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Coimbatore
What encompasses a green building?
PHOTO: Mohammed Yousuf
Environment-friendly building: The first Indian building, the CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad, that won “Green Building - LEED Platinum 2003.” -
Quite often, the concept of what a green building entails baffles many. Many theories float, compounding this ignorance and leading to the prevalence of what in industry circles is commonly referred to as the ‘Green Wash’. Green Wash is nothing but a jargon used to refer to buildings that claim to be green when they actually are not.
This brings us to the question of what encompasses a green building and what materials go into building them. To put it concisely, green building is one which increases operational efficiency while minimising wastage during its life cycle. It addresses aspects such as health, environment and resource conservation while maintaining economy.
A green building, besides using materials that are sustainable, addresses in its structure, various design elements such as orientation, the façade of the building, the level of natural light, ventilation to name a few.
Sustainable
To begin with, green buildings start on the premise that building structures are most sustainable when locally available materials are used and the design elements are those that are closely connected to traditionally established patterns and practices.
Buildings are most unsustainable when a design element or practice used elsewhere with different geographic and climatic conditions is blindly foisted on another region without making allowances for local conditions.
While design elements can be numerous to reduce operational cost of a building, the materials used to build should be sustainable and here the options are plenty. Conventional buildings use plenty of cement in their structure which is environmentally unsustainable. In place of cement, fly ash which is a by-product of coal furnaces can be used to make hollow concrete blocks.
These blocks, besides being environment friendly, act as insulation layers through the hollow space within. They conserve energy by keeping the heat out naturally.
Double glazed aluminium panelled glass, also known as curtain glazing, again acts as a very good insulator when used for walls as well as windows. While letting in light, they shut out extreme temperatures, thus saving energy used for cooling or heating the interiors.
Besides, the double layer of glass helps to shut out noise and this is an added advantage in buildings situated close to a busy road.
Conventional buildings use plenty of wood in their interiors. While it is often argued that the wood sourced is plantation wood and hence sustainable, particle boards have been found to have high Volatile Organic Content (VOC). A more sustainable option would be to go in for alternate wood like bamboo which grows easily in any climate, uses less water and takes less time to grow.
Better alternatives
Says Saacketh Chawla, National Director, Project Management Consulting, Colliers International, “Bamboo mat sheets are a good option in place of particle boards as these are not only sustainable but have very low VOC. The presence of VOC has a negative impact just as lead based paints.”
Smaller residences can also use stabilised earth blocks instead of cement or brick blocks.
These are again environmentally sustainable as the mud used here comes from the site which is invariably excavated for construction. Here, not only is the mud put to good use, the transport cost as well as the indirect cost of using cement or brick blocks is avoided.
It is a good idea to use stone on floors in locations facing extreme heat. Stone absorbs heat during the day while radiating coolness, thus reducing the ambient temperature. Similarly, having a green roof or having chilled water pipes in the ceiling can reduce temperature within.
The greenery on the terrace insulates the interiors from excessive heat.
While making provisions for air-conditioning, it is important to ensure that peak temperatures are not taken into account in deciding the level of cooling required. “It is best to take it at 10 per cent lower than peak requirement”, says Chawla. “The number of days in a year that such peak temperatures prevail should be noted, besides studying the work habits and building occupancy patterns while deciding the level of air-conditioning required.”
This according to him will result in a sizeable reduction in energy spent on cooling.
Lighting is another factor that guzzles energy in a building.
While a suitable design that allows plenty of natural light reduces need for artificial lighting, going in for energy saving CSL lamps instead of Halogen bulbs would reduce electricity consumption.
Cladding of walls, especially outer ones is a good option as this removes the need for painting them periodically, saving resources as well as being environmentally sustainable.
While the options and materials that go into making a building green are ample, constrained only by the level of innovation, the normal thumb rule to go green is to opt for locally available materials and traditionally used designs.
NANDHINI SUNDAR
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