Concrete going ‘Green’
With ‘green buildings’ concept being put into practice, environment can be improved to a great deal

Jyoti K Singh
New Delhi, August 16: In the recent ‘national Conference on Green Jobs’ held by International Labor Organization and Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India, the perspectives on greener jobs were presented by various subject matter experts. The concept of green buildings was also explained in a simple yet an effective manner by Mr. M. Anand, Senior Counselor, LEED Accredited Green Building Professional & LEED Faculty, CII.

Here are some excerpts of an exclusive interview with him –

What is the concept of green buildings?
Agreen building is one, which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building.

An IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) rated green building blends ancient architecture and modern technology into one and demonstrates excellence in architecture and optimal use of resources. IGBC rating programme revolves around 5 elements of nature (Panchabhutas) - Prithvi (Earth), Jal (Water), Agni (Fire), Akash (Sky), Vayu (Air)

How far has the ‘urban heat island effect’ been instrumental in the evolution of this concept?
Heat islands have a great impact on local microclimate. Rising temperatures due to heat islands lead to increased cooling requirements in a building, requiring energy and causing associated emissions. Moreover, Plants and animals that are sensitive to large fluctuations in daytime and nighttime temperatures may not thrive in areas affected by heat island. Thus, heat island has been very influential in the concept evolution. IGBC Rating program addresses heat island effect in roof & non roof.

What are the other factors that have contributed to the need of ‘green buildings?
Green Buildings helped to address the National issues like handling of consumer waste, water efficiency, and reduction in fossil fuel use in commuting along with energy efficiency and conserving natural resources. Most importantly, these concepts helped to enhance occupants’ health, productivity, happiness and wellbeing. The green buildings are able to provide an integrated design and address the building design holistically.

What distinguishes a green building from a normal one?
A green building is known for its significant operational savings in energy and water. Buildings may look alike but the profound tangible and intangible benefits a green building offer, distinguishes it from a conventional building.

A green building saves energy to the tune of 30-40 % and water to the tune of 20-30 % as compared to a conventional building. Intangible benefits include improved day lighting, enhanced indoor air quality and health of the occupants. The enhancement in productivity of occupants is much better when compared with a conventional building.

Why was the need for such a certification felt?
The assessment of Green Buildings is broadly done in five Environmental categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Conservation, Energy Conservation, Material conservation and Indoor Environmental Quality. The assessment helps the project team to evaluate environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s life cycle.

Some of the building design could address only the energy aspects, whereas these designs may not address the water efficiency, thermal comfort, etc. Whereas in a green building design, the design team has to address holistically on site, water, energy, materials and indoor air quality aspects.

Hence, green building certification ensures that design addresses holistically and integrated and also all the national & world-class building standards are met and helps the project team to gain international recognition.

Do these green buildings incur heavier construction costs?
The cost involved in constructing a green building could be marginally high, say 5-10% more if the initial design elements are not able to meet the green building specifications & requirement. Hence, the incremental cost is always subjective & based on the design specifications.

However, with more buildings going green and availability of green materials & equipment, there is substantial reduction in incremental cost. There is a clear decline in the cost over the past 8 years. For example, the increase in cost of few green buildings in 2005 were in the region of 8-10% whereas the incremental cost in the recent projects in 2009 has been close to 3 %.

Though the initial investment in constructing a Platinum or Gold rated buildings is slightly higher, the benefits experienced in such buildings are tremendous with substantial reduction in operational costs. The payback period for the incremental cost is generally between 2 and 4 years.

Table 1: Declining initial incremental cost over years. 

What is the future of this ‘green buildings’ concept in India?
The Green Building movement has gained tremendous impetus over the last seven years. With a modest beginning of CII-Godrej Green Business centre, India’s first certified green building with 20,000 sq.ft. built-up area in the country in the year 2003, today more than 685 green buildings with a built-up area of over 433 million sq.ft are registered with IGBC.

India has 100 plus certified green buildings across the country.
The increase in the number of Green Building projects is a clear signal that the Indian building industry is becoming more environment conscious. The day is not far when green buildings will be the order of the day and India will establish a global leadership role in green buildings. IGBC is involving all the stakeholders in mainstreaming the green building movement.

Can a normal building be turned into a green one or does the concept require fresh construction?
The concept of Green Building can be applied to existing buildings as well. Issues such as systems upgrades, whole building cleaning and maintenance, recycling and exterior maintenance programs can be effectively addressed in an existing building. The IGBC is working on an exclusive rating system for Green existing buildings.

What are the basics of creating a green building that must not be over passed during civil construction?
In a green building, it is mandatory to address certain basic aspects, which are not compromiseable. Such basic criteria that should not be over passed during construction include erosion and sedimentation control, commissioning of building systems, storage and collection of recyclables, tobacco smoke control and provision of minimum fresh air requirements for indoors.

When it comes to heat loss, can the shape of a building also affect it?
The shape of the building has to be compact to reduce the surfaces in contact with the exterior. The shape and complexity of a building design affects the surface area and has an impact on overall building energy required for cooling / heating. A concept called Energy Modeling has emerged these days to arrive at the optimum shape, orientation and energy savings of the building.
Also, the modern building material and construction techniques can eliminate or reduce the heat loss, irrespective of the shape of the building design.


What does the straw-bale design of a building mean?
Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both.
Advantages of Straw-bale construction over conventional building systems include the renewable nature of straw, cost, easy availability, and high insulation value. Disadvantages include difficulty in designing for high wind, susceptibility to rot, potential danger from flammability and high space requirements for the straw itself.

What according to you can be the benefits of the concept to human race and environment?
Green Buildings can play a catalytic role in addressing environmental issues and concerns. Green buildings are built around the environment. The buildings designed & constructed today, will last for next 75 or 100 years, hence the built environment has an impact on the nature forever. Hence, conceiving & designing buildings as green will have eliminate the negative impact on environment, in fact we would like to have a positive impact on environment by going green.

Any message to the readers?
Going green is the need of the hour and adopting green building tools and technologies should be taken on a priority basis. Many basic Green features can be adopted at individual house level. These concepts & principles are simple, practical & holistic. The green buildings also allow tradition and technology to co-exist.

The quotation on green building from Natural Capitalism, aptly conveys the message of what every green building should be:

“Green buildings should create delight as you enter, serenity & health when occupied and regret when you depart”