The ideal green office doesnt exist but heres one we built using eco-friendly features, like double glazed glass, terrace gardens, skylights etc from six buildings dotted around the country
Shobha John | TNN
First , it was outsourcing . Now, it is greening . The world can look at Indias green fingers with renewed respect after US secretary of state Hillary Clinton recently called the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon a monument to the future. Clinton's comments came just weeks after a survey of 100 Indian companies found a marked increase in green consciousness.
The survey, by Johnson Controls, a consultant in energy efficiency management, found that 72% of Indian firms were green compared to just 39% in the US. So just how green is the Indian office And what makes a building green Energy saving, water conservation and reusing waste, says Zeenat Niazi, habitat programme director at Delhi NGO, Development Alternatives (DA). That's the theory, anyway. What of practice
WHO SAVES ENERGY LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW
Real estate company K Raheja Corp has designed its buildings to allow sunlight in and keep the heat out. This includes using glass of high ultraviolet value and having ACs with chillers, leading to high output, which in turn lowers costs.
Raheja vice-president Shabbir Kanchwala says these measures have reduced our monthly energy bill by anything between 20 and 30%. Thats a huge saving for a company that has built 50 lakh square feet of malls, hotels and homes.
Raheja is not the only one. Other Indian companies are now increasingly using lowe (low emission) coating, double-glazed windows in their offices. These allow sunlight in, while keeping heat out and can reduce energy consumptions by 8-10 %, says Pradeep Kumar, senior fellow at the Delhi-based Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI).
WHO HAS A LOW WATER FOOTPRINT
Cadbury India has constructed a check dam (this dams up a small river/nallah during monsoons) in its Bangalore factory to store rain water. It has resulted in a 20% reduction in water consumption and even attracted migratory birds, says the companys associate VP, corporate affairs, Ransom D - Souza. Use of low-flow toilet fixtures, which consume less water while maintaining pressure , tap sensors that automatically turn themselves off and waterless urinals are measures being implemented in ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels, says Alwyn Noronha, executive VP, Projects, ITC Ltd.
WHO KNOWS HOW TO DISPOSE OFF WASTE
The Delhi secretariat has linked itself to a paper recycling plant. Making offices paper-free and using certain plants like Canna which take up nutrients from sewage, leaving the water clear, says Niazi, are further options. This is done in Pondicherry, she adds.
WHO BUILDS WITH RECYCLED MATERIAL
DAs headquarters in Delhi. The office was built with compressed earth blocks that used mud salvaged from the NGO's old office. It has used industrial waste, such as fly ash, for the outer walls and ferro-cement channels with stone slabs instead of concrete blocks. These are extremely low energy materials . This reduced the cost of materials by almost 40%, says DAs Niazi.
WHO ELSE IS THINKING ABOUT GREEN PROCESSES
Cement company ACC has disposed of waste (plastics, sewage, etc) and biomass in cement kilns to reduce CO2 emissions , introduced high efficiency burners and seals, used wind energy for cement manufacturing and solar energy for water heating. In 2008, it processed about 12,900 tonnes of industrial waste and 12,750 tonnes of biomass.We are also exploring if energy can be generated through waste heat from the kiln circuit, says K N Rao, head of the company's environment and energy conservation cell.
Kumar says green offices can save companies as much as 60% over time and halve water-use . He says Indian companies started thinking green four years ago when a draft Energy Conservation Building Code was published, specifying energy norms for commercial buildings. Today, a green building can be certified either by the globally recognised LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) or GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment ), a voluntary rating appropriate for Indian conditions . India currently has 34 LEED-rated buildings and 26 awaiting a GRIHA rating.
A BLUEPRINT FOR OFFICES
A green office saves energy, re-uses water, disposes of waste and uses debris effectively
EXTERIORS
Use double glazed windows, which can reduce energy consumptions by 8-10 % Insulate roofs paint them white, make terrace gardens, use thermal barriers Benefits of retrofitting accrue in 6-10 years
LIGHTING
Replace T12 fluorescent lights with energy-efficient T5 ones Automate lighting controls, use occupancy sensors
FURNITURE
Have low partitions More open spaces Have skylights
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Use computers with LCD monitors or laptops, which consume five times less electricity than desktop PCs
THERMAL COMFORT
Have a centralized AC system, automatically set to 26 degrees Clean AC condenser coils, which reduces energy bill by 20%
PLANK OF EXCELLENCE
Pradeep Sachdeva, a green architect who built ecofriendly buildings such as Dilli Haat cites Gandhi Ashram in Wardha as an example of a perfect building. Like the father of the nation, this building is minimalist and as natural as it can get, be it sunlight, ventilation or materials (bamboo, mud plaster, timber, mud floors), all of which have been procured from nearby places. Other buildings which he says deserve mention include ITCs Green Centre and the soon to be opened Royal Gardenia, Bengaluru
No comments:
Post a Comment