School Of Building Science & Technology, Faculty of Technology, CEPT University

Engineers Day 2013-14

Topic Draft Proposal Impact & Responsiveness of Green Construction on Real Estate Developers & Consumers.
What is a Green Building? Green Building, also known as green construction or sustainable building, is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Scope Of Study: To evaluate buildings that were built during the past 5 years in Ahmadabad following the conventional practices, as well as those built using Green construction practices during the same period, based on the Indian Green Building Council or LEED or GRIHA Rating system. Furthermore, to estimate the construction costs and the cost of energy that the buildings consumes when in service. To complement the data gathered from the surveys and deliver it efficiently to the society, a parallel survey shall be conducted to assess the prevailing notions regarding Green Buildings in the masses.

Impact Methodology: 1. The study proposed hereby is a comparative analysis, requiring the analysis of recently constructed buildings; both, those built by conventional practices and those constructed following green construction practices. 2. We aim to identify the conventional buildings based on the various Green Buildings currently existing in Ahmedabad. For the comparison to be just and fair, the scale and nature of the occupancy and use (functioning) of the buildings have to be as similar as possible. 3. Here, the main reason for taking the existing Green Buildings as the benchmark is that the number of Green buildings in Ahmedabad is very limited; hence it is not possible to take-up the selection vice-versa. 4. The intended comparison is to be done based on certain Siting, Design, Construction, Functioning and Maintenance parameters, judging the more efficient option based on the functional efficiency and economic repercussion of each without compromising on the living standards.

School Of Building Science & Technology, Faculty of Technology, CEPT University Why should one opt for Green Building? 1. Based on established facts in comparision with a normally designed building,a green building is designed considering a certain set of parameters apart from the general building regulations that make the building more efficient in terms of resource usage, functioning , living quality & environmental impacts. 2. In refernce of the data obtained from a publication describing the overall benefits of a green building : 3. Green homes can have tremendous benefits, both tangible and intangible. The most tangible benefits are the reduction in water and energy consumption right from day one of occupancy. 4. The energy savings could range from 20 - 30 % and water savings around 30 50%. Intangible benefits of green homes include enhanced air quality, excellent day lighting, health & wellbeing of the occupants, safety benefits and conservation of scarce national resources. Responsiveness Methodology: Based on the Results established from the analysis of normally constructed buildings and those built based on green building guidelines a certain set of parameters can be established. The results could be used to ascertain the overall benefits of green building construction and those results could be converted in unit form for a layman to understand the generic benefits of a Sustainable / Green building. The basic techniques that could be used to spread awareness and get a response from consumers as well as making future engineers understand the benefits of Green Building Construction: o Awareness amongst Consumers by Short Movies / Street Play. o Presenting the actual facts by an interactive Media in certain consumer lobbies. o Paper Presentations. o Junkyard Wars. o Poster Competition. o Painting Competition for school children o Short movie Competition o Publications in magazines like Youth Connect. o Presentations in different Engineering Colleges Conclusion: Arriving at concrete relationships between the green building practices and monetary benefits by comparing the performance and costs associated with the conventional buildings and the Green Building practices. Creating consumer and developer awareness, by presenting the finds of the study in a specifically designed format to each category, so as to create the maximum impact.