Of sustainable homes

Green buildings as a concept is the “in” thing today. While very often, this connotes commercial spaces, there has been a slow and steady shift towards making residential spaces environment friendly.

Green buildings are steadily increasing their footprints in India.

“At present, there are 18 buildings that have been officially recognised as green buildings, largely in the private sector. The number of green building projects in India is expected to go up from the current 181 to over 2,000 by 2012; this would give a boost to the construction industry and manufacturers of green products (non-toxic paints, wood from sustainable forestry, flashy bricks, recyclable and non-toxic carpets etc),” says Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe Ltd. B K Dhar, CEO Mfar Constructions elucidates, “green buildings have various benefits, both tangible and intangible. The most tangible benefit is in reduction of operating energy and water costs right from day one during the entire life cycle of the building.”

Eco-friendly projects

Samskruti’s Maurya 100-acre residential sustainable smart township near Electronics City begins development in July 2009.

The developers of this project are projecting this as a green community to enhance the welfare of present and future inhabitants by creating safe, convenient, equitable, healthy, efficient, meaningful and attractive spaces that seek to enhance social interaction by providing high encounter opportunity zones.

Venkat Chalasani, CEO, says, “among the main features of this project are 100 per cent water sustainability, 50-60 per cent energy sustainability, hybrid electricity with green power grid, waste reduction by 90 per cent, vegetable sustainability through community garden and green roofs, cooking gas supply through reticulated pipeline, gated community with solar powered fence, RFID based access control and carbon credit sale through Kyoto protocol.” If you thought that packed a punch, read on.

The total number of people that will be part of this community once fully occupied is pegged at a staggering 3500, including independent houses, senior citizen homes, apartments and affordable homes for the economically backward.  Each house will also have a provision for an elevator as these are adaptable homes.

Detailed climate analysis

The company has been planning and researching on this project for over two years including having done detailed climate analysis on wind, shade and radiation to design comfortable living spaces that ensure the temperatures inside the house range between 23-28°C. A stack tower for each house will ensure that the air is recycled and circulated back. Elucidates Chalasani, “from our analysis we infer that we should not place windows (particularly glass) on the east and west; and that north side windows should be protected properly. Also rooftop and west walls will be insulated properly with thermal mass and we will make provision to allow the sun to enter during winter using south windows.

Our wind analysis shows that pre-dominant winds come from the east-west direction in Bangalore. We have designed bay windows in the south and north direction to allow wind for natural ventilation. Also the careful design of windows in the east-west limit heat gain and allow breeze inside. We have oriented all houses in the master plan to face either east or west to allow wind passage and limit heat again from longitudinal axis of houses.”

Other green projects

MAN Valley Vista, a high-end premium residential complex, MAN Infraprojects Ltd, is all set to change the skyline of Nerul, popularly known as the ‘Queen of Navi Mumbai’. The project has green features like STP (Sewage Treatment Plants) to curb waste and maintain an eco-friendly style, extensive podium level and well landscaped and designed podium garden with a mountain view.

Vakil Garden City

Vakil Garden City, a tribute to nature is set on the fast-developing Kanakapura Road. “The efficiency of the building is substantially enhanced, in more ways than one, by the use of green technology encompassing relevant design, material of construction, methodologies of execution and system of maintenance, and the combination of all these and more add to certain requirement of a ‘green’ definition,” says CEO, Vakil Housing, H R Girish.

Tata Housing’s Xylem in Bangalore has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED - Gold) Rating. Says Brotin Banerjee, Managing Director, Tata Housing Development Company, “all our projects across the country are green buildings as certified by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The certification for this innovative green campus marks a milestone in our ongoing efforts to become a model of energy and resource efficiency.”

Mahindra Lifespaces’ green building is said to have new, ingenious materials cool the home naturally reducing the need for air conditioning and new-age building materials to ensure a healthier indoor living environment.

“We propose to use low SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Co-efficient) glasses for building fenestration. This kind of glass has high light transmission ratio with low shading coefficient and in turn induces more day light effect than normal glasses.
Due to low SHGC, the energy requirement for indoor air-conditioning substantially in comparison with normal fenestration will be reduced,” explains Anita Arjundas, President & CEO Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.

Says R Karthik, Senior VP-Marketing, Lodha Group, “Lodha Luxuria in Thane, Lodha Bellissimo in Lower Parel, CASA Univis in Thane, CASA Bella in Dombivali have a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) for recycling of waste water and sewage which is reused for landscaping, solar water heating for apartments and rainwater harvesting.” Designing a building to best suit a particular climate depends on the skill of the designer and does not necessarily increase the cost of construction. “In terms of using the least amount of resources during the construction, this would again depend on the skill of the designer, which would could actually reduce cost. In the long run, however, despite higher investments, there would definitely be a cost benefit with rising energy and water costs,” says Dr Ashwin Sabapathy, Senior Consultant, Enzen Global Solutions.

Vedic village

MARG Tapovan has been designed to incorporate the ancient Vedic wisdom to devise holistic health programmes. “The serene, idyllic vedic village features a Vedic patashala, goshala, salt and fresh water bodies, a fine arts centre for pottery, weaving, clay moulding, auditorium, herbarium, a Temple, an amphitheatre for yoga, meditation, pranayama, performance and classes, a therapy centre, a reception and administrative block, staff quarters and a specialty restaurant, Ayurvega,” says G R K Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Ltd.

No compromise on comfort

Chandrashekar Hariharan CEO, BCIL says, “green projects do not suggest that we compromise on our comfort. They do not also suggest that we spend more, financially speaking, to achieve these ends. Green projects clearly suggest far better and professionally conscientious and efficient use of money and other resources.”

Samir Jasuja, Founder and CEO, PropEquity says, “the major challenges facing the adoption of the green movement in India today is the initial high investment from a development perspective, lack of awareness of the long term benefits associated with green buildings amongst end user community as well as the inadequacy of expertise in green building development and implementation in India.”