Sust tainableArch hitecture:Ka angra

Kangra

Sus staina able Architecture of Kan ngra

H Himach hal Prad desh,Ind dia
Sh hashi Kant Singh S
Himachal Pr radesh

India

Fig gure 1: Locatio on Map Source: http://cdn1.h hillpost.in

Kan ngra(Figure e.1) is

apop pular district of the In ndian state of Himach hal Pradesh h, India. Dha aramshala is the adm ministrative headquarters s of the district. d Th he Kangra District of f Himachal Pradesh is situated in the Wes stern Himala ayas between n 312 to 32 5 N and 75 5 to 7745 E. The distr rict has a geo ographical area a of 5,739 9 km. whic ch constitute es 10.31% of f the geograp phical area of o the State. According A to o 2011 censu us, the total population p o the of distr rict was 1510075(Figure e.2), which is i the highest in the state e (22% of th he population n). The altitu ude of the district rang ges from 427 7 to 6401m ab bove mean sea level. The e district has considerable diversity in n its soils, ph hysiography, land use patterns p and cropping sy ystems. On th he basis of th hese, the dist trict has furth her been divi ided into five sub-region ns i.e. PirP Panjal, Dhaul ladhar, Kang gra Shiwalik k, Kangra Va alley and Bea as Basin.The e Beas is one e of the maj jor rivers of f this distr rict, and cont tributes to th he fertility of f the land her re. Dha aramshala, th he district hea adquarters, is also the he eadquarters of o the Tibetan n governmen nt-in-exile, headed h by the e His Holi iness the Da alai Lama. Jw walamukhi, also a known as a Jwalaji, is s famous for r its ancient temple of th he goddess of o the same name, and d features holy h flames that t run on natural gas. Other impo ortant templ les include Brajeshwari B Devi temp ple, Chamun nda Devi temple, Chintp purni temple e, Bhagsunag g Temple in n McLeodGanj, Mahaka al and Baijn nath's Shiv va temple in Baijnath. There T are als so important Buddhist te emples in Dh haramshala, Sidhbari and d the Bir Tib betan Colo ony in Bir. Historical H vill lages of Prag gpur and Gar rli are also lo ocated here. Mas sroor Temple e is the only y rock-cut te emple in nor rth India, believed to be e built by the e Pandavas during d their exile perio od. Ene ergy Efficien nt Materials and Sustain nable Const truction in Himachal H Pr radesh From m the ancien nt times Hima achal Pradesh is known spiritual s and cultural valu ues. Which a also can be se een in its mo odern imag ge.Use of en nergy efficien nt materials and a sustainab ble construct tion techniqu ues are integr rated part of the culture of o 1|P a g e

Sust tainableArch hitecture:Ka angra

P in Kangra K District Figure 2: Population Sourc ce: Census of In ndia 2011

Tab ble1:HOUSEHOLD DSBYPREDOMINA ANTMATERIALOFROOF R
Anyother Concrete G.I./Metal/ Stone/Slate BurntBrick Machine Handmade Plastic/ Grass/ Tot talHouseholds 0 50000 100000 150000 2000 000 250000 300 0000 350000 400000

Figure 3: Rur ral and Urban Area A in Kangra a District Sou urce: Census of f India 2011

Grass/ Total Th hatch/ Plastic/ Househol Bam mboo/ Polythene ds Wo ood/M ud detc. Urban Rural Total 19988 316419 336407 2 215 3 3444 3 3695 228 668 896

H Hand made m T Tiles 76 5 597 6 673

Machine made Tiles 41 699 740

G.I./ /Metal Bu urnt Stone/Slat / Anyother Concrete B Brick e Asb bestos mat terial sheets 55 1361 1416 3392 159278 162670 30 039 74 456 10 0495 12933 142768 155701 9 148 1 157 1

Sou urce: Census of f India 2011

Tab ble2:HOUSEHOLDSBYPREDOMINAN NTMATERIALOFFLOOR F
Anyother material Mo osaic/FloorTiles

Himach hal Pradesh . Still more e than 50% of the total s use local l vern nacular households constru uction mater rials. Mud, Stone S ,bambo oo and wood are a the majo or constructio on materials in the vernacu ular buildin ngs of Hi imachal Pr radesh. Accord ding to (Fig gure.3) Kan ngra district t have 94.29% % of rural area .As per p Table.1 Total 316419 9 households accomm modates com mplete rural population p of f Kangra Di istrict and most m of them are a built with h sustainable materials. Material usage i generally made of Concrete C or Slates. S Roof is Half of f household have slate ro oofs (Table.1 1)over the bam mboo planks s and purlins s for the stru uctural suppor rt of the roo of. Slate is highly h susta ainable materia al for roofing g as it is high hly efficient for all extrem me weather co onditions. Also A the slate e stone has abi ility of being g cut in sma aller sections s as its stone property. p Floor is generall ly made of Mud or Cement C concret te (Table2). After comp pacting the rough layer of o floor mad de of Soil and Rubble, , final finish of flooring is given to o the floors. . Mud floors have gener rally cow du ung finish to t the hipping off of mud from the floors to avoid ch b made in n mud floors. First floor level is also been amboo plank ks and strips. over ba 2|P a g e

Cement

Stone

BurntBrick

Wood/Bamboo

Mud

To otalHouseholds

50000

10000 00

150000

2000 000

250000

300 0000

350000

400000

Total Households Urban Rural Total 19988 316419 336407

Mud 2341 128644 130985

Wood/Ba amb BurntBrick oo 21 1436 1457 48 1974 2022

S Stone 688 1 10227 1 10915

Cement 13492 148454 161946

Mosaic/Floo rTiles 3264 24548 27812

Anyother o mate erial 134 113 36 127 70

S Source: Census s of India 2011

Sust tainableArch hitecture:Ka angra Wall is generally g ma ade of Mud or Burnt Br rick with con ncrete. As p per Figure. .4 the therm mal performan nce of the Sun dried mud blocks s is being fo ound excelle ent. Also it i is found in abandon in the Kang gra District and people are using it from f ancien nt times. Sun n dried Mud d is also a lo ower embod died energy material. The T mortar material m whic ch is also mud m makes the total wall assembly hi ighly sustain nable. As per the Table.3 no. n of househ holds using burnt b clay bri icks have been n found in m more number than the Mud M walled households h w which is th he indicator of reduction n in peoples choice and believe in mud m as a struc ctural and wa alling materi ial. But still the no. of hou useholds in mud is in a decent amou unt. At few pl laces stone w walls with wood w have also a been used d as a walli ing materials s which is also a highly su ustainable an nd durable an nd last for lo ong years. Bu ut if we are t talking abou ut the Mud as a a walling material m its d durability an nd sustainabi ility have been n questioned d several tim mes. Generall ly it has been said that M Mud houses last for 15 5-20 t the stone a and concrete lasts for above Years but 50 years s. Due to need of highly skil lled workman nship, the co ost of constr ruction of st tone walls alw ways seems to o be an expe ensive event. . So in moder rn times wh hen people need n a dura able constructi ion material which lasts s long and save s time and money of pe eople. If Mud is the mod dern rial then it ha as to be dura able day sustainable mater o be the bes st choice to make the wall w enough to assembly. So extensive research h on mud wall w to be done and a is going g on assembly is needed t me. for the sam

Figure4:Comp parisonofInter rlockingBlocks stoitsAlternat tives Sourc ce:UNHumanSettlements S Pro ogramme
Table3 3:HOUSEHOLDSBY YPREDOMINANTMATERIAL M OFWAL LL
Anyother material Concrete BurntBrick G.I./Metal/ Asbestos Stone packedwith Stonenot packedwith Wood Mud/ U Unburnt brick Plastic/ Polythene Grass/ Thatch/ Total lHouseholds 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 400000

Grass/ Total Plastic/ Mud/ Thatch/ Househo Polythen Unburnt Wood Bamboo lds e brick etc. Urba an Rura al Total 19988 316419 336407 70 783 853 195 556 751 2472 132657 135129 110 629 739

Stone Stone G.I./Met not packed al/ packed w with Asbestos with Mo ortar sheets Mortar 427 4763 5190 10 086 12 2409 13 3495 79 235 314

Burn nt Concrete Bric ck

Any other material 7 138 145

1539 95 163254 178649

147 995 1142

Sour rce: Census of India I 2011

Figure e 5: Sun dried Mud Brick Wa all after 15 year rs Source: Photograph f from site visit of o NITH students

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SustainableArchitecture:Kangra
Table4:HOUSEHOLDSBYPREDOMINANTMATERIALOFROOFANDWALL
Anyother material Concrete BurntBrick G.I./Metal/ Asbestos Stone packedwith Stonenot packedwith Wood Mud/ Unburntbrick Plastic/ Polythene Grass/ Thatch/ No.ofHouseholds 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000

Finding overall combination of all structural assemblies to form a Sustainable Household After analyzing the Census data 2011 for the different types of assemblies (Table .4) it have been found out that major households have been built in combination of 1. wall ofburnt bricks with concrete roof 2. wall of sun dried mud blocks with slate roof 3. wall of burnt bricks with slate roof

Figure6:NaddiVillageNearDharamshala Source:http://himachaltourism.gov.in

Thecombination1ishighlyunsustainablefor theKangraregionastheBurntbricksarenotthe locallyavailablematerialaswellasnotthe recyclablematerials. TheCombination2ishighlysustainableasthe materialsusedintheassemblyarelocal, recyclableandlowerembodiedenergy materials. TheCombination3isunsustainableplus uneconomical.Generallyinthesetypesof structuresexcessivesteelhavebeenusedinthe roofstructureanddifferentassembliesand services.AlsoHighlyfinishedslatetilesareused inroofconstructionwhichresultsinmore embodiedenergyofthetotalbuiltup.

Grass/ Plastic/ Mud/ Thatch/ Polythen Unburnt Wood Bamboo e brick etc. Anyother material Concrete G.I./Metal/ Asbestos sheets Stone/Slate BurntBrick Machine madeTiles Handmade Tiles Plastic/ Polythene Grass/ Thatch/ Bamboo/ Wood/Mudetc. 0 0 60 235 3 0 11 100 0 0 14 94 1 7 5 619 43 1680 1932 128674 157 111 254 86 1 0 428 178 29 1 2 15

Stone Stone G.I./Met not packed al/ packed with Asbestos with Mortar sheets Mortar 5 1001 774 3141 54 12 9 6 7 2910 810 9599 69 21 15 6 0 60 164 48 1 2 8 14

Burnt Concrete Brick

Any other material

98 149130 6241 20450 1086 583 365 50

2 821 63 219 15 3 4 0

1 99 9 32 1 0 0 0

444

11

2192

85

188

58

17

646

15

Figure7:SunDriedMudBrickswithslateroof Source:picturesfromsitevisittoDidiContractorworks

Source: Census of India 2011

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Sust tainableArch hitecture:Ka angra

Table5:HO OUSEHOLDSBYOW WNERSHIPSTATUSOFTHECENSUS HOUSES,SIZ ZEOFTHEHOUSEH HOLDANDNUMBE EROFDWELLING RO OOMS
9+

Living pa attern and households Kangradis stricthavem majorpartofpopulation residingin ntwobedroo omhouseholds(Table.5) ). FrequentFamilySizef foundis48person p famil ly. Observing gthecompac ctfamilyplan nningand seismicse ensitivityoftheregiontw woroomsing gle storeyhou useholdandthreefourroomdouble storeyseis smicallystab blehouseholdsneededfor f themaxim mumfutureg generation.Sustainability S y ofthehou useholdwilld dependthre eedomainsof o thesustainability:soci ialculture,environment nancialcond ditionoftheregion. andthefin

6to8

No.ofHouseho olds

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

3000 00

1 Sixandabove Fiveroom Four rroom Thre eeroom Tworoom Oneroom No N exclu usive roo om. 518 487 1423 1942 4975 6023 378

2 1995 1714 4127 4823 8998 7159 338

3 2924 3234 8014 9256 14689 10672 422

4 5192 5781 15040 17671 27736 19917 693

5 4934 5117 12054 4 13923 3 21930 0 13331 1 487

6to8 7064 5525 12555 13580 20577 8605 388

9+ 2481 124 45 210 03 1917 190 08 488 8 54 4

CulturallyKangraregio onhasgotMud M urefromtheancienttime esand Architectu traditionalmethodsof fconstructio onarehighly y le. sustainabl Environme entallythecompactdesi ignsofhouse es andlowbuildingfootp printswithuseofhighly lematerialsleadstopromotionofmud m sustainabl andstone earchitecture eintheKang graregion. Financially ytheMudco onstructionischeaperth han theburntbrickandce ementmorta arconstructio on. urabilityofm mudIsalways squestioned d Butthedu andtheva ariouscombi inationshavebeentriedin mudtosh howthedura abilityofmud dstructures likereinfo orcedandsta abilizedmudblocksand plaster.

Source: Census of India 2011

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Figure8:Lifecycleemb bodied,casestu udypassive house,by b element,per rmofusablefloor f area. Source:The T Significance eofEmbodiedEnergyin Certified dPassiveHouse esbyRobertH.Crawfordand Andr rStephan Figure9:TraditionalM MudHouse,KangraDistrict Source:Photograph P fro omsitevisitofNITH N students

SustainableArchitecture:Kangra

Energy and Mud PresentdayenergyscenarioofIndia,statesthatthereisneedofenergysavingsinallthesectors.Construction sectorsharessubstantialpartofenergyconsumptioninIndia.TodayEnergyefficiencyofmudhavebeen provedearlierinvariousresearches.Themudhaszeroembodiedenergybutproductionaddstotheembodied energyofadobeblocks.Manyresearchesaregoingaroundreducingtheproductionenergyofadobeblocksby efficientmethodsandmachinery.FewresultshavebeendetailedoutinTable6.Theproductionenergyof1 finishedunitofadobeblockis36MJDespiteofBurntBrickhaving1026Mj/FU.Soaccordingtodataavailable therehasbeenonly3.5%ofenergyconsumptioninAdobemanufacturingthantheFiredBricks.Thisshowsthe energyefficiencyofthematerial.Althoughconstructingamudhouseseemstobemoreenergyefficientbut thelowdurabilitymakeitlessreliable.Inrecenttimesmudconstructionhaveattentionofresearchersand manymethodsandtypesofmudconstructionhavebeenevolved.Althoughadobebrickconstructionitselfcan sustainfor15years,itsdurabilitycanbeincreasedtill30year.Besidestheprimaryenergy(Figure8),ithave beenprovedscientificallythatmudhousesprovidedenergyefficientinteriorswithlessamountof heating/coolingrequired.Thisreducestheoperationalenergyofthehouseholdandaddstotheenergyand moneysavings.
Figure10:ModernMudBuildingInteriors Source:fromworksofDidiContractorsinKangraDistrict

Adobe

CSEB

Fired brick

Energy required (MJ/ fu) Carbon dioxide emission (Kg/ fu)

36

233

1026

Hollow concrete blocks (HCB) 390

Gypsum stabilized earth wall in sections 191

Gypsum stabilized earth massive blocks 161

55

118

98

Table6:ProductionenergyrequirementandCO2emissionforvariousconstructionmaterials Source: CONTEMPORARYEARTHCONSTRUCTIONINURBANHOUSINGSTABILISEDORUNSTABILISED?ByMohammadSharifZami&Dr.AngelaLee

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SustainableArchitecture:Kangra Conclusion: Need of Research in the Mud Wall Finishes. BydiscussingthevernacularexistenceofthemudarchitectureintheKangraDistrictregionandevaluatingitwith theenergyIhavefoundthatmudisavaluablematerialinthefieldofthesustainablearchitecture.Somedetailed studyofmudblockshavebeendoneinpasttomakeitdurable.HoweverthefinishoftheMudwallshavenotbeen givenofsomuchofimportance(Figure5&12).DuringmyresearchIhavefoundoutmudwallfinishesaresomuch importantthatitcanchangethedurabilityofthemudstructuredrastically.Thecombinationofthecement/limeas thestabilizerandthatchasareinforcementisyettheonlysolutionfoundtoincorporateinthemudwallstoincrease theirstability.Muchmoreresearchisneededtobedoneonmudwallfinishestomakeitlookaestheticallypleasing andlonglasting.Inpresentcontextpeopleareawarethatmudhousesaregoodbuttheyneveractuallyenjoythe durabilityofthemudstructurethatswhypeopleuseotherhighenergymaterialfortheconstruction.Thereisneed ofresearch,documentationandtrainingprogramsforKangrapeopletoincreasetheirinteresttowardsvernacular architectureofKangra,HiamachalPradesh.Alsothelossandlackoftraditionalknowledgeofmudconstructionneeds toberevoked.

References:
1. http://cdn1.hillpost.in, Location Maps 2. Census of India 2011,Census data of Himachal Pradesh 3.Case studies and site visits to the work of Didi Contractor 4.http://himachaltourism.gov.in,forPresentavailableimageofKangraDistrictontheH.P.Tourismwebsite 5.UN Human Settlements Programme 6.Traditional and Vernacular buildings are Ecological Sensitive, Climate Responsive Designs- Study of Himachal Pradesh, By. Sandeep Sharma ,Assistant Professor ,NIT Hamirpurand Puneet Sharma , Assistant Professor ,NIT Hamirpur 7.Sustainability;Dharamshala;Local Building Tradition, By AmanjeetKaur,Assistant Professor ,NIT Hamirpurand NeetuKapoor ,Assistant Professor ,NIT Hamirpur 8. The Significance of Embodied Energy in Certified Passive Houses by-Robert H. Crawford and Andr Stephan 9.Contemporary Earth Construction In Urban Housing Stabilised Or Unstabilised? By-Mohammad ShariZami& Dr. Angela Lee 10. Photographs of Site visits by Miss NishaKumari, Architect Ajesh Kapoor , Architect Ghanshyam Thakur & Architect Sachin yadav 11.Discussion with professionals and MrsVandana Sharma ,Assistant Professor ,NIT Hamirpur Figure11:MudHousebyDidiContractor Source: PhotographfromsitevisitofNITHstudents Figure12:StartoffailureinMudWallFinishes Source: PhotographfromsitevisitofNITHstudents

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