SUSTAINABILITY
Green Buildings
We need ‘green buildings’
if we want to use this
planet a little longer.
36 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People November 2006
Mili Majumdar, Priyanka Kochhar and Gaurav Shorey
Need of the Hour
T
he components encapsulated
in the term 'sustainable devel-
opment' address processes
that lead to long term and/or short-
term benefits. In order to design
instruments towards action for sus-
tainable development, there is a
global requirement to state sustain-
ability principles. We could, as an
aware group of society, direct action
to increase the shelf life of Homo
sapiens as a species; alternatively,
increase the quality of life for indi-
viduals, at the cost of extinction.
Extinction is natural and is happen-
ing. With 'development', we are
merely accelerating the rate of
extinction and at best, can strive to
achieve 'relative sustainability'. The
challenge lies in striking the balance.
Since we are grappling with the fate
of the human species and the world
we inhabit, a safe and protected
environmental media (viz. air, water
and land) may help us buy time and
use the earth a little longer.
Voluntary building rating systems
such as LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) as
developed by the United States and
BREEAM (Building Research
Establishment Environmental
Assessment Method) as developed by
the United Kingdom have been
instrumental in raising awareness and
popularising green design towards
protection of the environment.
The Green Rating for Integrated
Habitat Assessment (GRIHA),
developed by TERI, India, has
enumerated principles to design,
operate, evaluate and maintain
resource-efficient 'healthy' and
'intelligent buildings'.
WHAT IS GRIHA?
The TERI GRIHA evaluates the
'greenness' of a built space against
definitive standards based on
accepted energy and environmental
principles, both nationally and
internationally. The qualitative and
quantitative assessment criteria 'rates'
buildings on the degree of 'greenness'
in context to India's varied climate
and building practices.
Designed as a system that
evaluates a building's compatibility
with environmental priorities, TERI
aims to apply the tool to mainstream
the concept of green buildings in
India. The TERI green rating system
assures significant business and
social benefits. While the rigorous
efficiency and resource consumption
standards of TERI-GRIHA maximise
a building's operational savings, the
community surrounding it benefits
with an improved environment as
greenhouse gas emissions and
natural resource depletion are
contained.
The following gives an abridged
overview of principles addressed
by GRIHA during the site
planning, building planning and
construction, and building
operation and maintenance stages
of a building.
The TERI green building design
evaluation system has enumerated
principles to design, operate,
evaluate and maintain resource-
efficient 'healthy' and 'intelligent'
buildings. GRIHA is based on
accepted energy and environmental
principles during the site planning,
building planning and construction,
and the operation and maintenance
stages of a building's lifecycle. The
principles such as resource
conservation and efficient utilization
of resources, water and waste
management, indoor health, and
operation and maintenance of the
building underpin the green rating
system and are being taken up in the
following discussion.
The green rating developed by
TERI enumerates thirty-two criteria
for evaluation during the site
planning, construction and
development, and operation and
maintenance stages of any building
so as to arrive at environmentally
sensitive and sustainable
development.
SITE PLANNING
Usual construction practices at
the site planning and development
stage often entail activities that are
detrimental to the site and
resources (including people
working on site). Disturbance of
soil within the drip line of trees, for
instance, in forms of cut and fill in
the root zones causes harm to the
existing vegetation, particularly
mature trees. The damage is
aggravated with carving, nailing,
November 2006 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People 37
fires or heat emitting construction
activity. The placement of a
building on site with respect to the
natural functions of a plot of land
(hydrologic, geologic and
microclimatic) is another important
criterion. Inconsiderate placement
of the building with respect to the
site features may result in an
increased energy demand during
the lifetime of the building. An
increase in the hard paving on site
could cause heat island effect,
increase imperviousness of land
and lower the localized aquifer
recharge potential. Workers on the
construction site also suffer due to
the large volumes of suspended
articulate matters that are released
during construction, leading to air
pollution. Furthermore, unhygienic
site sanitation facilities cause
damage to the environment and the
health of construction workers.
Combating the above-mentioned
shortcomings towards resource
conservation and efficient utilization
of resources in site planning practices,
GRIHA administers mitigation
measures for the above-mentioned
damages. The rating system lays
down criteria that 'preserve and
protect vegetation and soil from
degradation during construction' and
encourages conservation of topsoil till
after completion of construction
activity. The conservation of topsoil
provides fertility to support
vegetative growth. GRIHA
administers soil stabilization in areas
where the topsoil is vulnerable to
erosion. The system also encourages
design to include existing site factors
so as to take advantage of the site
features. By propagating reduced
hard paving on site and/or providing
shaded hard paved surfaces by
encouraging a combination of soft
and hard landscape, GRIHA lessens
the heat island effect and the
imperviousness of the site. Efficient
outdoor lighting and use of
renewable energy for lighting reduces
the use of fossil based energy.
WATER AND WASTE
MANAGEMENT
Water and waste management
are integral components of civic and
infrastructure services in sustainable
development. However, a rapid
increase in construction activities
without appropriate planning of
civic facilities such as water supply,
sanitation and waste management
leads to the exploitation of natural
resources. Significant savings can be
achieved if responsive measures
focusing on the water and waste
management in buildings are
incorporated into the building
design at planning stage. This makes
the water and waste management an
integral part of sustainable building
design.
With large demands of water and
a limited supply to meet the needs,
developments that boast of large
green expanses use large volumes of
water for maintenance, increase the
load on municipal water supply and
result in depletion of ground water
resources. Inefficient water use
during construction for curing and
building purposes further increases
the load on water demand.
Rainwater is a potential source of
water but gets wasted when
storage/recharge facilities are not
provided.
GRIHA therefore, addresses the
issue of efficient water use by
reducing demand of water with
efficient fixtures and supplementing
38 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People November 2006
the supply by recycle and reuse of
water (including rainwater).
Reduction in landscape water
requirement can be achieved by
practicing 'xeriscape' that uses
native/indigenous species in
landscaping of the site. The native
plant communities require less
maintenance and water as compared
to exotic species and slow down the
depletion of natural resources. The
water used for landscape purposes
is supplemented by the treated
wastewater generated by buildings.
Efficient water use during
construction can be achieved by
using best practices in terms of using
materials such as pre-mixed
concrete, by using recycled treated
water and by controlling water
wastage during curing. GRIHA
administers rainwater harvesting.
When sufficient storage for
rainwater is unavailable, provision
is made for ground water
recharge that improves the
ground water level.
Wastes such as asbestos
products, lead, wood dust, product
packaging among many others cause
pollution on site. Non-segregated
waste makes it difficult to recover
resources and acts as burden on the
landfills. In terms of waste
management therefore, GRIHA
administers maximum resource
recovery and safe disposal of wastes
to reduce the burden on landfill.
Segregation of waste before
processing or disposal contributes to
the efficient handling and recovery
of the same. In order to maximize
recovery from recyclable and
biodegradable waste, GRIHA
advocates zero waste generation on
site that also contributes towards
curbing pollution for the health and
well being of individuals on site. To
take waste management further,
utilization of flyash in building
structure as construction material is
proposed. Flyash is an industrial
waste having the properties of
cement and very low embodied
energy which when used with
cements that are high in embodied
energy helps reducing fuel
requirement (since flyash contains
some percentage of unburnt carbon),
is cost effective and environmentally
friendly.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Energy constitutes a significant
share in all aspects of a building's
environmental performance. It is
used in buildings mainly for
lighting, air conditioning and other
equipments. GRIHA addresses
energy concerns through the life
cycle of the building and administers
how to r e d u c e embodied
energy, energy demand
during operation of the
building; and integrate
renewable energy to supplement
demand. Distinct approaches to
rate a n d a d m i n i s t e r demand for
energy in air-conditioned and non
air-conditioned areas are taken up in
response to distinct Indian
requirement.
Huge quantities of waste and by-
products generated from various
manufacturing processes result in
consumption of primary grade raw
materials such as energy, labour
and capital investments in
manufacturing plants.
In order to conserve embodied
energy consumption, GRIHA
suggests reduction in volume and
weight, and time of construction by
adopting efficient technologies.
Sustainable management of
materials helps conserve natural
resources and they are characterized
by low embodied energies, potential
for recycle and reuse, and low
emissions of toxic substances in each
stage of their lifecycles.
The green rating system works
towards optimum use in energy
systems for air conditioned
buildings; and tries to achieve
minimum discomfort hours for non
air conditioned areas and buildings.
In order to provide thermal comfort
using strategies that save energy
and have environmental benefits,
GRIHA encourages passive solar
architectural systems that employ
natural means of heat transfer or air
flow and incur significant energy
savings for air conditioned and non-
air conditioned areas of buildings.
Solar passive design uses the
favorable effects of the sun's heat,
light and air inside the building and
excludes the adverse effects with
the help of efficient planning and
building techniques. These
techniques, taken from traditional
wisdom, have been successfully
interpreted in modern connotations.
They aim at designing building
components or techniques for
storing, distributing and controlling
the heat energy inside the building
by effective heat exchanges based
on the principles of natural energy
flow. Since passive systems employ
natural means of heat transfer or
airflow, they are independent of
mechanical controls and incur
significant energy savings.
Thermal comfort inside a
building can also be improved by
integrating simple solar passive
techniques such as landscaping
with other site features as micro-
climate-modifiers, optimum
building orientation, arrangement
and shape of buildings, effective
surface-to-volume ratios, proper
location and size of openings,
required glazing area, shading of
windows and judicious selection of
building materials.
The use of renewable energy
sources in buildings works towards
reducing the use of conventional/
fossil fuel-based energy resource
and therefore contributes to
reduction of air pollution.
The principles of the green
rating system, help achieve lower
maintenance costs, reduced
operational energy, lower emissions
of air pollution, healthier and more
productive occupants, less material
usage and a longer building life.
INDOOR HEALTH
Building construction and its
operation affects the health and
well being of people in many ways.
Building materials such as paints,
sealants, and adhesives form
important finishes for the exterior
and interior surfaces and at the
same time, are potential
contributors to the poor indoor air
quality and can have a bearing on
the occupant's health. A wide
variety of volatiles are released
through oxidation by both solvent-
based and water-based paints while
sealants and adhesives contain toxic
chemicals that are released during
construction and occupancy.
Commonly used materials such as
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or
hydro chlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs) in refrigeration and air
conditioning systems, insulation,
and halons in fire suppression
systems and extinguishers are
November 2006 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People 39
ozone depleting.
Volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), especially formaldehyde,
urea formaldehyde, urethanes, and
other chemical substances
contained within the building
materials can be injurious to health
and can also be odorous. GRIHA
therefore, aims to select materials
with low to zero quantities of such
chemicals so as to minimize the
source of emission. (In selecting
low VOC materials, a practical
thumb rule is to choose water-
based products with low odour.)
The various criteria suggest
minimizing the release of ozone-
depleting materials commonly
used in buildings. To further
initiative towards health and well
being, GRIHA administers to
provide the occupants of the
building with the quality of water
as prescribed by local codes and
standards. It proposes appropriate
noise controls for providing
acceptable of outdoor and indoor
noise levels to enhance comfort;
and health strategies such as
prohibiting smoking in the indoor
areas to ensure zero exposure of the
non-smoking occupants to passive
smoking.
Successful implementation of the
GRIHA administered concepts have
led to environment-sensitive and
cost efficient buildings. Recent
examples being the IIT, Kanpur and
the Doon School, have been taken up
for discussion.
Case Study 1 : Earth System &
Environment Science
Engineering Building, Indian
Institute of Technology
(Kanpur) research facility
Earth System & Environment
Science Engineering Building is a
research facility located in the
Indian Institute of Technology
Campus, Kanpur. The facility, as
the name suggests would house
Laboratories and other facilities for
various disciplines of the
environment sciences, like
Atmospheric, Oceanographic,
Earth Sciences etc. The facility is
nestled into the existing landscape.
In siting the building, the natural
course was left undisturbed. The
architecture of the building has
been designed around the existing
vegetation, so as to not disturb the
natural surroundings and fully
grown trees. The building is a
Ground + 1 structure comprising of
modules strung informally along a
semi-open spine.
The facility houses wet labs
which are non- air conditioned
spaces on Ground floor and dry
labs that are air-conditioned spaces
on the first floor. Building design
and envelope has been optimized
through selection of appropriate
wall and roof construction and
through adoption of solar passive
measures after studying the sun
path analysis to provide shading
devices for windows and roof,
which would reduce energy
demand to condition the spaces.
All the criteria and commitment as
described in TERI GRIHA to
optimize the system design and to
achieve thermal comfort in non air
conditioned spaces would be
followed to reduce the annual
energy consumption less than the
benchmark established for
composite climate by TERI. Water
conservation measures would be
adopted in the building through
selection of efficient fixtures and
rainwater harvesting. Utilization
40 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People November 2006
of renewable form of energy
through building integrated
Photovoltaic panels would be
incorporated, energy generated
from which shall be used in the
building.
With minimum disruption of
existing site features, the building
design considers timing of
construction (to avoid soil erosion
during monsoons), preservation of
existing vegetation, spill prevention
and control of construction activity
and preservation of topsoil to
'preserve and protect landscape
during construction'.
Efficient energy management has
been taken up for air-conditioned
and non air-conditioned areas of
the building. The recommendations
aim to:
● Optimize building design to
reduce conventional energy
demand (by daylight integration,
efficient artificial lighting); and
● Optimize energy performance
of buildings within specified
comfort limits (by optimization
of building envelope and
building systems)
The implementation of the above-
mentioned guidance results in
optimization of building systems.
● Efficient lighting (by using
efficient lamps and fixtures,
daylight sensors and lighting
simulation) results in a 55%
decrease of lighting loads;
● Efficient envelope and efficient
lighting (through day light
integration by appropriate design
of external shades and efficient
glazing) together reduce the
building cooling load by 17.5%
for air conditioned spaces and
reduce the discomfort hours by
74% for non air conditioned
areas.
● The building, which is partly air
conditioned (54%) and partly non
air conditioned (46%) consumes
40% less energy.
Energy efficiency in the air-
conditioned areas has been achieved
by incorporating:
● Use of passive strategies such as
integration of earth air tunnel
with the HVAC systems to
reduce the requirement for
cooling the air.
● Efficient shading and high
performance glass for windows to
allow minimum solar radiation
into the building but permit the
light to pass through freely, thus
reducing the need for air
conditioning and artificial lighting.
● Efficient lighting design: light
power densities (W/m2)
recommended by the ECBC have
been followed, simultaneously
providing adequate lighting
levels as recommended by the
National Building Code of India
2005.
● Efficient air-conditioning system:
efficient chiller and efficient air
handling units, efficient pumps
and motors.
Water efficiency measures
incorporating reduction of water
requirement, recycling techniques
and efficient landscaping (using
xeriscape and appropriate irrigation
techniques) contribute to 'greening'
of the campus. Use of low flow
plumbing fixtures, native species for
landscaping, treatment of waste
water and rain water harvesting
have reduced potable water
consumption by 51% and resulted in
a 44% reduction for water demand
for landscaping.
Case Study 2: The Doon School,
Dehradun, Uttatanchal
 The Doon School has taken the
initiative to start a long-term
process towards self- sufficiency in
energy, water and organic fertilizer
by opting for sustainable sources of
energy and recycling waste. This
would serve the dual purpose of
having amongst India's first 'Green'
school campuses and showcasing
the importance of sustainability to
its students by making the
responsible use of scarce resources
a part of their everyday life.
As a part of its drive to replace
many of its old buildings (which
were declared unfit for habitation) it
has taken the decision to design
them as per an 'architectural vision
statement' that incorporates
standards that shall see the Art
School complex (comprising the Art
School and the Art Master's house)
and six teachers houses (adjoining
the main playfield) built as
TERI GRIHA rated habitats.
Consequently, the school has
ensured that the entire building
process from demolition, through
construction to occupancy be done
as per GRIHA guidelines to achieve
negligible environmental impact
and a minimal ecological footprint
in the long run. For instance, by
changing the building envelope
materials alone, the requirement for
artificial space conditioning systems
(cooling or heating) has been
reduced to a negligible minimum.
This translates into a drastic
reduction in electricity consumption
that may have been required for air
conditioning or heating under
ordinary conditions. The buildings
shall also incorporate solar thermal
November 2006 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People 41
systems to fulfill the hot water
requirements and water and waste
management processes for reduced
environmental impact. The school
proposes to install solar thermal
systems on all existing campus
buildings as well as tap
alternative/renewable sources of
energy such as biomethanation and
biomass gasification at a campus
level wherever possible. ■
Mili Majumdar is Fellow & Area
Convener, Green Building Rating
Cell, TERI, New Delhi.
Priyanka Kochhar and Gaurav
Shorey are Research Associates,
TERI, New Delhi.
Photographs: Courtesy the Authors.