green buildings, energy efficiency

7/29/2019 Green Buildings, Energy Efficiency

1/7

Sustainable building construction practices

A study of Indian green building rating systems.

S.J Vijayadas

BSNL Civil Construction Wing

Trivandrum, Kerala

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Sustainable building construction

practices, popularly known as green building

practices are widely gaining acceptance due tothe tangible and intangible benefits to the

environment and industry. The rating systemsact as evaluation tools and bench marking

systems to assess the greenness of the projects

claimed to have undertaken following

sustainable practices. The qualitative

comparison of such systems by analyzing thevarious features is attempted in the study.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Construction activity is the back bone ofany economy and its growth has been considered

as a measure of development of an economy. In

India the construction sector contributes 10% of

GDP and it is growing at an average of 9%

against a world average of 5.5%. Massive

initiatives in the infrastructure development and

rapid growth of urban habitats are leading to

tremendous construction activities. India

constructs buildings of the order of 1% of the

total constructed floor area of the world habitats

every year. Building construction activities have

a far reaching impact on the environment

specifically due to the use of natural materials

and construction practices. 50% of the global

consumption of raw materials is consumed by

the building industry considering the various

materials involved in manufacture, construction,

operation and maintenance of buildings.

Consumption of water, energy and other

resources in construction and operation of

buildings have been identified as those areas

which needs urgent attention. The pollution due

to the manufacturing of building materials, their

transportation, utilization and disposal are other

areas of concern for the building industry. CPCB

has estimated that 25% of the solid waste

generation in India can be attributed to the

construction industry.

Along with our march towards

infrastructural development and urbanization it

is our responsibility to keep an eye on the impact

on the environmental damages associated with

such development. Green buildings offer an

innovative remedy to the problem by way of

using lesser resources, creating less waste and

consuming less energy during construction and

operation. The green building concepts direct the

professional society to adopt sustainable

practices in planning, designing, constructing,

operating and maintaining buildings throughoutits lifecycle. The sustainable practices naturally

lead to economy, efficiency and reliability in all

aspects by way of appropriate integration of

technology and management. Green buildings

are expected to ensure proper safety, health and

sanitation facilities during construction and

thermal, visual and acoustical comfort for the

National Technological Congress, Kerala - 2011

College of Engineering Trivandrum, January 28-29, 2011

NATCON 2011 53
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


2/7

occupants while in use. The potential of

reducing ODP (Ozone depleting potential) and

possible reduction of greenhouse gases in the

sector are well acknowledged. The solution to

the heat island effect due to uncontrolled

urbanization also lies in the green buildingconcepts.

The biggest challenge before humanity

is to develop a sustainable global economy,

which can support the development of the world

indefinitely. The most widely accepted route to

meet that challenge is to change the

technological practices to create goods, services

and facilities. The emerging economies like

India need to focus more on sustainable

practices in development activities consideringtheir environmental impact; especially those

associated with the construction industry. The

need to adopt sustainable practices in building

construction is based on this concept.

Sustainable practices identified include selection

of site with least ecological impact, use of non

renewable resources in a most limited way,

encouraging the use of rapidly renewable

materials, adopt techniques which facilitates a

pollution free and safe construction and make

sure that the buildings are constructed around

the nature and not against it. The sustainable

design and construction shall also ensure that a

building constructed is well integrated with the

existing infrastructural systems in the urban

context without becoming a burden on them

either due to their presence or functioning.

Green buildings are being constructed

worldwide and Indian initiatives are also

appreciable with buildings of area 70 million sqft is already built in the past few years by

following the green concepts. The green

building rating systems are intended to measure

the greenness of the building which is being

designed. They are evaluation tools to measure

the environmental performance of a building

through its lifecycle. Some of the successful

international rating systems are BREEAM

(Building Research Establishments

Environmental Assessment Method-UK),

CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System

for Building Environmental Efficiency-Japan),

GB Tool (Developed by InternationalFramework Committee for Green Building

Challenge), LEED (Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design-US)and HK-

BEAM(Hong Kong Building Environmental

Assessment Method) . In India we have two

rating systems: they are LEED-INDIA

(promoted by IGBC) and GRIHA (Green Rating

for Integrated Habitat Assessment-promoted

jointly by TERI and MNRE).

Most of the internationally devisedrating systems have been tailored to suit the

building industry in the country and based on

their concept of sustainable development

considering the prevailing social, economical,

environmental and technological framework.

Indian systems adopt a holistic approach with

high degree of emphasis on optimizing the

building design for sustainable performance.

They also address the various agro climatic

regions of Indian geography differently. The

central theme and primary focus on all rating

systems are to conceptualize, design, construct,

operate and maintain a sustainable built

environment.

2.0 SUSTAINABILITY AND BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

Sustainability is defined by the World

Commission on Environment and Development

as meeting the needs of today without

compromising the ability of the future

generations to meet their own needs. According

to UNEP Sustainable Buildings and Climate

initiative 2006, the sector is a major contributor

to global warming. They are responsible for 30-

40% of global greenhouse gas emission. As per

the report titled State of Play-Sustainable



NATCON 2011 54


3/7

buildings in India, the energy performance of

commercial buildings in India in terms of the

energy efficiency is poor by international

standards, which has the effect of locking Indian

cities in to inefficient and potentially

uncompetitive building stock for decades.Unchecked, greenhouse gas emissions from

electricity used in existing buildings alone could

increase by 247% by 2050. If the energy-

efficiency of new-buildings constructed over the

same period are not improved, the total

electricity related emissions from buildings

could be more than 390% higher than current

levels. Green house gas emissions associated

with building material manufacturing are also

likely to spike over the next decade, increasing

the need to consider lower embodied energy

approaches to construction. The Indian cities are

most vulnerable to climate change and

considering that more than 50% of Indian

population will be living in cities by 2050;the

role of buildings in climate change adaptation

options is fundamental to well being and

prosperity.

The understanding of sustainable

practices are often open to individual

interpretation and contextual description; where

the requirement of one building in one country

or location may not be applicable in another

case. However the issues listed in Table 1 are

relevant in all built environment cases. The

issues listed are broadly categorized into five

areas for evaluation purpose. They are

sustainable sites, energy efficiency, water

conservation, indoor environmental quality,

materials and construction practices, The

reduced load on the infrastructure systems likewater supply, power supply, communication,

transportation, waste disposal systems and

access to socio cultural institutions etc are some

of the areas which are positively affected while

adopting the sustainability principles in planning

and developing built environment both at micro

and macro levels. The Studies have also

indicated that the built environment developed

following core principles of sustainability

promotes enhanced productivity of the occupant.

Table 1: Major issues to assess sustainability

performance of buildings

1. consumption of non renewable fuel2. water consumption3. Material consumption4. land use5. impact on site ecology6. green house gas emissions7. other atmospheric gas emissions8. solid waste/liquid effluents9. indoor air quality10.acoustics11. lighting12. longevity13.adaptability14. flexibility15.Operation and maintenance.The measure of carbon footprint of built

environment is an indication of the extent of

sustainable principles followed in building it. As

building sector is responsible for major GHG

emissions, the sector can provide quick and

efficient way of mitigation than other sectors.

Success of national carbon reduction targets

relies heavily on the potential of the building

sector to avoid further global warming and

impact on climate change. There is a progressive

reduction of CO2 emission levels when the

building practices improves from standard to

green as graphical presentation in picture-I

shows.



NATCON 2011 55


4/7

Picture-I

3.0 INDIAN RATING SYSTEMS

Green building concept in Indian

context is not a nascent one as most of us think.

Integrating natural elements in the built

environment through various traditional

practices was well practiced from ancient times

on wards. The growth of building construction

industry and rapid urbanization has diluted the

traditional wisdom and unsustainable practices

became dominant. Interestingly the initiatives

were also from the organizations towards

sustainable built environment in order to

promote healthier habits and to reduce the

impact of their operations on the environment.

Organizations have also realized that sustainable

building practices enhance employee

productivity.

The organized efforts of industry and

policy level initiatives of government along with

the global initiatives have led to theformalization of practices in the sustainable

building sector. With the formation of IGBC in

2001 and completion of CII-Godrej GBC there

was a realization that one of the priorities for the

sustainable building industry was to have a

system to define and measure green buildings .

The achievement of prestigious platinum LEED

rating for the Godrej GBC building in 2003,

there was a considerable enthusiasm in the

industry which has ultimately led to the

development of a rating program referred as

LEED India Version 1.0 with its launching in

October 2006. The variants of LEED India areLEED India NC (New Construction) and LEED

India CS (Core & Shell).

LEED India is a performance oriented

system where credits are earned for satisfying

criterion designed to address specific

environmental impacts inherent in the design

and construction. Different levels of green

building certification are awarded based on the

total credits earned through compliance of

various parameters like sustainable sites, waterconsumption efficiency, energy use, materials

and resources, indoor environmental quality,

innovation in design. It is also proposed to

release LEED EB(existing buildings), LEED

Residential etc.

GRIHA has originated from the need to

have a totally indigenous system and was

initiated by TERI; an institution deeply

committed to every aspect of sustainable

development. This tool by its quantitative and

qualitative criteria would be able to rate a

building with degree of greenness. GRIHA is a

five star rating system with emphasis on passive

solar techniques for optimizing indoor visual

and thermal comfort. GRIHA encourages

optimization of building design to reduce

conventional energy demand and further

optimize energy performance of the building

within specified comfort limits. GRIHA being

an indigenous building rating system, focusmore on the non-air conditioned or partially air

conditioned segment. GRIHA also insists on the

adherence of all relevant Indian codes of

practices.

The principles of sustainable

construction practices are well embedded in both



NATCON 2011 56


5/7

the rating systems and the methodology adopted

in evaluation only is found different. For the

purpose of comparison the various sustainability

issues can be catagorised into the following

1. Site and location2. Energy3. Water4. Material resources5. Design for specified comfort6. Impact on public infrastructure

system7. Construction processThe study conducted is to analyze the

various methods adopted to satisfy the abovecited areas of sustainable practices. While

discussing about the credit points it may be

noted that GRIHA evaluation is out of 104

points and LEED India is out of 69 points.

3.1 Site selection & protection

GRIHA rating system insists on the

adherence of all local development plan, eco-sensitive zone regulation, coastal zone

regulations, heritage areas, water body zones

and various hazard prone zones. There is a

strong preference for using contaminated brown

field after suitable rehabilitation in order to

reduce the pressure on virgin land including

agricultural land. Protection of top soil, natural

vegetation, replanting, preventing soil erosion,

sediment control, confining the disturbance on

land due to construction by confining areas of

activity are some of the steps advised by

GRIHA. Soil conservation by preserving the top

soil, designing to include natural features,

reducing hard paving etc are additional steps

included in the norms. There are 5 listed criteria

in this group with credit points totaling to 14.

LEED India has a comprehensive

evaluation mechanism which is fundamentally

similar to GRIHA. The issues are classified into

environmental, economical and community

related. The steps suggested to reduce

sedimentation control and erosion aremandatory. While discouraging the use of

primary farm land, LEED India recommends to

consider development density and community

connectivity as important aspects. In addition to

the brown field redevelopment and reduced site

disturbance norms, LEED focus on issues like

storm water management, Heat Island Effect etc

are considered in the site selection process.13

credit points are earmarked for sustainable site

selection.

3.2 Energy and related issues.

The core aspect in the green building

concept is energy conservation. Conservation

leads to reduced generation and dependence on

renewable sources further helps to reduce the

generation. The generation of energy from

conventional sources has multiple impact on the

environment and being a major consumer the

buildings have the potential to reduce such

impacts by way of efficient consumption and

internal generation from environment friendly

sources. Another mode of reducing the energy

consumption at macro level is to promote the

use of material with low embodied energy.

GRIHA gives maximum weightage to

this option by providing 49 points to this section

alone by incorporating various norms for

enhancing the energy consumption performance

of the building. These include, optimizing the

building design to reduce the energy demand, by

ensuring the energy utilization to the specified

comfort levels and promoting the use of low

embodied energy materials. There are specific

clauses to encourage the use of renewable

energy including direct use of solar power like

water heating etc.



NATCON 2011 57


6/7

LEED India gives a total points of 17

points in this area and the focus is relatively on

the performance of the energy consuming

systems and appliances. Though there is thrust

on renewable energy option, the importance of

building design to reduce energy consumptionlike solar passive design etc are not clearly

explained in the norms. There is an apparent

indication that building may require energy

consuming systems to maintain desired comfort

levels and the focus is on optimizing their

performance rather than trying to avoid using

them by design interventions.

3.3 Water use and Efficiency

The use of water in buildings areexpected to be controlled through effective

water management practices by reducing the

landscape water requirement, using low flow

fixtures and efficient use of water during

construction. The waste water recycle, recharge

and reuse are the additional options for

enhancing the sustainable practices in water

sector. GRIHA has given 13 credit points for

adhering to the related practices. LEED India

has 6 credit points for water use efficiency

including water reduction in air conditioning

system and gives credit for innovative waste

water treatment systems.

3.4 Use and control of material resources.

Both the rating systems have

comprehensive provisions for promoting the use

of materials in construction, operation and

maintenance of buildings. LEED India promotes

the use of used building materials, reduction of

wastage during construction, use of certifiedwood etc including use of regional material. The

total credit points are 13. GRIHA norms provide

for certain norms which are directly linked to the

energy category. In addition to that there are 4

credits for using low VOC paints and minimum

ODP substances.

3.5 Design for Specific Comfort Levels

Though this may appear to be a

technical issue, the basis is to ensure that the

operational economy of a building is achieved

by using optimum level of resources. By

ensuring the lighting, temperature, humidity, air

quality and noise levels appropriate to the

climatic zone and within the comfort level, it is

possible to optimize the use of energy and

enhance the productivity of the inhabitants.

GRIHA standard refers to the CPCB norms for

acceptable noise levels and air quality related

aspects.4-6 credits are exclusive to such aspects

in GRIHA rating system. There are inbuiltprovisions in other areas like using daylight

options and using the natural elements to

enhance the indoor quality.

LEED has given high weightage to the

indoor environmental quality, by earmarking a

total credits of 15 points. The areas include

outdoor air delivery monitoring, increased

ventilation, low emitting material, indoor

chemical and pollution control, system control

for thermal and lighting facilities. Ensuringdaylight for maximum possible areas are given

special credits in the rating system. In both the

systems the glazing design is given special

attention by ensuring that desired levels of heat

and light are made use from solar sources.

3.6 Impact on public infrastructure system

A building constructed will have both

immediate and long term impact on the existing

public infrastructure system especially on thetransportation, power supply, water supply and

waste handling system both solid and liquid. The

green building concepts in the areas of site

selection, waste reduction, storm water

management, water conservation efforts etc will

have a positive impact of reducing burden on the

public infrastructure system.



NATCON 2011 58


7/7

LEED India give specific thrust on

alternate transportation options, including

provision of alternate fuel filling stations, car

pooling practices, restricting and minimizing

parking space etc. GRIHA insists on segregation

of waste, reduction of waste load on the publicwaste conveyance system etc.

3.7 Sustainable Construction process

In spite of the use of green materials and

integrated design efforts, the building can turn

out to be an unsustainable one if the construction

process adopted do not follow the sustainable

practices. The inefficient transportation of

material into and outside the project sit, the site

level pollution, the inefficient use of water,energy, unhealthy labour practices, irrepairable

damage to the land and ecosystem in and around

the site etc can lead to an unsustainable building.

Both the rating system addresses all the

above issues with slightly varying degree of

importance. GRIHA gives significant

importance on the site level disturbances,

pollution and the labour issues. The reduction of

water and power during construction by

appropriate technological and capacity buildinginterventions are advised in the GRIHA

standards. LEED system gives importance to the

waste reduction process during construction by

providing certain credits for its adherence.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The sustainable practices are the basis of

both the rating systems. The difference is in

interpretation of various methods in achieving

them. GRIHA being a national rating systemprovides a good reference basis for construction

of public buildings and common purpose

buildings preferably with natural internal

environment. LEED being an offshoot of an

international practice, gives more importance on

the system efficiency and more quantitative in

approach which makes it popular among the

industry experts.

References

1. LEED INDIA NC REFERENCEGUIDE VERSION 1.0 Published by

IGBC in January 2007

2. GRIHA manual Volume 1, published byMNRE & TERI 2010

3. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ANDENVIRONMENTAL

SUSTAINABILTY IN BUSINESS,Preetha M Banergy, Vanitha shastri,

SAGE Publications 2010

4. BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT , Richard Starkey and

Richard Welford, Earthscan

Publications,2005.



NATCON 2011 59

green buildings, energy efficiency

Documents