Sustainable Architecture: An Overview

Prof. Bajarang H Sutarˡ, Prof. Neelam Jaiswal²

1
Ph.D. Student, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University College of Architecture, Pune, India
2
Assistant Professor, Pillai Hoc College of Architecture, Rasayani, India

International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design

Volume 4, Issue 2, April-June, 2016, pp. 118-125
ISSN Online: 2347-2855, Print: 2347-8284, DOA: 05022016
© IASTER 2016, www.iaster.com

ABSTRACT
As countries worldwide are faced with the threatening effects of global climate change, it is crucial to
find new and more efficient ways of utilizing energy from renewable sources. Gradually we must
change the way we develop and use technologies to make the transition to a low carbon world
possible. This paper will explain the concept of sustainable development & environment architecture.
How the sustainability is linked with the environment, social, and economic factors in the growth of
any system or settlement. Also, the practicing of sustainable architecture in context of green
certification in India such as IGBC, GRIHA, LEED rating systems.Climate responsive architecture
strategies which also the prime part of green certification. It summarizes the details covered under
various green rating system and solar passive architecture with long term benefits and conclusions.

Keywords: Sustainable, Green Certification, IGBC, GRIHA, Solar Passive Architecture etc.

1. INTRODUCTION

As countries worldwide are faced with the threatening effects of global climate change, it is crucial to
find new and more efficient ways of utilizing energy from renewable sources. Since the industrial
revolution the innovation and development is very high. The urbanization and expansion of existing
towns and cities are more. Globally, buildings are responsible for at least 40% of energy use. An
estimated 42% of the global water consumption and 50% of the global consumption of raw materials
is consumed by buildings. Consideration of architecture along with environment, social and
economical point is need of hours to achieve the sustainability at globe level.

1.1 Background
What is sustainable……….? According to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable
Development, sustainability means,

“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”From the World Commission on Environment and Development’s
Sustainable development comprises of 3 objectives such as environment, economic, social (Fig.1,
Table 1).

Sustainable

Environment Social Economic

Fig. 1: Objectives of Sustainable

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1.2 Review and Need

The phase of industrial revolution in the 18th century gives rise to the many things such as powered,
special purpose machinery, factories and mass production, which further resulted into improved
transportation, communication and banking systems. It is the period of social and economic change,
which brought an improved standard of living, employment and living conditions for the poor and
working classes. Rise of industrialization encouraged population growth which results migration from
rural to urban area.

In early 1970-1980, bursting of industrial balloon directed the whole world towards sustainable
growth. The concept of sustainable development was introduced in early 1980’s (in particular through
the publication of theWorld Conservation Strategy by IUCN, UNEP and WWF, 1980), in order to
reconcile conservation and development objectives (Fig.2, Fig.3).

Table1: Objectives of Sustainable

ENVIRONMENT SOCIAL ECONOMIC
Protection to the natural Equal access to the various Economic growth, research &
ecosystems opportunities such as education development
Optimum use of natural Equal access to the various Various sector growths at its pace
resources opportunities such as education
Prevention of various pollutions Cultural stability, living standards
such as water, air, land
Sometimes these objectives support each others But in other side of coin, sometimes
with great prosperity, objectives conflict with each other,
Social Environmental justice - natural resources Snake festival in India, harms the
Environmental should be accessible to the locally as well as snakes during rituals.
globally.
Environmental Energy efficiency – use of natural resources Industrial growth might conflict with
Economic with national & global policy support. preserving natural resources.
Economic Ethical growth policies, equal rights to the each Agriculture zone converted to the
Social and every part in economic decisions. industrial zone. Loss of land by the
farmers permanently.

Fig. 2: Industrial Revolution and Urbanization

Fig.3: Overcrowded Growing Cities

Source:https://irlookingtothepast.wikispaces.com/The+Causes+of+Urbanization+and+Life+in+Early+Industrial+Cities,https://sites.googl
e.com/site/5effectsofindustrialization/effects-in-the-1800s-1900s,//sites.google.com/site/5effectsofindustrialization/effects-in-the-1800-1900s

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Volume-4, Issue-2, April-June, 2016, www.iaster.com (P) 2347-8284

Globally, buildings are responsible for at least 40% of energy use. An estimated 42% of the global
water consumption and 50% of the global consumption of raw materials is consumed by buildings
when taking into account the manufacture, construction, and operational period of buildings. In
addition, building activities contribute an estimated 50% of the world’s air pollution, 42% of its
greenhouse gases, 50% of all water pollution,48% of all solid wastes and 50% of all CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons) to the environment. (GRIHA Manual). Sustainable architecture allows for a
daily integration between green living and organic architecture. Sustainable design is the thoughtful
integration of architecture with electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering.

2. SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE
Sustainable architecture is nothing but the small justice to the Mother Nature’s giving. Sustainable
architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings
by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and Development space. (Wikipedia) It
further broadly divided into 2 parts in professional language which supports each other and very much
in link while working on ground.

1. Green Building Certification and 2. Climate Responsive Architecture

Green Building Certification

Green certification is the key towards success of sustainable development. In India have 3 prime
green building certifications which details below,

GRIHA: -It is developed by TERI in 2007 by the Government of India in 2007 (Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy). &it evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically over its
entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’ (Table
2, Table 3).

IGBC:-The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) was formedin the year 2001 with vision that a sustainable built environment for all and facilitate
India to be one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025" (Table 4).

LEED: -Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most popular green
building certification, developed by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which works worldwide.
In India IGBC website has a separate link for the LEED certification.

Table 2: GRIHA Rating Systems

SVA GRIHA GRIHA
Table 3: GRIHA Rating Systems
Area 2500 sq.m. or Area above 2500 sq.m. or
GRIHA LD (Large GRIHA – Prakriti
less less
Developments)
Landscape Site planning
Projects 50-125 Rating for Existing Day
Architecture & Construction (mgnt.) (acres) Schools
energy Site Planning Energy
Water & waste Energy Energy Comfort
Materials Lifestyle Occupant comfort and Water and waste Water
well being water
Water Solid waste Solid Waste
Sustainable building management Management
materials Transport Social
Solid-waste management Social Trees
Socio-eco. & Performance
monitoring and validation

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2.1 Benefits under Green Certification

 Reduces energy and water usage in long term benefit.

 Low carbon emissions, improves carbon credits especially for industries.
 Improves indoor air quality and health of occupants.
 Tax as well as some F.S.I benefits can be availed for green certified buildings.
 For commercial and industrial institutions, brand name improves with ecofriendly practices

Table 4: IGBC Green Building Rating Systems

IGBC green new buildings IGBC green existing buildings
Offices, IT parks, banks, shopping malls, hotels, Applicable for all types of non-residential buildings
airports, stadiums, convention centers, libraries, including office buildings, IT Parks, BPOs, shopping
museums, etc malls, hotels, hospitals, airports, banks, etc.
Addresses green features under the following Addresses green features under the following
categories: categories:
 Sustainable Architecture and Design  Site & Facility Management
 Site Selection and Planning  Water Efficiency
 Water Conservation  Energy Efficiency
 Energy Efficiency & Building Materials and  Health & Comfort
Resources  Innovation
 Indoor Environmental Quality
 Innovation and Development
IGBC green homes IGBC green landscapes
Designed for rating new and major renovation of Designed for rating new and existing parks/gardens,
residential buildings which are broadly classified which are broadly classified into two categories:
into two construction types: --- Small parks/gardens (< 5 acres)
- Individual residential unit --- Large parks/gardens (> 5 acres)
- Multi-dwelling residential units
Addresses green features under the following Criteria sub divisions as below,
categories:  Site selection and planning
 Site selection and planning  Selection of species for landscape
 Water conservation  Material selection
 Energy efficiency  Health & well being
 Materials & resources  Water conservation
 Indoor environmental quality  Energy efficiency, Operation and
 Innovation & design process maintenance
 Innovation & design process
IGBC green factory buildings IGBC green townships
Addresses green features under the following Addresses green features under the following
categories: categories:
 Site selection and planning  Site selection and planning
 Water and Energy conservation  Land use planning
 Materials conservation  Transportation planning
 Indoor environmental quality and occupational  Infrastructure resource management
health  Innovation & design process
 Innovation & design process
IGBC Green SEZs (special economic zone) IGBC Green Schools
Addresses green features under the following Addresses green features under the following
categories: categories:
 Site preservation & restoration  Site selection & planning
 Site planning & design  Sustainable water practices

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 Water efficiency  Conserving & harvesting energy

 Energy efficiency
 Materials & resources
 Innovation & design process
IGBC Green Interiors Ratings System
Criteria sub divisions as below,
 Eco Design Approach
 Water Conservation and Energy efficiency
 Interior Materials
 Indoor Environment
 Innovation in Interior Design
 Eco-friendly school material
 Indoor environment quality
 Health & hygiene
 Green education
IGBC Green Mass Rapid Transit System
Objective of IGBC Green MRTS Rating is to ensure
environmental sustainability, while enhancing
commuter experience.

2. SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE IN CONTEXT OF CLIMATE RESPONSIVE

ARCHITECTURE (CRA) IN INDIA

Climate responsive architecture is the further most

development of vernacular architecture in modern context. It
includes solar passive strategies, energy efficient technology,
climate friendly materials, andoptimum use of natural
resources like water. It basically work on 3R i.e. reduce,
reuse, recycle to benefit the nature while development. India
has divided in various climatic zones such as (Fig.4)
 Hot dry
 Warm and humid
 Composite
 Temperate cold

Fig.4: climatic zones of India (NBC)

Each zone has its unique characteristics as well as own climate responsive strategies which explained
further on the broader scale (Table5).

Table 5: Sustainable Strategies

Solar passive architecture (CRA) Waste management
 Site analysis (macro climate analysis)  Municipal and construction waste
 Orientation of buildings management
 Building envelope (thermal mass, ecofriendly
building materials)
 Fenestration designs.
Energy efficient technology Indoor environment
 Renewable energy  Interior with 3 R – reuse, reduce,
 Heating and cooling technology recycle (toxic free materials)
 Environment friendly construction techniques
 Water management Others
 Intelligent technologies  Carbon footprint
 Building energy simulation methods
(Building Information Models – BIM)

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3. CASE STUDY
Proposed Training Center for the Sales tax Department, Govt. of India at Dhakate –Venegaon, Tal-
Karjat, Dist-Alibag.
Table 6: Site Analysis
No Subject
1 Climatic zone Warm And Humid (as per NBC)
2 Longitude 72°28’ & 73°28’ East
3 Latitude 18°33’ & 19°31’ North
4 Altitude 100 Meters
5 Avg. temperature Min. 23°C, Max. 32°C
6 Relative Humidity 58 - 88 %
7 Radiation During the monsoon, skies are heavily clouded to overcast. But
in the rest of the year skies are clear or very lightly clouded.
8 Rainfall Average 3378.50 mm.
9 Wind direction & speed 7 - 15km/hr, Winds are very strong and are mainly.
 It lies in the Konkan region which lies towards west of the Sahyadri Ranges.
 The region is lowland but not plain.
 The region falls in the Deccan lava country.
 Basalt, known as Deccan trap constitutes predominant formations.
 The main rocks occurring in this region are Basalt & other rocks like shells, volcanic breccias
and tuffus.
Existing Site Conditions
 The site has irregular shape and has only one access from the Dhakate Venegaon village at
North West side corner. Another access may be possible from north east side.
 The remote village is nearby with rural development. No ideal development within 2 to 3km
areas of the site. The main city of Karjat is 7 km from the site.
 Topography: Contour is max-100 and min-60 and fall of contour by 5.0 meters.
 The slope is towards south to north side and south side is enclosed by mountains.

Fig.5: Zoning of the Site - 1 Fig.6: Zoning of the Site – 2

Fig.7: Master Site Plan Fig.8: Conceptual Section of Site

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Table7: Site Planning Strategies

No SPECIFICATIONS
01 Compound wall Stone masonry (excavated during site execution)
02 Entrance gate Basalt stone with space frame structure.
With security cabins
03 Road network for internal 12 m wide main spine with asphalt & internal roads with
communication paver blocks.
04 Parking lots Paver blocks with large canopy trees for natural shading.
05 Artificial water bodies Concrete base with drain out PVC pipes.
06 Pathways Perforated paver blocks for ground water discharge.
07 Lawns Locally grown all weathers grass.
08 Gardens All local species of flowering & ornamental plants with
low maintenance & low water consumption.
09 Playfields Compact earth of local soil with foliage fencing
10 STP At low lying area near nala in concrete
11 Storm water collection and drain Covered drains in RCC with ms mesh cover.
12 Street lighting Solar powered street lighting throughout the campus.
13 Natural water body conservation Creating additional capacity in existing water bodies to
facilitate ground water recharge and stock.
14 Vegetation & plants Both ornamental and rare plants and tree species –
creating a mini botanical garden.
15 Security systems Security cabins, alarms, CC TV cameras and other hi-
tech systems at needed locations.

4.1 Planning Strategies

1. The development, as per the levels of contours in ascending order (levels 60-100).
2. At the entrance of the campus a huge garden-cum-open space is created as the theme of this
design is to achieve sense of openness & natural feel.
3. Optimization of the ground coverage of the campus to keep max. Green space.
4. Only vertical expansion will be permitted in all the structures, if required, so all the vertical
communications are planned accordingly with lifts as per by-laws.
5. The central spine of 12 m wide road gives an interesting aesthetic visual links in between the
various developed built masses.
6. Zoning: The site is divided into 5 zones:I, II, III, IV& V.
7. Use of natural ventilation & lighting is the basic concern to optimize the energy use along with
use of renewable energy such as solar, wind and Bio-mass.
8. Top level soil which is good for agriculture is used for development of garden.
9. In the process of execution of the project we proposed to give works to the local skilled as well
unskilled labors in that village.
10. Local development control rules considered while designing and other related byelaws.
11. Use of Locally available Materials :
 Stone – Compound wall, Foundation, Filling the plinth.
 Burnt Bricks – For walls
 River Sand – All construction works
 Crushed sand
12. Rainwater Harvesting
 Creation of artificial water body in low level contours, in zone-V
 All the water from the terraces will be stored in an overhead tank below the top floor and
distributed to the W/C, bathrooms and other areas.

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 Other than this, water is taken to the ground to recharge the grounds wells.
13. Used water at STP level retreated and reused by means of sprinkler mechanism
 Use of solar energypromoted in each building as well as in campus by :
 Proposed to set up solar street lighting by using atomization technologies (day light sensors).
 The canteen is fully designed for cooking based by means of solar cookers.
 Hostel & Staff quarters are mounted with solar water heaters.
 Solar pumps for lifting water.
14. Wind energy: The wind mills are proposed at contour levels 100 level in zone V to use wind
energy for campus lighting and pumping.
15. Natural Ventilation :
 All the buildings & their respective rooms have cross ventilation as per standard designs.
 All the openings and cut-outs are properly shaded with chajjas, canopies, balconies to reduce
heat load & protect from rain.
 Towards the south side, thick cover of plantation has been proposed with high trees to shade
the structures & to avoid the southern heat of sun.
 The water bodies are provided throughout the campus near to buildings to cool the air
especially on south side.
 Courtyards have been used to facilitate air flow inside the built structures.
16. Artificial Roof Gardens – Most of the building terraces are provided with roof gardens to reduce
solar heat, so that the required capacity of HVAC systems can be minimized.
17. Electrical Use - Conventional electrical system purposefully with green technologies such as CFL
lamps & other equipments by which about 25- 30% of can will be saved.
18. Biomass :
 The wastes generated in the campus have dry & wet waste. This can be separately treated for
a pollution- free campus & generation of bio- energy.
 This biogas can be used for cooking purpose.
 The solid waste such as papers, etc shall be treated and recycled within the campus.

4. CONCLUSIONS
Sustainable architecture is the need of society to address the global warming issue. It mostly works
on local condition of climate, economic market and culture. Green certification is the great initiative
to guide the sustainable developments in a discipline manner. It mostly works on site planning,
building envelope, energy efficient technology, waste management. In present scenario green
practices needs more attention to accept by civilians in the world. Sometimes it cut down from the
program due to clumsy process & economic situations.

REFERENCES

[1] Http://grihaindia.org/
[2] The Brundtland Commission Report Our Common Future (Oxford University Press, 1987).
[3] https://www.igbc.in/
[4] Climate Responsive Architecture - A Design Handbook for Energy Efficient Buildings by
Arvind Krishna, Nick Baker, Simos Yannas, S.V. Szonkolay, Kam Studio.
[5] National Building Code, India.
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_architecture

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