Sustainable

architecture
Aim
• To study the characteristic features, and materials of SUSTINABLE
ARCHITECTURE.
Objective
• To study about how to make a building sustainable.
• To study how to make a building environment friendly
• To study about the different type of sustainable building materials.
Scope
• conserve energy and satisfy our real and perceived needs
• improve local ecosystems
• establish an integrated relationship with nature.
Limitations
• Study is not intended to analyze or calculate any climatic responsive factors
Methodology
L EG I S L AT I O N

TERI
•The Energy and Resources Institute, commonly known as TERI, established in 1974, is a research
institute based in New Delhi focusing its research activities in the fields of energy, environment and
sustainable development.

•TERI is a leading Indian non government organization (NGO), a global think tank conducting research
and analysis in the genres of energy and environment, is a university with a vast focus, which ranges
from micro organisms to global climate change and everything in between.

GRIHA
•TERI conceived GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), the national rating system
for green buildings in India.

• It was developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to the Indian Government.
It is a green building design evaluation system and is suitable for all kinds of buildings in different
climatic zones of the country.
LEED
•Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) consists of a suite of rating systems for
the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and
neighbourhood.
•In LEED 2009 there are 100 possible base points distributed across five major credit categories:
Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor
Environmental Quality, plus an additional 6 points for Innovation in Design and an additional 4
points for Regional Priority. Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:
Certified: 40–49 points
Silver: 50–59 points
Gold: 60–79 points
Platinum: 80 points and above

ECBC
•The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), was launched by Ministry of Power, Government of
India in May 2007, as a first step towards promoting energy efficiency in the building sector.
Sustainable architecture

Introduction Concepts Materials

 What is Sustainable
architecture?

 Three Dimensions
 Sustainable architecture

• 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 and the ecosystem at large.
• Sustainable architecture is basically taking less from the Earth and giving more to
people.
MEANINGS OF SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE
• Buildings and environments that help to establish an integrated relationship with
nature.
• Buildings and environments that preserve and/or improve local ecosystems and
which focus on long-term planning and a wider geography.
• Buildings that satisfy a series of benchmarks (i.e., LEED) defined by experts,
interested parties, and politicians.
• Buildings and environments that save and/or conserve energy and satisfy our real
and perceived needs.
 Principles of sustainable architecture

• Resource consumption would be

minimal Think
• Materials consumed would be made Share your small Heat with
facilities the sun
of post-consumer recycled materials
or from renewable resources (which Store your Keep it
own food cool
were harvested without harm to the
environment and without depletion of Use
the resource base)
Grow your Principles of renewable
food
sustainable energy
• Energy would be conserved and
energy supplies would be renewable Build to architecture
last Conserve
and non-polluting (solar thermal and water

electric, wind power, biomass, etc.)

Recyclable Use local
materials materials
Use
Save forest natural
materials
 What is Sustainable Development?
“Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their
own needs.”

the needs of
the present To
meet
Sustainable their
development own
needs
Preserving for
the future
Three Dimensions

Ecosystem integrity
Carrying capacity
biodiversity Environment

Economic Society

Growth Cultural identity

Development Empowerment
Productivity Accessibility
trickle – down Stability
Equity
Economic dimensions of Environmental Social
sustainability: dimensions of dimensions of
 Creation of new markets and sustainability sustainability
opportunities for sales growth  Reduced waste,  Worker health
 Cost reduction through effluent generation, and safety
efficiency improvements and emissions to  Impacts on
reduced energy and raw material environment local
inputs  Reduced impact on communities,
human health quality of life
 Use of renewable  Benefits to
raw materials disadvantaged
 Elimination of toxic groups e.g.
substances disabled
Concepts
"Architecture presents a unique challenge in the field of sustainability.
Construction projects typically consume large amounts of materials, produce tons
of waste, and often involve weighing the preservation of buildings that have
historical significance against the desire for the development of newer, more
modern designs.

Sustainable construction is defined as "the

creation and responsible management of a
healthy built environment based on resource
efficient and ecological principles".

Sustainably designed buildings aim to

lessen their impact on our environment
through energy and resource efficiency.
 ENERGY
Of course the most effective means of reducing a building’s reliance on external grid
power is to reduce energy use as a whole. This can be done in a variety of ways.
• Increasing reliance on natural lighting and passive heating and cooling are some of
the most effective ways of reducing energy consumption.
• When choosing appliances, one can save significant amounts of energy by
purchasing the most efficient appliances and only buying needed capacity.
• To reduce operating energy use, designers use details that reduce air leakage
through the building envelope (the barrier between conditioned and
unconditioned space). They also specify high-performance windows and extra
insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors.
• Designers orient windows and walls and place awnings, porches, and trees to
shade windows and roofs during the summer while maximizing solar gain in the
winter. In addition, effective window placement (day lighting) can provide more
natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting during the day. Solar water
heating further reduces energy costs.
 WATER

• Reducing water usage also reduces energy use and the costs associated with
building operation; transporting, treating or desalinating water are very energy
intensive tasks that are necessary when water is not used carefully.
• This can be done using more efficient washing machines, dishwashers, shower and
water fixtures and toilets. More efficient shower fixtures mix air with water to
produce a similar feel and effect as regular showers while using significantly less
water.
• Toilets most similar to the classic flush, but that still offer water savings, are those
that are simply designed to use less water per flush than traditional toilets (low
flow toilets).
• Another popular design to reduce water usage is the dual-flush toilet. This type of
toilet has two flushing options, one is a full flush and the other is a half, giving the
user the option of only a half flush if they deem a full flush unnecessary.
• Finally, the most water efficient toilet is the toilet that uses none: the composting
toilet. There are many designs of composting toilets, some of which use small
amounts of water and some which use none; all use significantly less than a
traditional toilet.
• There are two main ways of collecting water onsite: gray water collection and
rainwater catchment.
• Gray water collection is essentially recycling water onsite. Gray water is water
from sinks and showers and different from black water in that it does not contain a
significant amount of pathogens (like that of toilet water) or harmful chemicals.
• Rainwater catchment is an excellent method towards meeting a building’s water
needs. Depending on one’s location, there can plenty of water to last through the
dry months if excess water is stored during wet months.
 HEATING/COOLING
• Creating a building that is well insulated will reduce the energy costs of heating
(and cooling) and will be looked at in the materials section.
• There are many methods to keep a buildings environment comfortable while
minimizing energy input including: roof ponds, thermal mass walls, solar chimneys,
solar rooms and green roofs.
• All methods of passive heating and cooling rely directly on the sun for energy
input. Due to this reliance on the sun one of the most important aspects of a
building is its solar orientation.
• A growing concern in urban areas today is something called the urban heat island
effect.
• The urban heat island effect describes why urban environments are often several
degrees hotter than the areas surrounding them. This is caused largely by “the
lack of vegetation in urban areas.
• There are two types of green roofs: intensive and extensive.
LIGHTING
• Light is a very important aspect of human life; our bodies use it to create vitamin
D. Studies have shown that laboratory mice living under a restricted spectrum of
light become ill and develop antisocial behaviors.
• Lighting a space with natural lighting is considered the best option.
• every window put into a building creates a hole in the building envelope, lowering
the overall insulation value of the building. Also, lighting in space should be
diffuse; glare from daylight or the sun, reflected or direct, can cause headaches
and annoy people in a space. Lighting levels that are too low can cause eye strain.
• One excellent option for lighting spaces is to use polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is
cheaper and insulates better than windows. While light transmission is slightly
lower than glass, polycarbonate is a good option for windows that are above eye
level and solely for lighting a space.
• Fiber optics allow natural light to be passed through a small, fibrous, glass tube.
While this option is currently very expensive and it would be better to design
spaces that have direct access to natural light through a window, fiber optics are
becoming more affordable and are sometimes the only option for day lighting a
space. Light tubes, essentially sky lights with mirrors in them that allow one to
control the direction of daylight, are oftentimes a more affordable option.
 WASTE REDUCTION

• It seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials used during construction.
• Well-designed buildings also help reduce the amount of waste generated by the
occupants as well, by providing on-site solutions such as compost bins to reduce
matter going to landfills.
• When buildings reach the end of their useful life, they are typically demolished
and hauled to landfills. Deconstruction is a method of harvesting what is
commonly considered "waste" and reclaiming it into useful building material.
• Centralized wastewater treatment systems can be costly and use a lot of energy.
An alternative to this process is converting waste and wastewater into fertilizer,
which avoids these costs and shows other benefits. By collecting human waste at
the source and running it to a semi-centralized biogas plant with other biological
waste, liquid fertilizer can be produced.
 PLANNING

• An important aspect of architecture that is often overlooked is that of

planning. Planning is the study of how spaces should be laid out to
interact with each other.
• Architecture and planning are subjects that are often looked at separately
but should be considered together for true sustainability.
• Decisions such as whether to include a garage in a building design can be
directly affected by a buildings surroundings: a garage would most likely
be necessary in the suburbs, but not for a building in walking distance of
common needs, such as grocery stores and public transportation lines.
• A poorly oriented lot can make for a huge headache when it comes to
designing a building, but conscious planning can create blocks of well
oriented parcels which can reduce energy needs significantly for everyone
involved.
MATERIALS
M AT E R I A L S
One of the most important aspects of a building is that of material choice.
What one builds the exterior envelope of their space with affects its ability to breath
to retain temperatures and its strength against earthquakes, etc. Today there are a
variety of materials to choose from that meet these goals, which are.

RECYCLED COCONUT
ADOBE TIMBER BAMBOO CORK RUBBER STRAW PALM

•Made of clay •Sustainable •Used mainly •Environment •Renewable •Environment •Alternate

and dirt wood for floors friendly •Recyclable friendly for wood
•Used for •Commercial •Extremely •Cost efficient •Resistant to •Cost •Used for
insulation wood durable •Available in fading effective flooring
•Low cost •Recyclable •Environment hectares •Mainly used •Used as an •Cost
•Environment •Lowest impact friendly •sustainable for flooring insulation effective
friendly on air and water •Water resistant •sustainable •Sustainable •sustainable
•Sustainable quality •Sustainable
•Increasing
versatility and
strength
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Adobe
•Adobe is a natural building material made
from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous
or organic material which the builders shape into bricks.

•Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for

some of the oldest existing buildings in the world.

Workability
Properties
•The traditional adobe roof has been constructed
using a mixture of soil/clay, water, sand, straw and •Adobe walls are load bearing.
other available organic materials.
•Adobe has sufficient
•Adobe walls usually never rise above two stories compressive strength
because they are load bearing and have low
structural strength
LIFE CYCLE

Collection of Making
sand Sand Brick bricks

ADOBE

Construction Drying

Construction Drying
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Timber
•Timber is wood in any of its stages from felling to
readiness for use as structural material for construction,
or wood pulp for paper production.
•Timber is supplied either rough or finished.
•Timber is easily available in hardwoods and as well as
softwoods. Properties
•Colour
Workability •Odour
•Timber as a structural material is similar to steel. •Grain
•Density
•Timber members are particularly capable of acting as •Texture
tension, compression and bending members. •Hardness
•Wrapping
•Compared to steel or concrete, the modulus of elasticity •Fire resistance
is low.
LIFE CYCLE

Recycled
timber
product Tree

Logs
Destruction TIMBER

Shaping
Construction

Seasoning
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Bamboo
•A Bamboo’s environmental benefits arise largely out of its
ability to grow and spread quickly
• Eco-friendly bamboo is being made into eco-friendly fibres
•High usage in building materials
Workability
•The construction materials for building a bamboo house
should be readily available and accessible. Properties
•The bamboo based house has a very low weight therefore
foundations can be minimized.
•Light
•Bamboo can be grown even on degraded land. Construction
materials from bamboo should be treated in order to
•Stiff
achieve longevity. •Strong
•The use of high energy materials, like cement or steel,
is minimized.
LIFE CYCLE

Recycled
Tree
Bamboo
flooring

Cutting
BAMBOO

Waste
Season

Construction
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Cork
•Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material.
•Cork is composed of suberin, a hydrophobic substance,
and because of its , elasticity, and fire resistance.
•The montado landscape of Portugal produces
approximately 50% of cork harvested annually worldwide.
Properties
Workability
•elasticity combined with its near-
•Cork can be used as bricks for the outer
impermeability.
walls of houses
•natural fire resistance make it suitable
•Cork can be used instead of wood or
for acoustic and thermal insulation in
aluminium in automotive interiors
house walls, floors, ceilings and facades.
•Cork has been used as a core material in
sandwich composite construction.
LIFE CYCLE

Collection of cork

Construction

CORK
Curing

Cutting

Heating
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Recycled rubber
•Rubber recycling is the process of recycling vehicles' tires
(or tyres) that are no longer suitable for use on vehicles
due to wear or irreparable damage.
• These tires are among the largest and most problematic
sources of waste, due to the large volume produced and
their durability.
Workability
Properties
•unique physical and chemical
•Tires can be recycled into, among other things, the hot
properties.
melt asphalt, typically as crumb rubber modifier.
•often modeled as
•There are some green buildings that are made form old
hyperelastic.
tires.
•Rubber strain crystallizes.
•Pyrolysis can be used to reprocess the tires into fuel
gasoils and others.
LIFE CYCLE

Waste rubber tires

Construction
RECYCLED
RUBBER Grinding

Shaping
Cleaning
R E V I E W O F M AT E R I A L P R O P E R T Y &
WORKABILITY

Straw
•Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of
cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been
removed.

•It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and

fodder, thatching and basket-making.

•It is usually gathered and stored in a straw bale, which

is a bundle of straw tightly bound with twine or wire.
Bales may be square, rectangular, or round, depending
on the type of baler used. Properties
Workability
•In many parts of the world, straw is used to bind clay and •Excellent thermal quality
concrete. A mixture of clay and straw, known as cob, can
•Low environmental impact
be used as a building material. There are many recipes for
making cob. •Sustainable

•When baled, straw has moderate insulation

characteristics. It can be used, alone or in a post-and-
beam construction, to build straw bale houses.
LIFE CYCLE

Collection of straw

STRAW

Storage
Construction
 ADOBE
CONSTRUCTION

ADOBE
• When building an adobe structure, the ground should be compressed because the weight
of bricks is significantly greater than a frame house.
• The footing is dug and compressed once again
• Bond beams made of reinforced concrete or heavy wood beams are laid to provide a
horizontal bearing plate for the roof beams.
• To protect the interior and exterior wall, finishes can be applied, such as mud plaster,
whitewash.

REINFORCEMENT
• Bamboo
• Steel
• Wood
 TIMBER
CONSTRUCTION

TIMBER
• Wooden logs are used as pillars to bear the structural load .
• Technological development in timber industries makes the construction very effective ,
through the PRE- FABRICATED blocks .
• All the joints are fixed through screw, nuts and bolts.

TIMBER FRAME WORK

 BAMBOO
CONSTRUCTION

BAMBOO
• Bamboos are used for construction purpose is because of its durability and its tensile
nature.
• At first the bamboos are soaked for 2 weeks
• Skinning is done once the bamboo is dry which makes it to control humidity & it looks
uniform during construction.
• Tying is the traditional way of joining , but still in practice.
• Nowadays nuts and bolts joins the bamboo, small wooden pieces also used as a joinery
material.

SOAKING SKINNING TYING

 STRAW
CONSTRUCTION
STRAW
•Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly
wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both.
•This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "brown"
construction projects.
•Straw bale building typically consists of stacking rows of bales on a raised footing or
foundation, with a moisture barrier or capillary break between the bales and their
supporting platform.
•Bale walls can be tied together with pins of bamboo, rebar, or wood, or with
surface wire meshes, and then stuccoed or plastered, either with a cement-
based mix, lime-based formulation, or earth/clay render

STACKING OF STRAW BALE AFTER PLASTERING

 GREEN SCHOOL IN BALI

• Location : Bali, Indonesia

• Architects: PT Bamboo Pure
• Client: Yayasan Kul Kul
• Built area: 5,534 m2
• Design phase: June 2005 – September 2007
• Construction phase: February 2007 – December 2007
• The school’s ecologically-sustainable design and focus on
sustainability education for young students have been widely
reported. Run as a private school for children from kindergarten to
high-school age, the school has attracted “world-wide attention".
Scope of the Study

Initially the intention of the study

was to focus simply on the influence of place,
space and environment on teaching and
learning of students at Green School.
Ecological Design

• The school’s buildings are built primarily from renewable resources including
bamboo, local grass, and traditional mud walls.
• .The primarily-Bamboo construction of the campus has also been reported upon as
an example of large-scale building potential of bamboo architecture, including
“The Heart of the School” a 60 Meter long stilt-structure constructed with 2500
bamboo poles.
• The Green School in Bali, Indonesia, strives to be as energy independent as
possible while constructing green buildings using 99 percent natural materials –
mainly bamboo, grass and mud – for its buildings that are cooled naturally.
• It implemented an experiment in micro-hydro power generation, using a nine
meter vortex generator installed in the river.
• In addition, it produces methane from cow manure for fueling stoves, along with a
bamboo sawdust hot water and cooking system, installed solar panels, and
developed a gasification unit that will use rice husks and other organic materials to
produce electricity.
 The Physical Environment

• The plan was to use the rural, undeveloped nature of the property and Bali’s
tropical climate to create a school setting in which students would be surrounded
by and immersed in nature each and every school day.
• It was a beautiful place and there were no tourists anywhere. The power of this
land was that it was “ untouristed ” and had a big river running down the middle.

1. The site
The site is about 8 hectares (20
acres) in total, divided in half by
a river
All of the school buildings are
on the west side of the river,
and the east side has Bamboo
Village (houses for staff), the
kitchen, gardens, and the
bamboo factory where all of the
building materials and furniture
for the school are produced.
• 2. Entrance to the school
• Green School’s official entrance
is on the other side of the river
opposite the buildings. The main
drop-off and pickup point is on
a small side road at the end of a
loose stone path, which is less
dramatic but much more convenient.

Within the campus, there are no roads or vehicles in use.

Tall palms line the path and edge the field.
3. Heart of School
• Heart of School, built after the classrooms,
has become the center for meeting, eating,
and administration.

• It consists of three intersecting circles in a spiral pattern, each with a high roof
and two levels above the ground floor. The bamboo construction system is the
same as for the classrooms, but grander and more dramatic.

• It is a general gathering place, both formal and informal,

where everybody
arrives before
heading off to
other places, and
where lunch
is served.
• The upper floors, reached by broad stairways, house the library/computer lab,
several classrooms, and administrative centers.
• These would be better described as “centers” than “rooms,” since they are defined
but not enclosed with walls.
• There are generous open spaces around these centers, however, which give them
a sense of being private without being cut off. The few dividers are open bamboo
curtains of various sorts.
• 4. Classrooms
• Each classroom is a separate building with a different bamboo framework and
roof-framing pattern. The materials are the same.
5. Non-classroom buildings
• Some of these do have walls, indicating more private functions, such as the
infirmary, the director’s office, the student learning support center and the
changing rooms with composting toilets.
• Other buildings include the theater/dramatics hall, a gymnasium the warung
(open café), a bell tower and a parents’ bale (sitting platform, roughly 3x3 m). All
use the same version of the bamboo construction system.
 • 6. Agriculture
• Small farming projects are going on all around the buildings. They include raised
beds (vegetables), rice fields along the river, shrubs and trees (coconut palms).

7. Connectors
All buildings are connected by footpaths.
Vehicle access is either not present or
separated from walking routes. The
footpaths are all made out of natural
materials that are passable in wet weather
– loose gravel, stone cobbles and dried
earth bricks for steps.
8.Furnishings
• All of the school’s furnishings are made from bamboo produced on site in
the factory next door.
INFERENCES
A sustainable building should:
•Harvest all their own water and energy needs on site.
• Be adapted specifically to site and climate and evolve as conditions change
• Operate pollution‐free
• Promote the health and well‐being of all inhabitants, as a healthy ecosystem does.
•Improve the health and diversity of the local ecosystem rather than degrade it.
Steps to design a sustainable building:
Understanding Place - Sustainable design begins with an intimate understanding of
place. If we are sensitive to the nuances of place, we can inhabit without destroying it.
Understanding place helps determine design practices such as solar orientation of a
building on the site, preservation of the natural environment, and access to public
transportation.
Connecting with Nature - Whether the design site is a building in the inner city or in a
more natural setting, connecting with nature brings the designed environment back to
life. Effective design helps inform us of our place within nature.
Understanding Natural Processes - In nature there is not waste. The byproduct of one
organism becomes the food for another. In other words, natural systems are made of
closed loops. By working with living processes, we respect the needs of all species.
Engaging processes that regenerate rather than deplete, we become more alive.
Making natural cycles and processes visible brings the designed environment back to
life.
 Understanding Environmental Impact - Sustainable design attempts to have an
understanding of the environmental impact of the design by evaluating the site, the
embodied energy and toxicity of the materials, and the energy efficiency of design,
materials and construction techniques. Negative environmental impact can be mitigated
through use of sustainably harvested building materials and finishes, materials with low
toxicity in manufacturing and installation, and recycling building materials while on the job
site.
Embracing Co-creative Design Processes - Sustainable designers are finding it is important
to listen to every voice. Collaboration with systems consultants, engineers and other
experts happens early in the design process, instead of an afterthought. Designers are also
listening to the voices of local communities. Design charettes for the end user
(neighborhood residents or office employers) are becoming a standard practice.

Understanding People - Sustainable design must take into consideration the wide range of
cultures, races, religions and habits of the people who are going to be using and inhabiting
the built environment. This requires sensitivity and empathy on the needs of the people
and the community.