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CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre

 Location
Hyderabad, India
 Name
CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
 Architectural design: Karan Grover and Associates, India
 Size
4.5 acres (total site area)
1,858 m2 (total built up area)
1,115 m2 (total air-conditioned area)
 Type
Office building
 Building details
Office building Seminar Hall Green Technology Centre displaying the latest and
emerging green building materials and technologies in India Large numbers of visitors
are escorted on green building tour
 Ratings
Awarded the LEED Platinum Rating for New Construction (NC) v 2.0 by the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC) in November 2003
Site Preservation
 More than 70 of the existing landscape and contour was retained on the surface. Site
Preservation is very important to minimise the site damage and associated negative
environmental impacts. Figure 2 Contour Plateau preserved on site.
Site Selection and Planning
 Site should be selected for the project considering the safety of occupants and should
not disturb the ecosystem. Project is located in the Hi-Tech City of Hyderabad and has
all the basic amenities nearby. Public Transport is very easily available at the distance
of 100m from the location. Use of cycles and battery operated vehicles non-fossil fuel
vehicles is promoted and there is a battery charging facility available at the site. A
different parking is available for the people using cycles and battery operated vehicles.
Soil Erosion Control and Preservation
 Honeycomb trays Honeycomb trays are placed in the areas where loose soil is present
or there is more chance of soil erosion. They trap the top layer of soil inside them
preventing soil erosion and allowing them to be covered by turf. Top layer of soil was
stacked and stored at the time of construction and was again used for the growth of
vegetation.
 Water diverted to sediment basins Water is diverted to sediment basins to control the
sedimentation and hence reduce erosion.
 Natural Vegetation Most of the natural vegetation was tried to preserve and many
new species are now planted at the site. There are more than 160 species of
vegetation available on site. Use of native species is promoted as they have more
adaptability to the climate and have less water requirement.
 Heat Island Reduction: Grass Pavers A heat island is an area that is significantly warmer
than its surrounding areas due to human activities. Heat Island effect is countered at

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site by using shades from trees grass pavers grid pavers and high SRI tiles on roof and
planting vegetation on roof.
Zoning by site features
WATER
 Located at the lowest region of the site for maximum accumulation using existing site
drainage pattern.
MAIN CAMPUS
 Located on the flattest zone on site- least interference to site features during
construction Easy access from Main Road
 Centrally located on site
 Scope to create buffers surrounding the building for effective design according to site
climate
 Less prone to pollution.
Natural drainage pattern
 Natural Drainage pattern utilized to harvest rain water at point of maximum
accumulation
Climate responsive design
 Warm breeze that picks up heat from the vast expanse of barren land in the
surroundings
 Cooled by the presence of Greenery and further by the water body to the North
 Orientation of the buildings capitalize on all favourable conditions on site and
measures have been taken to fix the problems on site
 Harsh west heat filtered and partially blocked by the landscape and the plantations in
the west.
 Cooled air is retained and circulated within the site and prevented from escaping by
landscape on all sides
 Warm breeze from the South West gets filtered and cooled by the presence of lush
greenery
 There is circulation of wind within the site along the circular exteriors of the building-
easy flow.
Approach and surroundings
 Main entrance located at the main road Surrounded by Medium Rise commercial
buildings (under construction)
Entrance
 The main gate opens to a long driveway with lush greenery on both sides creating
EMPHASIS to the entrance
 The main building has direct access from the main road, But the entrance to it is from
the inside to ensure privacy and security.

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Parking and accessibility

 Bicycle riders are treated preferentially - convenient parking, lockers, shower cleaning
 30 % of employee transportation: carpools, bicycles, and LPG cars
 Use of battery operated vehicles encouraged - Charging stations available
 The documented reduction of harmful emissions achieved is 62 %
 Encourage building occupants to minimize their reliance on fossil fuel-based
transportation.
Pedestrian circulation
 Emphasis of the Entrance by a large projected overhang/ portico
 Separation of Pedestrian and Vehicular movement for easy circulation
Zoning of space
 Zoning done by HIERARCHY in terms of PRIVACY
 PUBLIC- Reception, Library
 SEMI PUBLIC – Administration, Office for employees
 SEMI PRIVATE – Seminar hall
 PRIVATE - Conference rooms, Cabins for Senior Executives
 COMMON AREAS – for circulation and gathering
Sensitivity to context
 Minimal damage during construction and occupancy, to the natural elements of water
flow, air quality, vegetation, and topography
 The built form responds to the rocky site.
 Small footprint, design retains site contours and existing boulders.
 "Contour trenching” adopted to avoid erosion and sedimentation.
 During construction, barricades were installed to prevent contaminants from
spreading to surrounding areas.
 Care has been taken not to disturb the activities of a temple nearby.
Ground hugging construction
 Like most olden systems of construction, structures are kept ground hugging ensuring
natural modulation of microclimate and creating more interaction with nature
 Gives a sense of being close to nature
CLIMATE
 It remains fairly warm most of the year.
 Combination of tropical wet and dry climate - borders on a hot semi-arid climate
 Receive less rainfall in the monsoon.
 Temperatures come down in the months of December and January and the nights
become quite cool in and around the Hyderabad city.
 Temperature: During the summer months, the mercury goes as high as 42° C while in
winters the minimum temperature may come down to as low as 12° C.

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 Relative Humidity: Humidity in the morning is very high exceeding 80 per cent from
July to September. In the dry months of March, April and May, humidity is generally
low with an average of 25 to 30 per cent and decreases to 20 per cent at individual
stations.
 Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad. It’s a commercial building which
consists of office buildings, research labs and conference rooms
 Formation of positive and
negative pressure zones
when wind flows around
rectangular and circular
bodies.
 The pressure coefficient cp
can be used with the wind
velocity to calculate positive
and negative pressure loads.
Minimum Disturbance to the site
 The building design was conceived to have minimum disturbance to the surrounding
ecological environment.
 The disturbance to the site was limited within 40 feet from the building footprint
during the construction phase.
 This has preserved the majority of the existing flora and fauna and natural
microbiological organism around the building.
 Extensive erosion and sedimentation control measures to prevent topsoil erosion
have also been taken at the site during construction.
GREEN BUILDING ELEMENTS
 Central courtyard.
 Roof garden - Protects heat penetration, cuts down heat-island effect
 High performance glazing to bring in natural light while minimizing heat ingress.
 Usage of light glazing and vision glazing.
 Jaali (Perforated) wall for bringing in natural light as well as ventilation.
 Energy saving system.
Courtyards
 The courtyards act as "light wells," illuminating
adjacent work areas. When this light is not
sufficient, sensors trigger the deployment of
efficient electric lights.
 Dimmers automatically control the illumination
levels, turning the lights off when they're unnecessary.
 Also, occupancy sensors prevent a light from being switched on at an unoccupied
workstation.
Roof Garden

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 Absorbing heat and radiating it into the building. This is minimized through the roof
gardens covering 55% of the roof area.
 Rain water harvesting.
 Seepage into the ground have been installed in pedestrian areas and parking.

 Natural Lighting Natural light deflection systems can

direct light deep into the room and ensure better natural
lighting provisions.
 Reflective glass (mirror)
 This material will most significantly reduce penetration of
radiation from the reflecting side to the non-reflecting
side (penetration of 11-37% of total striking radiation).
 Such glazing is used in this building where it is desirable
to maintain eye contact with the outside as well as to
prevent penetration of radiation and in areas where it is
hot most days of the year.

Usage of Light Glazing and Vision Glazing

 The double glazed glass will just allow the diffused sunlight to
pass through and will radiate the solar radiation back.
 It is located in the western direction because the sun’s rays are
highly radiant when it is setting.

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Double glazed glass

 This consists of two sheets of glass with space in between, sometimes
filled with air or other gases, or vacuum.
 Variations in thickness have a certain effect, up to a certain limit, on
the percentage of radiation allowed to penetrate and on thermal
conductance of the composition.
 The main advantage of this type of cross-section is its ability to reduce
heat transfer from one pane to the other, both by conduction and by
radiation.
Use of Traditional Jalli
 Jallis or Lattice walls are used to prevent
glare and heat gain while ensuring adequate
day lighting and views. The jalli, used in
many historic buildings such as the Taj
Mahal, gives definition and an aesthetic
appeal to a space.
 Allow controlled passage of air and light into
the interior space.
 throw patterns of light and shadow on the
floor enhancing aesthetics
 Ensure constant flow of breeze into the
interior occupant comfort cools the interiors
 An alternative to costly window construction
 Diffuse the glare of direct sunlight.
Function of Jali in the rains.
Harvesting of solar energy
 20% of the buildings energy requirement
is catered to by solar photovoltaic
 The Solar PV has an installed capacity of
23.5 KW Average generation is 100-125 units
per day

 The solar panels are placed on the eastern side

and they are sloping which helps production of
energy throughout the day and as it is a
commercial building more amount of energy is
consumed during the working hours [day]
compared to the evenings.

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Wind System
 A combination of sensible cooling in the ground and evaporative cooling with the flow
of air induced by the wind tower can be achieved by a configuration as shown.
 The heat loss from air results in a decreased air temperature, but no change in the
water vapour content of the air.

Daytime and night time operation of a Wind Tower

 The hot ambient air enters the tower through the openings in the tower and is cooled,
when it comes in contact with the cool tower and thus becomes heavier and sinks
down. When an inlet is provided to the rooms with an outlet on the other side, there
is a draft of cool air. After a whole of heat exchange, the wind towers become warm
in the evening.
 During night the reverse happens; due to warm surface of wind tower and drop in
temperature of ambient air due to buoyancy effect, warm air rises upwards. As a
result, cooler ambient air is sucked into the room through the window. As a bye-
product of this process, wind tower loses the heat that was collected during the day
time and it becomes ready for use in cold condition up to the morning.

 Due to the unpredictable wind direction, opening on all four sides are provided with
an additional affect due to wind pressure. The rate of heat transfer mainly depends
on surface area with which, the air comes in contact. Here the surface area is increased
by having vertical conduits, which gives less resistance to air flow. Further, the
effectiveness is increased by having sprinklers to promote the evaporative cooling

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Wind Deflectors
 Interior partitions are provided in the building for
various purposes of privacy, which may not allow openings in
the partition. In this region, due to the warm and humid climate
ventilation becomes very essential, cross – ventilation becomes
the major solution. This can be overcome by providing ridge
ventilation or ventilating ducts or shafts for deeper rooms.
 The effect of positioning the apertures at various
heights above the floor influences the efficiency of the natural
ventilation in a given space.
 Inlet and outlet are high. Airflow only near ceiling.
No air current at body level. Good for removing hot
air for warm season. Layers of still air at low levels.

 Inlet higher than outlet. Good interaction of air layers.

Current at body level. Pocket of warm, still air over the
outlet.
Water system
 Collect rainwater for external use i.e. garden/washing car.
 Use water conserving appliances including toilets, shower, taps, washing machine and
dish washer e.g. Low flow faucets, water saving dual flush tanks
 Reduce irrigation and surface water run-off.
Root Way Water treatment facility – Natural Way of treating the black and grey water.
 Zero water discharge building
 System35% reduction in potable water use
 Low flow water fixtures
 Waterless Urinals

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 Use of storm water & recycled water for irrigation.

 Entire waste water in the building is treated biologically through a process called the
'Root Zone Treatment

Sustainable Materials
 A large amount of energy — and pollution — was also reduced through choices in the
production and transportation of building materials.
 An impressive 77 percent of the building materials use recycled content in the form of
fly ash, broken glass, broken tiles, recycled paper, recycled aluminium, cinder from
industrial furnaces, bagasse (an agricultural waste from sugar cane), mineral fibres,
cellulose fibres, and quarry dust.
 The building reuses a significant amount of material salvaged from other construction
sites like toilet doors, interlocking pavement blocks, stone slabs, scrap steel, scrap
glazed tiles, shuttering material and, interestingly, the furniture in the cafeteria. A
waste management plan ensured that 96 percent of construction waste was recycled.
 80% of the materials used in the building are sourced within 500 miles from the project
site.
 Most of the construction material also uses post-consumer and industrial waste as a
raw material during the manufacturing process.
 Office furniture is made of bagasse based composite wood. More than 50% of the
construction waste is recycled within the building or sent to other sites and diverted
from landfills.
Indoor air quality
 Indoor air quality is continuously monitored and a minimum fresh air is pumped into
the conditioned spaces at all times.
Zero water discharge building
 All of the wastewater, including grey and black water, generated in the building is
treated biologically through a process called the root zone treatment system. The
outlet-treated water meets the central pollution control board (cpcb) norms. The
treated water is used for landscaping
Principles followed Waste Reduction
 Select materials using recycled components.
 Design for re-use and recycling.
 Control and reduce waste and packaging.
 Reduce resource consumption. Health and Wellbeing

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 Meet the basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the occupants
 Consider healthy lighting, colour and sound, controlled temperature and humidity and
good indoor air quality to enhance the living environment
 Reduce formaldehyde emissions and use pollution fighting indoor plants
 Apply an integrated wiring system for lighting, power, security, fire alarm and audio
facilities.
 Design a safe and user-friendly space.
Energy Efficiency
 Design-Orientation for maximum day light.
 Avoiding Green wall and Green roof.
 Use of neutral glass to reduce heat gain.
 Usage of energy efficient white goods.
 Use of Zero CFG refrigerators in refrigerators and air-condition.
 Online monitoring system to monitor the energy performance.
 Establishing baseline data for energy consumption. Use of eco-friendly electric car for
transport and traveling within the premises helping in preventing pollution.
Achievements
 The building boasts of lighting energy savings of 88 percent compared to an electrically
lit building of the same size.
 Vegetation that was lost to the built area was replaced by gardens on 55 percent of
the roof area.
 The building achieves a 35 percent reduction of municipally supplied potable water,
in part through the use of low-flush toilets and waterless urinals.
 Thirty percent of users have shifted to alternative modes of transportation: carpools,
bicycles, and cars that run on liquefied petroleum gas, a low-polluting alternative to
conventional gasoline and diesel.
 95 percent of the raw material was extracted or harvested locally.
 An impressive 77 percent of the building materials use recycled content.
 A waste management plan ensured that 96 percent of construction waste was
recycled.

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENT – NOTES, LIMA M.T.