfortable and productive indoor environment to occupants in Green
Building. The building design should be done such that the indoor conditions
in terms of air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, access to natural
ventilation and daylight and overall acoustical environment are best. The
maintenance of the Green Building has to be proper to ensure the inside
quality is good all along its life.
Materials and Resources: During the construction of a Green Building,
emphasis should be put on use of re-usable, renewable, sustainably managed
and bio-based materials. Also maximisation of the use of recycled content
materials, modern resource efficient engineered material and resource efficient
composite type structural systems. Effective recycling of the construction
debris should also be taken care of.

V.

3. PLANNING-DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION-OPERATION SYNERGY
3.1.
General Remarks:
A green building is a combined effort of the development, design, construction and
the Operation & Maintenance Teams. Unlike the general perception that Green
Building creation is more of a Design intensive affair, actual Green Buildings are the
products of well-coordinated effort by all involved parties. Developer visions their
GREEN Requirements which all the other relevant parties bring to reality. Fig. 1
shows the general Green Project Development flowchart and it clearly demonstrates
the involvement of different parties.

Figure1: Flow Chart for Green Design Preparation

3.2.

Involved Teams and respective roles:

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The key teams necessary for the development of a Green Building Project are
Project Developer
Consultants
Project Management
Designer
Green Consultant
General Contractor
Special Support Team
Independent Commissioning Authority
Operation and Maintenance Team
Measurement & Verification Team (Optional)
The respective roles of all the relevant parties are noted below:
3.2.1. Project Developer:
Project developer generally stays as the long term Owner of the Building as well.
Thus, the inception of the Green Concepts' implementation in the development
project itself starts with the Developer. The developers generally have following
consideration while setting the Green Initiatives needed for his project:
Life Cycle Cost Reduction
Specific requirements for enhanced project look.
Brand Image Enhancement
CO2 Foot-print reduction as a CSR measure
Added derived profitability to the Building (more specific to Commercial
Building)via
Enhanced rental charges to the tenant
Better output of the Working staff owing to enhanced Indoor Air Quality
Draw attention towards all potential Business Clients
However for these initiatives, Project Developer still needs the following aspects to
be well investigated and assured of:
Assure the baseline requirements as well as the enhanced features to enhance
the Green Aspects of the Building.
Conclude on the extra Budget and time requirement for the Green
enhancement.
Return of the additional investment made to achieve high-end Green features
in the project.
Confirmation on the Schedule of the project completion as the project cannot
be unduly delayed owing to the Green implementation.
3.2.2.

Consultants:

Consultants, as noted above mainly comprises of three parties for Green Projects. On
certain projects, one team plays the combined role while on other projects, developer
hires different parties for each of the three practices. Here, we will combine all the
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consultants' role into one for the sake of ease to comprehend. Consultants' team
primarily needs to focus on the following:
Comprehend clients' all key Green requirements and create the baseline on
Basis of General Design
Tentative Budget
Tentative Schedule
To implement the detailed design and budget-schedule planning to meet the
Green requirements by the Client.
To simulate and pre-assess the performance of the Building with all Green
Features implemented.
Find out the most suitable Construction Team to build the Project. It is
essential to have the well-versed construction team on-board to assure the
correct implementation.
To coordinate with the independent Commissioning team to assure the correct
implementation of Green aspects and also to initiate the Measurement and
Verification measures to assure the Green performance of the building.
3.2.3. General Contractor:
General Contractor is the construction team who builds the project based on the
Techno-Commercial standards fixed by the Developer and Consultants. The main
aspect that the General Contractor needs to maintain synergy with other players and
within is:
Assurance of constructing the project in accordance to the DesignCommercial-Schedule standards set before-hand.
To assure the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) of site
execution to achieve
Soil Erosion Prevention
Site Pollution by Construction Activities; prevention
Recycling of Construction waste Promotion
Protection of Indoor Air Quality during Construction.
Plan site management measures such as site staff transportation pool to
reduce CO2 Foot-print.
Selection of suitable material in accordance to the recommendation made by
the Consultants.
Coordinate with the assigned independent commissioning authority to assure
the implementation.
To coordinate with the key equipment manufacturers to carry out the training
for the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) team for proper operation of the
building to get the best functionality.
To coordinate with the key equipment manufacturers to carry out the training
for the Measurement and Verification (M&V) team to assure the proper
evaluation of the Building performance to assure the building's performance is
as anticipated out in the design work.

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3.2.4. Special Support Teams:

As noted above, Special support teams are independent teams whose involvement
assures that the Projects Green Vision has been planned correctly at the beginning and
thereafter it assures the implementation of all the standards set by Developer and
Consultants is been correctly achieved by the general contractor as well as the enduser of the building. The key activities are:
To assure that Owners' Project Vision and the Consultants Design Basis are in
sync with the Practical Green Requirements for the building. This is a step
required to be done by the Independent Commissioning Authority.
To assure all key equipment relevant to energy consumption are well
commissioned and are made functional by General Contractor.
Commissioning Authority handles this issue.
To assure that the building components are well operated as per the guidelines
from the manufacturer for the optimum performance. O&M team is in-charge
of the same.
To assure that the building's energy consumption is exactly in the manner that
was anticipated during the design phase. M&V Team carries out this step
following the guidelines received from the Design-Contractor-Manufacturer
teams.

4. SUSTAINABILITY IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS WITH CASESTUDIES

5.1.
General Statement:
As explained in the previous section, implementation
of the synergy has already been proven in the
construction industry. This part will elaborate two
live projects carried out in Thailand which have
considered different principles of attaining Green
Sustainability in Building project. One of the project
has implemented the energy efficient tools of highest
order and renewable energy to attain significant
energy savings whereas the other project is an
example of carrying out measures of energy
Figure 2: Case Study 1
consumption offset via having in-house renewable
sources of electricity generation to offset the
electricity demand from the conventional sources. Both the projects were
implemented in a one-stop manner by one entity keeping the best measures for siteexecution in manner to promote enhanced environmental quality and promoting
recycling promotion.
5.2.

Case-Study 1: Ritta Head Office Suvarnabhumi

Type of Building:
3 Storied Office Building with approximate area 7000sq.m

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Turnkey Service Provision by:

Ritta Co., Ltd. (in-house) and Thai Global Energy Co., Ltd. (as RTGBD)

Figure 3: Advanced HVAC system

used for Case Study 1

Figure 4: BAS used in Case Study 1

Sustainability Concepts utilized:

Efficient Design to implement High-End Energy Efficient Equipment with
advanced technologies to achieve reduced electricity consumption during the
operational period
Promoting Local Materials of construction for deferred sustainability benefits
of reduced CO2 emission by reduced transportation magnitude.
Utilization of Best Management Practices on site-execution during
construction which is instrumental in severe reduction in the probable
construction generated pollution
Selected Enhanced Methodology:
Double Layered Glass Facade as Building Envelope for enhanced daylight and
efficient natural ventilation process for reduced Mechanical HVAC load.
Absorption Chiller technology where the heat generation is achieved by
utilization of Solar Thermal technology to save any possible utilization of
natural oil for the boiler.
Utilization of Ice-storage tank technology as another support system for the
HVAC.

Figure 5: CO2 Sensor used in

Case Study 1

Figure 6: Innovative Building

Envelope in Case Study 1

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Provision of energy efficient LED and T5 Bulbs for Lighting Purpose. Also as
noted earlier, the unique building Envelope design added high proportion of
daylight which significantly reduced electrical lighting requirements.
Auto-low flow sanitary features to achieve controlled water consumption.
Provide centralized control of the entire Building's electrical consumption via
Building Automation System (BAS)
Enhanced Green O&M Procedures to assure perfect functioning during
operation.

International Design Baselines Standard:

ASHRAE 90.1,
Saving in Electrical Consumption from baseline:
27%
General Return of Investment on the advanced features
5-6 years
International recognition:
Certified as LEED for New Construction by USGBC, GOLD Level.
Follow up steps:
Planned installation of Solar PV Panels to offset electric load further by
additional 30% to 40%.
Target to achieve the LEED Existing Building for Operation and Maintenance
Certificate from USGBC.

Figure 7: Protection during

construction of a Green Building

5.3.

Figure 8: Solar Panels installed during Case

Study 2

Case-Study 2: KL5 Warehouse and Distribution Centre

Type of Building:

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1 Storied Building with approximate area 25000sq.m

Turnkey Service Provision by:

Ritta Co., Ltd. (in-house) for Construction and Thai Global Energy Co., Ltd.
for Turnkey GREEN Sustainability Solutions.
Function of the Building:
Storage and Distribution Center for in-house operation of Ritta Co., Ltd.
Sustainability Concepts utilized:
Provide Electrical load offset via installation of Solar PV System at the Roof
of the building.
Efficient Design to implement High-End Energy Efficient Equipments with
advanced technologies to achieve reduced electricity consumption during the
operational period
Promoting Local Materials of construction for deferred sustainability benefits
of reduced CO2 emission by reduced transportation magnitude.
Utilization of Best Management Practices on site-execution during
construction which is instrumental in severe reduction in the probable
construction generated pollution
Selected Enhanced Methodology:
PV Roof Top system.
Insulated RC Facade system as Building Envelope.
Designed for enhanced Natural Ventilation at feasible locations to reduce the
electrically generated cooling load.
High-Efficiency Air Cooled Chillers for HVAC process.
Provision of energy efficient LED Bulbs for Lighting Purpose.
Auto-low flow sanitary features to achieve controlled water consumption.
International Design Baselines Standard:
ASHRAE 90.1,
Saving in Electrical Consumption from baseline from High Efficient Equipment:
8%
Electricity Load Offset via Solar PV installation
40% to 50%
General Return of Investment on the advanced features
7-8 years
R&D Aspects:
For internal research and development purpose, the Roof-Top Solar PV for
this building is installed in different groups with different brands of key

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products to do an internal self-study of the product performance of different

reputed brands.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The paper has focussed on practical implementation of successful GREENBUILDINGs with efficient measures with enhanced sustainability and proven
experience. Conclusively, following key conclusions can be drawn:
Pre-assessment of all necessarily needed project specific requirements for
sustainability achievement should be prompt.
Coordination among all relevant parties is of extreme importance.
Turnkey execution of the entire process by one team can guarantee timely
completion of the projects.
Depending on the situation, both Energy saving and Energy Consumption
Offset measures can be taken.
With availability of proper governmental policies, such measures can be
further popularized and expanded to all sectors in comparison to currently
implemented large scale corporate financed projects only.
6. REFERENCE

IGBC Green Homes, Abridged Reference Guide(Version 2.0)

Sustainable High Performance Projects and Project Delivery Methods,
Charles Pankow Foundation
www.igbc.in
www.usgbc.org

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