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By: uma Bansal

Pay off

Green BuildinGs
Businesses can lower their operating expenses and earn goodwill too by operating from green buildings. The best part is that these buildings would not cost you much more than a normal building if designed the right way.

s the mercury level continues a relentless climb, it calls for measures to combat it. Even before end-users gear up to take advantage of green developments, cool by nature buildings have notched the top position in global debates on environment sustainability. With environment concerns such as pollution, global warming and shortage of greenery gaining prominence, developing buildings which are green and will not only help protect the environment but also save our natural resources has become our necessity. In the middle of steel and concrete constructions, eco-friendly buildings or green building techniques can actually help in saving the environment. Informs Seemant Sharma, director and general manager, ES, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls India, According to the United Nations Environment Program, buildings consume 30-40 per cent of global energy. There is no single larger global contributorand thereby potential reducerof carbon than the building sector. Todays building owners and managers have an increasing responsibility to address energy efficiency within their organisations. As per Environment Protection Agency (EPA), green buildingsalso known as sustainable or high-performance buildings are the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials;
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Green buildings typically consume 40-50 per cent less energy and 20-30 per cent less water Seemant Sharma, director and general manager, ES,
Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls India
and protecting and restoring human health and the environment, throughout the building life-cycle (siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction), explains Sharma. Green buildings typically consume 40-50 per cent less energy and 20-30 per cent less water; these provide better daylight views and a fresh quality of air, hence making the working/living environment healthier. For building managers and owners, the challenge today is to design, build and operate buildings in the most efficient economical and environmentally responsible way and green buildings certainly have the answer for this need, he adds. Vidur Bharadwaj, director, The 3C Company, sums up, The main idea behind any green development is to reduce the adverse effect on the environment by minimising wastage of energy, material and water at every stage. A green building uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants. to improved health and well-being of occupants, informs Jayesh Kariya, head-real estate and construction at KPMG, India. Businesses going for green buildings stand to enjoy the following marketing advantages: 1. Enhanced brand image 2. Public goodwill 3. Enhanced marketing capability 4. Unique selling proposition (USP) 5. Better employee retention and attraction 6. Ecologically correct 7. Productivity benefits RAMAX Energy, The five main aspects currently adopted are design and architecture of a green building, water conservation, use of solar/ wind energy, solar water heating and sewage and garbage processing: Design and architecture. Design and architecture of a green building, including landscaping and the exterior design, should ensure there is more shaded area and also the area to plant and grow local species of plants within the plot. Conservation of water has to be aimed in various ways. Rain falling over the whole area of the complex should be harvested and used in the building. The toilet design should be chosen to flush with minimal water and plumbing should have separate lines for drinking and flushing. Used water from kitchen and bath has to be treated and reused for gardening. Use of solar/wind energy. The solar and wind energy has to be used to supplement the electrical grid power. Rooms are to be designed to use the natural light so as to minimise the usage of electricity. CFL and LED light fixtures save the energy. Efficient insulation in walls, ceilings and floors should be used for better temperature control. Solar water heating. Fully programmable solar hybrid water heating systems make available hot water instantaneously on 24365 basis. Such a solar water heating system will save at least 7.2 units/ flat/day for an average of 300 days. Sewage and garbage process-

Green measures
Practices which make a building green include the way it is constructed, materials which are used, and a number of active and passive features. These also include the way the building is maintained and run, the embodied energy in a material used in the building, usage of energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems, correct quantity of glass not only in usage but in kind and location, and reduction in usage of recycled and rapidly used material, informs Bharadwaj. Says P Deodhar, founder, MIT.S.

Benefits of green buildings

In terms of benefits for developers and occupants, Green buildings offer developers with higher rents and resale value along with speedier environment related approvals. For tenants, green buildings offer lower operating expenses in terms of reduction in energy and water costs. Moving away from economics, a green building also leads 8
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Practices which make a building green include the way it is constructed, materials which are used, and a number of active and passive features Vidur Bharadwaj, director, The 3C
Company

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ing. Presently, sewage is treated by physical and biological treatment units using conventional method. In another natural treatment system, they use wetland species for sewage treatment. This ancient technology using wetland species is named root zone cleaning system. Such a root zone of plant along with the soil system plays an important role in wastewater treatment. The treatment efficiency is 90 to 98 per cent. Green measures adopted by the recently constructed green buildings include preservation and reuse of fertile top soil, central courtyards, maximum utilisation of natural day lighting, ventilation, roof gardens to

The five main aspects currently adopted are design and architecture of a green building, water conservation, use of solar/wind energy, solar water heating, and sewage and garbage processing P.S. Deodhar, founder, MITRAMAX
Energy
reduce heat impact, water recycling for irrigation and air-conditioning, treatment of wastewater, use of energy-efficient air-conditioning systems, handling of construction waste, use of materials with recycled content, and use of paints, sealants and adhesives with low volatile organic compound. It is estimated that 40 per cent of energy consumption in a building is on account of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC). Green buildings have provision for solar protection to prevent heat gain in the premises during the day, which further helps in preserving the energy. This is done by maintaining the ambient temperature within the premises so as to reduce the usage of air-conditioning. In winters, the natural heat can be allowed in the premises using the same solar shades, thereby helping the heating system perform better. Thus the designing of the building plays a vital role. Green building techniques emphasise on taking advantage of renewable resources like sunlight (through passive solar, active solar and photovoltaic techniques) and plants and trees (through green roofs and rain gardens) and reduction of rainwater run-off. At The 3C Company, we are blending new technologies with classic ones to develop high-performance sustainable buildings which would help in reducing the carbon footprints on earth. Innovative concepts like a courtyard as a microclimate generator, a sunken court and fins to ensure maximum diffused natural light entering the basement, use of grass pebbles or green pavers to reduce day glaring, a light well to produce an aesthetic language, use of double glazed glass
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solutions to achieve the Goals of Green Buildings

Building performance simulation. It refers to a range of analytic design services that are essential for the design of an efficient, sustainable and green building. Some of the various analyses available are energy analysis, fenestration analysis, solar insolation analysis, daylight analysis, location analysis, light pollution analysis, reflection and glare analysis, shadow analysis, visibility/views analysis, acoustic analysis and computational fluid dynamics analysis. Sustainable building management software. These monitor building performance (for energy, water and indoor air quality) and provide facility management support (managing maintenance schedules, alerts), lease management and building/tenant asset management. Water management system. It monitors the water usage of the property in real time, enabling one to take corrective actions when required and drive significant cost and resource savings. Energy management systems. These enable property owners/managers to see the big picture and monitor the energy usage of the property so as to make the property more energy-efficient. Building integrated photovoltaic systems. Integration of photovoltaic technology into the architectural design of buildings and structures, thereby producing electricity. Use of photovoltaics as building elements offsets wastage by reducing the amount spent on building materials. Integrated building management solutions. These control and monitor the buildings mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, cooling/heating, lighting, pumps, access control, fire systems and security systems. Lighting automation systems. These use occupancy-based lighting control, electronic dimming ballast based lighting control and programmable time scheduling. Others. Use of eco-friendly and less energy-intensive materials and energy-efficient appliances in buildings; high-albedo and vegetated roofs to reduce heat absorption; water conservation techniques like rainwater harvesting, waste water recycling, dual plumbing systems and low-flow water fixtures; and integration of renewable energy technologies. Raghav Adapa, sustainability consultant, Surmount Energy Solutions

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that it uses less energy or water?

To achieve the goal of the green building, a coordinated effort of all project members is needed from early stages of project design
Dr Prem C. Jain, chairman of IGBC, and chairman and managing director of Spectral Services Consultants

Cost involved
Cost is over and above what it would cost you otherwise. However, its a relative parameter and a lot of it depends on design. If you do thorough design analysis and design the building right way, it should actually cost you not much more than a normal building. If you dont do that and try to use better material to save energy, the cost will escalate, says Sathiaram. For example, If the building has some kind of external shading to prevent direct radiation on the glass, the heat coming in on the glass is lower and the specification of the glass can be much lower to achieve the same benefit. On the other hand, for a completely exposed glass facade, the specification of the glass has to be very superior to prevent heat from coming into the building. If you design the building right way, you dont have to use very expensive materials to actually make it green. In some cases where you miss the bus at the time of designing and try to add on green features at a later date, its going to be little bit more expensive. The point of green is not additive design, its an integrated design. If you start with building design from concept stage and integrate sustainability to it, there would be no separate cost element at all, she explains. Most green buildings in India cost a premium of 4-5 per cent but

to reduce green house effect and a green roof are the techniques used to make green buildings. Water harvesting and recycling, product recycling and use of solar energy are some of the other techniques used in green buildings, informs Bharadwaj.

How to start?
Suggests Raghav Adapa, sustainability consultant, Surmount Energy Solutions, Businesses which are interested in developing a green building must: 1. Evaluate return on investment to understand financial implications on capital costs of sustainability 2. Quantify the deliverables in terms of energy savings, water efficiency, reduced wastages, increased productivity and enhanced marketability 3. Assess intangibles that cannot be directly quantified To achieve the goal of the green building, a coordinated effort of all project members is needed from early stages of project design to optimise the buildings energy, water and material efficiency as well as reduce the amount of waste generated during the projects life-cycle, says Dr Prem C. Jain, chairman of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), and chairman and managing director of Spectral Services Consultants. Explains Deepa Sathiaram, executive director, En3 Sustainability Solution, Anybody willing to have a green building should involve a green design team right from day one working with their regular ar10
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chitect and consultant to see how to incorporate and integrate all these green measures. All through these stages, the team will be doing a lot of cost-benefit analysis. Also in green we look at not only the investment but the lifecycle cost also. Lets say you are going to use a particular system that costs you X Rs more today but may save you, say, 5 per cent per month in terms of energy, have a payback period of 3-5 years and last 15 years. So after five years, it benefits you for the remaining ten years. We look not just at the initial cost but also at the operational cost, maintenance cost, replacement cost, etc and at the end of the day provide the right environment for the occupants. There are buildings which are yet to be built and then there are existing buildings which are already built and occupied and have been operating for many years now. In new buildings the focus is on design. If designed right way with right equipment and materials, these can reduce water and energy consumption. In existing buildings, the approach is quite different. The question here is: Can we improve, modify or retrofit the building so

Most green buildings in India cost a premium of 4-5 per cent but yield ten times as much over the entire life of the building Raghav Adapa, sustainability consultant,
Surmount Energy Solutions

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yield ten times as much over the entire life of the building. The typical payback period for projects in India is estimated to be 3-7 years according to the World Green Building Council, says Adapa. Informs M. Selvarasu, LEED accredited professional and director, LEAD Consultancy & Engineering Services, We have completed the following two buildings and results are as follows: Computer Associate Building: The additional investment will get paid back in four years. This project is LEED Gold rated and located at Hyderabad. Anna Centenary Library Platinum-rated Leed-certified company, Green Boulevard, Noida (UP), by the 3C Company Building: This is a government building, located at Chennai. ards. The developer has to submit important issue and as an HVAC Here again the payback period is entire project related information equipment manufacturer with York four years and the building is LEED including general drawings on probrand we bring the highest efficienGold rated. ject registration. cy standards. Our building management system accurately controls and provides the maximum perforCertification Services and solutions mance using the least amount of providers energy, claims Sharma of Johnson Kariya says, Presently, the Controls India. green building concept in India is MITRAMAX Energy. It caters Surmount Energy Solutions. at a very nascent stage. Also the to solar electricity and intelligent It is a technology-driven organisalaws and codes are voluntary with automatic water heating systems tion focused on creating green for absence of an explicit nationalised for apartment complexes. For the lifetime solutions for urban develgreen building code. To be able to rest, it has a line of agencies that can opment and construction projects achieve the goals, the concept of work on a turnkey basis. across the globe. It focuses on folgreen building has to be institutionJohnson Controls, Buildlowing service lines: Consulting, alised with proper legal frameworks ing Efficiency. It provides prodcommissioning, LEED facilitation; clearly defining the role and responucts and services to optimise enbuilding simulation and analysis; sibilities of stakeholders in a phased ergy use and improve comfort and building solutions like lighting, manner. Currently, IGBC provides security for buildings and homes. building automation and controls, LEED India certification on attainFor building owners seeking to go and solar photovoltaic; and green ment of certain prerequisite standgreen, equipment standards are an building education and awareness. En3 Sustainability Solution. It claims to deliver sustainable design and solutions for any project. Its footprint today encompasses over 160 projects and 6.97 million sq. metres (75 million square feet) of green spaces that are being de Deepa Sathiaram, executive director, veloped in over 46 cities across the En3 Sustainability Solution world. Its areas of expertise are sus-

If you do thorough design analysis and design the building right way, it should actually not cost you much more than a normal building

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tainable design, building energyefficiency studies, green materials and products analysis, green building certifications and training, corporate sustainability strategy, and development of green standards and codes. Some of En3s completed and certified green building projects in India include Grundfos Pumps, World Bank Building, Elnet Infrastructures BPO Park, Wipro CDC5 Campus, BCIL T-ZED Homes, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Infosys BPO. Surmount. It has executed numerous projects in India as well as abroad. A few of its projects in India are Commonwealth Games-Delhi, Marathon Realty, Marathon Futurex, Marathon Innova, Larsen & Toubro and Unitech. Spectral Sustainability Group (SSG). It provides a complete range of green building services including facilitation as well as energy simulation. It claims to be equipped with state-of-the-art software to incorporate advanced sustainability features in project design. LEAD Consultancy & Engineering Services (India). It offers services like green building facilitation, energy modeling and lighting simulation, third-party commissioning for buildings, HVAC design, electrical engineering system

The additional investment on Computer Associate Building completed by us will get paid back in four years M. Selvarasu, LEED
accredited professional and director, LEAD Consultancy & Engineering Services
design, public health engineering design, fire detection and protection systems design, lighting design with software simulation analysis, integrated building management systems, sun path analysis with respect to building orientation, overshadowing and the design of exterior shading of the buildings, and carbon advisory. 3C Company. The projects of The 3C Company, such as Wipro Campus (Gurgaon), Patni Campus (Noida) and Green Boulevard (Noida), are platinum-rated LEEDcertified. Our patrons at these campuses have been saving up to 45 per cent on their energy cost, informs Bharadwaj. Global Evolutionary Energy Design (GEED) India. It is a lowcarbon consulting organisation with expertise in building energy modeling, HVAC and air-flow modeling using computational fluid dynamics techniques, design of smart energy management system, fault detection and diagnostics, sustainability

planning and advisory, design of netzero-energy building/housing complexes, utilisation of waste heat in industrial processes, and cogeneration and tri-generation system feasibility study.

Looking forward
With growing awareness about green buildings and higher demand for the same, the market for such eco-friendly structures is expected to reach an all-time high. The day is not far off when going green and constructing green buildings will be the norm of the day and green buildings will play a catalytic role in addressing issues of climate change. In fact, over a thousand green buildings have been registered with the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) till date. IGBC certifies green buildings based on their energy efficiency and sensitivity towards the environment. According to relevant sources, there is expected to be around 92.9 million sq. metres (1 billion square feet or 1000 million sq. feet) of green developed area in our country by 2012, says Bharadwaj. The society needs to be a bit more captivated for the future than by the glory of the past. It is our responsibility to work towards a better and greener world by trying to reduce the carbon footprints on earth and green building is one such initiative to control climate change and lead an eco-friendly lifestyle.

major Contributors to This Report

Deepa Sathiaram, executive director, En3 Sustainability Solution Jayesh Kariya, head-real estate and construction, KPMG, India M. Selvarasu, LEED accredited professional and director, LEAD Consultancy & Engineering Services Dr Prem C. Jain, chairman of IGBC, and chairman and managing director of Spectral Services Consultants P.S. Deodhar, founder, MITRAMAX Energy Raghav Adapa, sustainability consultant, Surmount Energy Solutions Seemant Sharma, director and general manager, ES, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls India SMH Adil, director, Global Evolutionary Energy Design (GEED) India Vidur Bharadwaj, director, The 3C Company

The author is executive editor at EFY

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