CRITICAL DESIGN REVIEW

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING SOCIETY

1. System Definition And Overview

1.1 Mission Objective:The aim of our project is to try to build houses with materials which would incur the least cost on nature and be sustainable for the longest duration possible. We plan to make this result region specific i.e. try to use materials locally available and not increase the load on some other part. We aim to achieve this by: Categorizing the buildings on the type of Materials Used. Ascertain the materials used for each type of such Housing Topology. Take one building from each topology and estimate volume of each material used. Divide the country into square grid points of 50km sides, and then join grid points according to similar climate to get roughly 30 climatic zones for the country. Build a table which gives us the information as to which material is available in which zone.

1.2 Operational Objective: For each Housing Topology in each Climatic Zone, ascertain the closest zones from which the required materials can be obtained, thereby causing the minimum load on nature and facilitating sustainable housing. Then, calculate the Life Cycle Energy and CO2 Emission for each Housing Topology in each Climatic Zone. Seeing the above results, then we will decide if it the construction of that Housing Topology is sustainable in that Climatic Zone.

2. System Design
2.1 Design Requirements:2.1.1 Scope of the System: Our aim is to make the system accurate enough to be used for every region in our country. We will be covering around 20-25 types of Housing Typologies existent. We will keep track of around 35-40 materials used in the construction of these building typologies. The result will be based on several factors such as availability of the materials in the nearby regions. Life Cycle Energy of the materials, CO2 emission caused among other things. 2.1.2 Operational Requirements: The housing topology given as input should be practically possible in the given climatic zone. Since our project pertains only to the country , the materials that are listed are restricted to ones available. The transportation facility for transporting the materials from one climatic zone to another should be available . The volume calculation of the houses are based on small scale constructions.

The materials that are not produced directly , the CO2 emission needs to approximated as exact data is not available. Various sub-types of materials available are clubbed under certain major categories for convenience.

2.2 Design Characteristics:2.2.1 System Structure: The system is divided into five sub-systems based on the category of work needed for the operational requirements : List of all the buliding types. Each geographic zone categorized based on the climatic conditions there. List of all the materials used for each of the buliding types. The amount of each material required on an average for each building type. A table the maps the geographic zones to the materials available in that zone. The final calculation of the feasibility of construction using the data from the database and the amount of each material.

2.2.2 System Challenges: The volume of data is quite high that creates time lag issues that is needed to be dealt with. Calculation of CO2 emission for all types of materials requires collection of huge amount of data and research. Distribution of housing topologies based on materials used ,is something which is not available. Distributing the country into climatic zones , requires to keep track of both the climatic as well as the geographical aspects. Approximating the centre of each climatic zone required to define a lot of preference orders.

2.2.3 System Success Criteria: The construction that should be given a green signal should be the ones which are sustainable as well as viable . The cost of construction should be kept in mind and should not exceed limits. The approximation of the CO2 emission and life cycle energy should be utmost precision .

2.3 System Organization:As specified in the system structure, the system is divided into six sub systems: 1. List of all the buliding types: Basically we need to find the materials being used for construction and also classify the buildings on the basis of materials used and utility. Various kinds of materials help in making different types of buildings with different characteristic. 2. Each geographic zone categorized based on the climatic conditions there: This sub-system is required to divide the country into major points which are important from construction point of view and them enlist them according to different climatic zones. 3. List of all the materials used for each of the buliding types: Figuring out the list of materials necessary for building a particular type of building. The types of building are provided to us by the other groups. We are creating a list of materials for each of the type of building classified on the basis of functionality and method of construction.

4. The amount of each material required on an average for each building type: Prior to construction and design of a building it is imperative that different construction materials to be used be identified depending on the housing typology used and their volumes or amount be calculated. 5. A table to map the geographic zones to the materials available in that zone: In order to Build a table which gives us the information as to which material is available in which zone for each Housing Topology in each Climatic Zone, ascertain the closest zones from which the required materials can be obtained,we needed some database management systems. 6. The final calculation of the feasibility of construction using the data from the database and the amount of each material: This sub-system tell us whether the given hosing topological building is sustainable in a given climatic zone on or not based on the CO2 emission and the life cycle energy. 2.3.1 System Flow Diagram: (a). For each building typology, a list of required materials is prepared. (b). The database contains data for each zone. (c). For each building type the required amount of material volume is calculated. (d). The availability of each material in a particular zone is stored in the database. (e). The required volume for each material concerning a particular building type is calculated. (f). Calculation of the feasibility requires data from the database. (g). Calulation of the feasibility also requires information concerning the amount of all the concerned materials required for construction.

FLOW CHART TO SHOW MUTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

3. Sub-System Details
Classification Of Buildings
Objectives Of The Subsystem:Our subsystem aims at finding the materials being used for construction and it also involves classification of the buildings on the basis of materials used and utility. Various kinds of materials help in making different types of buildings with different characteristic. Some buildings are built in earthquake prone areas and therefore materials and types of constructions are used so as to make it earthquake resistant. Similarly depending upon the topology of the area, climate and other non-human conditions different construction types and various kinds of materials are used. The material used in the construction and the methods of construction are vital entities for Sustainable Housing.

Requirement Analysis and Options Considered:Our requirement analysis includes understanding what are all the types of material that can be used in construction of buildings and understanding which material is fire resistant, which has higher tensile strength, which is stronger, harder, lighter, electrically sound, sound proof, long-lasting, corrosion-less, which can withstand high pressure of air and water(like in case of sky-scrapers we need to understand what kind of material should be used which could withstand the high atmospheric pressures and strong winds, we also need to check the structural design of the building as at higher altitudes the high pressure and windy nature could cause problems). Depending on these types of materials that can be used, construction of buildings is divided into various categories.

Characteristics Of The Subsystem:Our subsystem will characterize various buildings on three major criteria 1. Functional Utility 2. Construction Methods 3. Materials Used

Details of Further Sub-levels:Buildings can be characterized on many criteria. We will primarily be focusing on three of these1. Functional Utility There are uncountable numbers of utilities of a building. We are broadly mentioning a few of these with proper examples. Functionalities can differ from building to building but it is of utmost importance that the safety and durability of all such buildings is assured. On the basis of functionality, buildings can be classified as

Agricultural buildings Stable, Storm cellar, Tide mill, Root cellar, Hayloft, Farmhouse

Commercial buildings Bank, Bar and Casino, Coffee house, Convention center, Forum, Gas station, Grocery Store, Hotel, Office building, Restaurant, Supermarket, Warehouse

Residential Buildings Apartment block, Asylum, Condominium, Dormitory, Duplex, House

Educational buildings Gymnasium, School and University, Museum and Theater

Government buildings Capitol, City hall, Consulate, Courthouse, Embassy, Fire station, Palace, Parliament, Police station, Post office, Prison

Industrial buildings Brewery, Factory, Foundry, Mining, Power plant, Refinery, Mill, Oil Rig

Military buildings Barracks, Bunker, Blockhouse, Castle, Citadel, City gate, Defensive wall, Fort, Fortification, Tower

Parking and storage Boathouse, Carport, Garage, Hangar of aircraft or spacecraft, Storage silo

Religious buildings Church, Basilica, Cathedral, Chapel, Oratory, Martyrium, Mosque, Mihrab, Surau, Imambargah, Monastery, Mithraeum, Fire Temple, Pyramid, Shrine, Synagogue, Temple, Pagoda, Gurdwara

Transit stations Airport terminal, Bus station, Ferry slip, Metro (subway, underground) station, Taxi station, Train station, Signal box

Other Aqueduct, Bakery, Bookstore or bookshop, Community hall, Department store, Eatery, Folly, Hospital, Hut, Low-energy buildings, Plant nursery, Stadium, Marina, Triumphal arch, Sport Club, etc

2. Construction Methods Classification is based on the following building elements

Structural frame Exterior bearing walls Interior bearing walls,

Exterior nonbearing walls and partitions, Interior nonbearing walls and partitions, Floor construction including supporting beams and joists, Roof construction including supporting beams and joists.

Fire-Resistance Rating is the other factor in determining construction class. Fire-Resistance rating typically means the duration for which a passive fire protection system can withstand a standard fire resistance test. There are two major sources identifying the construction types: International Building Code (IBC) and Insurance Services Office (ISO). ISO is traditionally what insurance companies use to denote type; however, IBC is what Architects and Builders use. ISO: 1. Class 1: Frame- Buildings with exterior walls, floors, and roofs of combustible construction or buildings with exterior walls of noncombustible or slow-burning construction with combustible floors and roofs.
o

Masonry veneer is thin layers of brick, stone, or stucco, used for appearance purposes rather than structural support. Metal Clad is a building with a metal exterior wall may not look like frame construction, but when the metal skin is attached to wood studs and joists, ISO classifies the building as frame.

2. Class 2: Joisted Masonry- Buildings with exterior walls of masonry or fireresistive construction rated for not less than one hour and with combustible floors and roofs.
o o o o o

brick concrete either reinforced or non-reinforced hollow concrete masonry units tile stone

3. Class 3: Light Noncombustible

buildings with exterior walls, floors, and roofs of noncombustible or slowburning materials building supports of noncombustible or slow-burning materials

noncombustible or slow-burning roof decks on noncombustible or slowburning supports regardless of the type of insulation on the roof surface

4. Class 4: Masonry Noncombustible

buildings with exterior walls of masonry not less than four inches thick, or buildings with exterior walls of fire-resistive construction with a rating of not less than one hour, and noncombustible or slow-burning floors and roofs regardless of the type of insulation on the roof surface

5. Class 5: Modified Fire Resistive

buildings with exterior walls, floors, and roofs of masonry materials described in the definition of fire resistive(Class 6) less thick than required for fire-resistive structures but not less than four inches thick, or fire-resistive materials with a fire-resistance rating less than two hours but not less than one hour Materials include:
o o o o o o o o o

concrete plaster clay tile brick or other masonry units gypsum block gypsum wallboard mastic coatings mineral and fiberboard mineral wool

6. Class 6: Fire Resistive

Walls:

solid masonry, including reinforced concrete not less than four inches thick hollow masonry not less than 12 inches thick hollow masonry less than 12 inches thick, but not less than eight inches thick with a listed fire-resistance rating of not less than two hours assemblies with not less than a two-hour fire-resistance rating reinforced concrete not less than four inches thick assemblies with not less than a two-hour fire-resistance rating Horizontal and vertical load-bearing protected metal supports including pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete units with not less than a two-hour fire-resistance rating

o o

Floors and roofs:

o o

Structural metal supports:

o

IBC:

TYPE 1 and 2 Construction are those types of construction in which the building elements are of noncombustible materials (i.e., concrete and steel) TYPE 3 Construction is that type of construction in which the exterior walls are of noncombustible materials and the interior building elements are of any material permitted by this code. Fire-retardant-treated wood framing shall be permitted within exterior wall assemblies of a 2-hour rating or less. TYPE 4 Construction is that type of construction (Heavy Timber, HT) in which the exterior walls are of noncombustible materials and the interior building elements are of solid or laminated wood without concealed spaces. Fire-retardant-treated wood framing shall be permitted within exterior wall assemblies with a 2-hour rating or less. TYPE 5 Construction is that type of construction in which the structural elements, exterior walls and interior walls are of any material permitted by code. (Most One and Two Family Dwellings in Blount County are of this type of construction).

A = Protected - Protected means that all structural members of a building or structure has an additional fire rated coating or cover by means of sheetrock, spray on, or other approved method. This additional fire rated coating or cover extends the fire resistance rating of structural members at least 1 hour.

B = Unprotected Unprotected means that all structural members of a building or structure has no additional fire rated coating or cover. Exposed members are only fire resistant according to their natural ability and characteristics. Sprinkled A building or structure is fully protected by a complete fire sprinkler system. Un-sprinkled A building or structure that is not protected by a fire sprinkler system. 3. Materials Used On the basis of materials used in construction, a building can be classified as 1.

Mud Building Clay Building Rock/Stone Structures Thatch House Brush House Igloo Wood House Bamboo House Brick Buildings Concrete Buildings Metal Frame Buildings Glass House Plastic Houses Fabric Tent/House Foam Hut Marble Buildings Tiled House

2.
3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

Conflicts:Our basic job is to characterize the buildings on the basis of materials and utilities. There are numerous different kinds of materials being used for construction purpose but here we cant list out all the materials as our domain of working has some limitations as listing out all the possible materials for construction may take much longer time and may need more hands to work. For example, if we consider bamboo as one of the materials used but if we look into its sub categories then we will have to mention around a hundred types of bamboo which grow in different parts of the world. Also for metals, there are several types of metals available in different parts of world. But iron is the main metal being used in different types of construction. Another main conflict is that the total list of materials used in construction of any building may contain materials which do not reside in our list. This conflict need not be handled in this project as it would require us to go into minute details of sub-divisions of material based on various chemical and physical properties.

Solution:The only solution to this is to go as deep as possible into the minute details of each material and categorizing each based on its chemical and physical properties. So, instead of just listing the substantial materials being used we should rather go for a list possibly including each and every materials used for construction purpose i.e. from nail to concrete, which cannot be done here. Moreover, since the technology keeps improving with time and new methods and materials of constructions are found by analyzing certain new cases that pop up, this conflict is very difficult to be kept up to date and solved.

Ascertain The Materials

Requirements Of The Subsystem:These are the requirement of this subsystem from other sub-systems 1. Categorizing The Buildings: This subsystem is responsible for finding out hte concise list of building types. The building types can be on the basis of this construction methods, the materials used or their functionality. Based on the list of buliding types, the materials used for each type of building will be determined.

For Eg. : Stone Building Lime Gypsum Glass Ceramics Steel Aluminium Cement Concrete Admixtures Bitumen Geotextile Timber

Plywood Engineered Wood Polymers and plastics Mud Ice Bamboo Brick Fabric Marble Rubber Plaster of Paris thatch brush foam

List of all materials that can be used Revised list of materials. List of different types of buildings categorised on the basis of construction methods.

List of different types of buildings Categorised on the basis of functionality Concise list of buildings

The materials used in each Type of building is figured out And given as output in this sub-system

the data from the above subsystem is used for LCA and rest of the work.

Objectives of Sub-System:1. Determining a list of all the possible materials that can be used in the construction of a building. 2. Figuring out the list of materials necessary for building a particular type of building.

Characteristics of Sub-System:Overall material/product selection criteria:

Resource efficiency Indoor air quality Energy efficiency Water conservation Affordability

The sub-system will examine each building type for determining the list of materials used for it. Only the materials used in the construction purpose solely will be considered, not the ones used inside the buildings for other purposes.

Details Of Further Sub-Levels: Prepare the complete list of materials that can be used for any construction purpose. Based on each bulding type, prepare a corresponding list of materials used in the construction of that building.

 The different types of materials are grouped into categories and while evaluating, the most suitable among the sub group will be considered. For example:- All the types of glasses. The materials used for inside furnishing should not be taken into account.

A threshold volume can be decided which will indicate that which materials should be counted and which should be neglected. the materials used for inside furnishing should not be taken into account.

Unmanageable Challenges: There are many different types of material and we cannot evaluate taking all the different types into consideration. The materials used in a very low volume are neglected. so the calculations is not that accurate as it should be.

Manageable Challenges: There are many materials used in a building but are used in a very low volume so it is tough to decide that which materials can be neglected.

Calculation Of Volume Of Materials

Objective Of The Subsystem:Prior to construction and design of a building it is imperative that different construction materials to be used be identified depending on the housing typology used and their volumes or amount be calculated. The correct type of material is required to be identified correctly depending on the typology, landscape, climate and other environmental conditions before considering the amount of material to be used. The volume of material required is necessary to be calculated so as to avoid wastage of material due to deterioration due to weather and climatic conditions and even to get the right amount at right time for financial and transportation convenience. For instance if less amount of material is insufficient amount of material is bought, then it would increase financial pressure due to transportation which simultaneously increases pressure on nature/environment . Moreover some material are volatile and chemically reactive(which can cause great harm to nature) and therefore have to be bought at the right time when its usage is substantial.

Requirement Of The Sub-System:Determination of volumes of different construction materials require the knowledge of different construction materials that shall be used in the construction of the building. The architect plan or the layout plan of the building to be constructed would also be needed to calculate the volume of a wall, a room, an apartment and thus the entire building. Knowing the volume of (say a wall) would enable us calculate the quantity/volume of the different materials needed to construct that wall. The subsystem makes use of the information provided by the housing topology subsystem so as to determine the construction materials to be used in the construction of a particular building in a specific region.

 Housing topology subsystem provides the information of the construction types that can be viable in that particular area of that topology. And depending on this construction type the type of material is identified and its volume and other calculations are done. Whenever we have a choice between two or more material which can be used to do the same construction work in that topology then the more easily available material is given higher priority.

Characteristics Of The Subsystem:The only sole work of this subsystem is to calculate the volume of the construction materials required for constructing a building from a particular topology. APPROACH FOLLOWED: The approach followed is simple. We first compute the volume of a wall, determine the construction materials to be used in that wall, estimate the size or volume of a unit material and then accordingly compute the total volume of that material needed for that wall. We then proceed in this manner taking into account all the possible structures (the floors, the walls, and the roof for each and every room) until the volume for a particular material is determined for the whole building. For example we first calculated the number of bricks required constructing a wall of a given dimension with the help of a software then we calculated the total volume of the bricks with the formula V=l*b*h*(number of bricks) We also know the volume of the wall then the volume of the mud/cement is calculated by subtracting the volume of bricks from the total volume of the wall. Volume of cement/mud= Volume of wall volume of total bricks

 DETAILS OF THE APPROACH: Building Mud Clay Type House building (LXBX (3X3X3) (3X3X3) H) Mud(m ^3) Clay(m^ 3) Cement( m^3) Concret e(m^3) Glass(m ^3) Tiles(m ^3) Iron(m^ 3) 0.7 1.06 2.56 0.2 0.5 Rock Stone Thatch Structure(3X House 3X3) (3X3X3) 2.3 Brush House (3X3X3)

Wood(m ^3) Steel(m ^3) Bricks( m^3) Stone(m ^3) Polymer s and Plastic (m^3) Ice(m^3 ) Bamboo (m^3) fabric(m ^3) Brush(m ^3) POP(m^ 3) Foam(m ^3) Clay tiles(m^ 3)

4.7

3.2

2.9

1.4 8.9

2.8

0.5

0.8

2.4

2.4

Another example is constructing an Igloo.

As we know generally it is hemispherical in shape so radius and thickness of the igloo is known and volume is calculated by the formulaVolume= 2*pi*r*r*(thickness) Mathematically volume of the gate can also be calculated.

Buildin g Type (LXBX H)

Igloo (radius = 1.5 m)

Wood House (5X5X 5)

Bamboo Brick House House (5X5X5) (3X3X3)

Concr ete Buildi ng (3X3X 3)

Metal Frame building (3X3X3)

Mud(m ^3) Clay(m ^3)

Cement (m^3) Concret e(m^3) Glass( m^3) Tiles(m ^3) Iron(m ^3) Wood( m^3) Steel(m ^3) Bricks( m^3) Stone( m^3) Polyme rs and Plastic (m^3) Ice(m^ 3) Bambo o(m^3) fabric( m^3) 1.9 2.3 28.3 1.2 0.09

1.06

2.3

1.2

1.9 0.2 0.09 1.3 2.2 1.3 0.36 0.08 2.9 2.1 0.07 1.5 1.5

1.3 0.3 0.09 1.7

1.2 1.6

1.1

2.826 12.5

Brush( m^3) POP(m ^3) Foam( m^3) Clay tiles(m ^3) 2.4 0.75

0.9 0.9

0.9

0.9

2.4

Another example is a Bamboo house.

According to the design(as desired by the user) particular mathematical formula for that design can be derived and according to that volume can be calculated, here the design seems to be some thing like a cuboid so volume (excluding gate and extended roof) comes out to be length*breadth*height.

Another one is a Foam House

Buildin g Type (LXBX H)

Glass Plastic Fabric House House Tent (3X3X3) (3X3X3) House (2X2X3)

Foam House (Radius =1.5m)

Tiled House (3X3X 3)

Marble Building (3X3X5)

Mud(m ^3) Clay(m ^3) Cement (m^3) 1.06 0.5

Concret e(m^3) Glass( m^3) Tiles(m ^3) Iron(m ^3) Wood( m^3) Steel(m ^3) Bricks( m^3) Stone( m^3) Polyme rs and Plastic (m^3) Ice(m^ 3) Bambo o(m^3) fabric( m^3) Brush( m^3) 0.03 0.07 0.17 0.6 2.7 0.08 1.5 0.2 2.9 8.9 0.6 0.12 0.4 1.3 0.1 0.05 0.09 1.3 2.2

POP(m ^3) Foam( m^3) Clay tiles(m ^3)

0.37 2.83

0.9

2.4

Manageable Challenges:Problem: It may not be possible to determine the exact quantity or volume of various construction materials say cement, clay etc. Only an estimate may be made. Solutions: To be on the safer side the quantity of such materials ordered should be greater than the estimated quantity to take care of any surplus needs. But the more appropriate and mathematical way is subtracting the volume of others materials used for constructing from the total volume of the building calculated.

Unmanageable Challenges:The current implementation, though the best, still has several issues. The first concerns determination of volumes of different construction materials to be used in circular shaped structures or structures having a non linear shape. An example being a dome shaped building. Computation of volumes is always ambiguous and only a fair estimate may be made at best.

 Unwarranted environmental conditions like untimely rain may render some or whole of the material/s unsuitable to be used for construction purposes.

Divide The Country Into Climatic Zones

Requirements Of The Subsystem:The following are the requirements of this subsystem from the other subsystems. A detailed list of all the construction materials to be used in the construction of a building. This list is provided by the subsystem which is assigned with the task of ascertaining the materials to be used in a buildings construction. The materials to be used are decided taking into consideration the type of building most suited to the topography of the region. The system requires the rainfall and temperature distribution data of the country for the division into different climatic zones. We require the distance between different climatic zones. For this we calculate the distance between major cities of each climatic zone.

Objectives Of The Subsystem:The climatic condition of a region give us an insight into what kind of materials can be found in this region , what are the natural resources abundantly available in the region , what would be the kind of houses that people would prefer the most. This sub system provides information of different construction materials found in various climatic zones found across the country. With the help of this information we determine whether a particular material is found in the region in which the building is being constructed. If not, it provides us with the minimum distance i.e. the nearest location from which that material can be brought from.

Characteristics Of The Subsystem:To facilitate the process of ascertaining the minimum distance from which a particular construction material can be procured from, we Divide the entire country into different climatic zones For referring to each climatic zone, we choose a few major cities in each one of them. The physical division into various grids allows us to determine the nearest available location of a particular material. While the division on the basis of climate allows us to determine which material can be found in a particular location.

Further Details: The basic purpose of dividing the country on the basis of climate is to determine the availability of materials in different locations, hence, we primarily consider those parameters that affect the growth or existence of different materials. So we use the following climatic variables to do the division. Rainfall Temperature Humidity Solar Radiation These factors affect the growth and existence of natural materials like bamboo, wood, sand etc. The physical geography or topography of a region also plays an important role in this regard. For example a particular kind of rock can be found only on hilly regions and some kind of soil is specific to Gangetic plains. So all this is taken into account while making this division. The country has been divided into basically 20 climatic zones on the basis of the above mentioned parameters average rainfall, temperature, humidity and solar radiation covering the climate types of the entire country. This has been

shown by taking the example of 50 odd cities which lie in either of the climatic zones. To make the physical division, we choose a unit of suitable length so as to have sufficient number of grid points to cover the entire country. We also choose this length keeping in mind that there should be sufficient number of grid points in each climatic zone. We refer the rainfall and temperature distribution map of India (attached below) to divide the country into different climatic zones. We classify a region as a different climatic region if it has distinctly different temperature and rainfall parameters.

RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION MAP

TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION MAP

We give an extensive distance chart between different cities of the country. This can be used by the web2py team to ascertain the nearest available location of each resource.

Manageable Challenges: Physical division into very large grids may not lead to correct extraction of the required information. For example the actual location of a material may be very close to other climatic zone but since the grid division is large it may not be able to reflect this information. This solution may be tackled by considering 2-3 grid points in the region to represent the climatic zone, if the zone is too big. There may not exist a clean division of the climatic zones on the basis of solar radiation though it is an important factor as the materials available in the western part of the country are not quite the same as those found in the eastern part even though the other conditions may not vary significantly. This challenge may be tackled if we make a tentative estimate about the parts of country where the solar radiation is more and where it is significantly less. We need to use this parameter only when it distinctly stands out as compared to rest of the country.

Unmanageable Challenges: The division of the country on the basis of climatic factors may not be able to give a very clear idea about the availability of certain artificial materials like paint and wires. For these materials we refer the exact data. Also in certain cases when the nearest location of availability of materials is in another climatic zone physically but very close to the required location, the system does not give the required output.

Relation With Other Subsystems: The housing topology subsystem provides details of the housing style most suited in a particular region considering various climatic factors. This subsystem makes use of the above assessed details and determines whether the construction materials needed for that specific housing topology are present within that particular climatic sub-region. Another subsystem which deals with calculating the minimum distance where the material can be transported from, in case a construction material is not available within that subsystem makes use of the information provided by our subsystem, whether the material is present in that region or not. The subsystem which concerns itself with calculating the life cycle of a construction material makes use of various factors such as transportation head which makes use of the data garnered by our subsystem.

TABLES
Requirements Of The Subsystem:The various requirements taken up by our sub-system from the other sub-systems are: 1. List of all the building types: This sub-system is responsible for listing out the various types of buildings based on certain criteria:

This provides us with the various types of buildings based on functionality,construction type and materials used or we may say depending upon the topology of the area, climate and other non-human conditions different construction types and various kinds of materials are used. Our sub-sytem takes up the data from this sub-system i.e buildings based on material.

2. Each geographic zone categorized based on the climatic conditions there:

This sub-system provides us with the information about the division of the country into grids or the important cities . This sub-system also provides us with the classification of the different cities into different climatic zones. Our sub-system utilises these two data sets and stores them accordingly.

3. List of all the materials used for each of the building types:

Figuring out the list of materials necessary for building a particular type of building.

Accumulating all the types of materials for all the different types of buildings which is stored by our sub-system accordingly.

4. The amount of each material required on an average for each building type:

This provides the list of the different types of materials that would be required for the construction of the buliding. This also provides the complete data of the amount of material that would be required for each types of buliding classsified on the basis of materials.

5. The final calculation of the feasibility of construction using the data from the database and the amount of each material required:

This sub system provides the life cycle energy of a building and the CO 2 emission of each buliding which has been picked for the calculation of the amount of material. This information is required for us to be displayed and display the fissibility.

Objectives Of The Subsystem:The major objectives of our subsystem are: To Build and maintain a table which gives us the information as to which material is available in which zone. To Build and maintain a table which gives us the information as to which zone comes under which climatic conditions. To Build and maintain a table which gives us the information as to which material is used in which building typology.

We will take the user query which gives typology and location as an input and tell the user whether the building is feasible or not.

 To build a proper user friendly interface in which the user can easily check if a building is feasible or not.

Details Of Further Sub-Levels:1. Information regarding Various Housing Topologies. Table name: bldg_material The data in this table which will tell us the materials required for various housing topologies. Based on this data we can check if the area in which the user is building if feasible or not using the following two tables. This table will contain the follwing attributes:

Building Topology : This attribute can contain the following values : 'Bamboo House' 'Brick Buildings' 'Brush House'' 'Clay Building' 'Concrete Buildings' 'Fabric Tent/House' 'Foam Hut' 'Glass House' 'Igloo' 'Marble Buildings' 'Metal Frame Buildings' 'Mud Building' 'Plastic Houses' 'Rock/Stone Sructure' 'Thatch House' 'Tiled House' 'Wood House'

Material : This attribute contains the list of the materials that each building topology will require for the construction and would be picked from a list that would be pre-populated.

2. Information regarding Material Available in Various Zones: Table name: material_zone This will contain the information regarding all the materials available in the local region of each grid block. Using this data we will check whether the material is available or not. If the material is not available, then we will identify the nearest zone which contains the needed material. This table will contain the following attributes:

Materials: This attribute contains the list of possible materials that are available in the various zones that have been identified earlier.

Cl_zone: This attribute lists the various climatic zones that have been identified by the other sub-system earlier.

3. Distribution of Climatic Zones Across the Country: Table name: location_zone This will contain all the data corresponding to each and every climatic zone. It will tell us which grid block falls in which climatic zone. In order to measure the nearest distance between 2 climatic zones this data would be required. This table will contain the follwing attributes:

City: This attribute contains the list of pre-populated cities that have been identified geographically. Zone: This attribute lists the zones identified earlier. Cities fall under zones.

4. Distance between the different climatic zones: Table name: distance This table stores the distances between any two climatic zones. This table is useful for carrying out calculations. Calculations regarding the transportation cost of materials involved distance between two climatic zones. Further, it is also useful for the life cycle energy and CO2 emission calculation. 5. Query input view: This view file will build a form through which input could be taken. Input consists if the location in which the building is to be constructed and the topology of the building that the user wished to build.

6. Output view: This view file will give as an output whether the building is feasible in the given location or not. 7. Life cycle energy emission view file: This file would show the life cycle energy calculated by the controllers. 8. CO2 emission view file: This file would display the CO2 emission associated with the building. This is a calculation done in a seperate controller function which takes many inputs. 9. Listing all the materials used in a building topology: Controller name:building_materials Inputs:building topology Output:list of materials required. 10. Finding whether a material is available locally: Controller name:material_availability Inputs:List of materials,zone Output:available or not. 11. Calculation of life cycle energy: Controller name:LIFE_CYCLE Inputs:distance table,list of materials required Output:life cycle energy of each material.

12. Calculation of CO2 emission: Controller name:CO2_emission Inputs:specific energy cost and density of each material. Output:CO2 emission level

Manageable Challenges:Maintaining data tables and integrating them in an appropriate manner is itself a challenge. The major challenge with the interface is that it should be such that a user can easily use it and the database should also be accessible with this interface. Another challenge is associated with measuring the distance of two points. Some proper implementation has to be done in order to measure distance between two points.

Unmanageable Challenges:The data associated with this application is such that the calculations might sometimes be different from actual value. Although web2py has friendly user interface and manages the database efficiently, but it is a bit slow compared to other interfaces. Sometimes the query which the user might want to access could be answered by using the data available. For an example if the user enters a small town as a location, there is a probability that the database table does not contain the location(although we might have the data for the location but we wont be able to recognize the location).

Life Cycle Energy & Carbon Dioxide Emission

Requirements Of The Subsystem:These are the requirements of this sub-system from other sub-systems: 1. List Of Materials For Each Housing Topology: To calculate the Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Dioxide Emission, we will need the exact list of all the major materials used for any Housing Topology given as a input. 2. Volume Of Each Material Used: The Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Dioxide Emission will vary with increasing amount of volume of that material used. Hence, the volume of each material used will be needed. 3. Closest Climatic Zone Where Material Is Available: The calculations for Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Dioxide will require that we know, for each material, the closest climatic zone where it is available, after the climatic zone given as the input. 4. Distance Between The Climatic Zones: We shall need the approximate distance between each climatic zone because the Carbon Dioxide Emission and Life Cycle Energy will vary with varying distance between the given climatic zone and the one the material is available in.

Objectives Of The Subsystem:-

Calculate Life Cycle Energy: Life Cycle Energy is analyzed by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This analysis includes energy upstream, transportation and production phases. The analysis of energy upstream phase is carried out using iterative computation, while direct energy consumption and environmental emission, indirect energy consumption and environmental emission are considered. Calculate Carbon Dioxide Emission: The Carbon Dioxide Emission refers to the Carbon Dioxide released into the atmosphere corresponding to the amount of energy spent in producing a particular material.

Characteristics Of The Subsystem:1. This is the final subsystem of the project and it gives the final calculation with regard to the set of Housing Topology and Climatic Zone given as input. 2. It gives, as the output, the calculated values of Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Dioxide Emission, and declares if it is feasible to construct that building for sustainable housing.

Details Of Further Sub-Levels:Life Cycle Energy: LCA includes 3 phases: energy upstream phase, transportation phase, and building materials production phase. LCA is quantification and analysis of the input (energy consumption) and output (environmental emission) data in life cycle of the production or its service system in the determinate scope, and involves mass

data collecting and a lot of calculating. A LCA calculating program with a large quantity of calculating and iteration function is made BESLCI(Building Energy System Life Cycle Inventory). However, this program should be upgraded when introducing new materials or new blocks. So the calculating procedure need to be reprogrammed and the old database should be updated continuously when it is used.

According to the characteristics of energy production, it can be divided into three categories. First, all of the energy is used as a process fuel, such as coal which is completely combusted in power generation process. Second, energy is partly used as a process fuel, and the remaining part is taken as the raw materials, such as coal exploitation process. Some coal is used as fuel in combustion process (producing emissions), and the remaining part is utilized as a raw material (not producing emissions). Third, all of the energy having been dealt with is used as a raw material, with no chemical reaction, such as natural gas compression and liquefaction.

Comprehensive energy refers to the overall energy consumption when producing one unit product. Energy unit covers a various kinds of forms, so energy is converted into standard coal when making energy statistics. Conversion coefficient can be calculated with thermal equivalent. Life cycle energy consumption of building materials in production phase is obtained by:

Carbon Dioxide Emission: Firstly, for calculating Carbon Dioxide Emission we will have a table with Specific Energy Cost for each material which can come in input. Specific Energy Cost shall be in MJ/Kg. We shall use the density of each material to calculate the Volumetric Energy Cost in GJ/m3 since we know the volume of each material used in the Housing Topology and not the weight. For every material using the volume used, we can find the total energy used in producing that amount of that particular material. We can obtain the corresponding value of Carbon Dioxide Emission. The global average for this relation stands as 0.098 tCO2 = 1 GJ. This is the same as 1 MJ = 0.098 kgCO2 = 98 gCO2 or 1 kgCO2 = 10.204 MJ.

Material Aluminium Asphalt concrete Concrete Copper Glass Plastic (LDPE) Steel

Specific energy Density @ STP cost (MJ/kg) (g/cm3) 220 2.4 0.95 70 16 80 35 2.7 2.3 1.1 8.9 2.5 0.92 7.8

Volumetric energy cost (GJ/m3) 590 5.5 1.0 630 40 74 270

4. System Threats
1. The system may not be able to account for the extra expenses that sometimes need to be added like in cases of natural disasters, accidents , excess rain fall etc.

2. There are some cities which have been enlisted in the various climatic zones that may be residing at the border of the country . But, we calculate the availability of the material based on the distance .

3. There may be many materials that are not specifically not present in our list , but may be considered a part of one of the enlisted items.

4. We may be missing some of the products or by-products which also need to be accounted during the calculation of the CO2 emission and life cycle energy calculation.

5. Self Assessement Of The Design In Meeting The System Objectives

The system has been build in such a way that it will provide a very easy to use interface in which a person enters a location and the type of building he/she wishes to build and the system returns whether that structure should be brought up at that location or not based on sustainability and feasibility.

The system is designed in such a way that , this can be taken up in future and made more precise and more detailed i.e this can be made a self-learning system that keeps on improving itself gradually as it is feeded with more and more data.

The data that has been used to estimate has been picked after a lot of search and research although it has been assumed that the data that we have got from the sources are correct and useable .

6. Learnings From The System Design

There should always be understanding between the various sub-systems, all the sub-systems which rely on the others should specify there way of input and way of output.

One should always be flexible with the model, because there are a lot of things that need to be changed during course of implementation.

The scope of the system should be one thing which should be decided prior to dividing the sub-systems.

One should keep in mind the future problems that may turn up and should have an insight as to how the model would end up.