Home / ANALYSIS / Design / Can India lead on green?

A residential building in the Mahindra World City that will come up in Jaipur, under the Clinton Climate Initiative. Besides using locally available m

In several of his projects, Pandya has explored ways and means to use less energy. One of his projects, the Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, is a study in the ‘best out of the waste’ concept.

The centre, which won him the Excellent Design in Service of Humanity award, was constructed using recycled glass, plastic bottles, wooden crates and tin containers as building material, without compromising on the aesthetics.

“I often use basic architectural elements like orienting the building so that it has the least exposure to sun. This helps consume less energy.”

Story continues below

Advertisement

COMMENT Comment on this article

Like Pandya, several architects are looking at green architecture as an alternative to energy-guzzling, waste-producing buildings that are designed today.

As Sanjay Puri says: “As far as green architecture goes, it doesn’t rely just on use of complex technology. In my projects I always ensure that the building is designed in a way that there is use of natural resources like sunlight and wind. Forces of nature can be strong guiding points in architecture.”

Architectural firms like Abhikram are active in the field of conservation and sustainable development. “We believe in solving design problems in a simple, cost-effective and long-lasting manner,” says architect Nimish Patel, a partner in the firm. “We promote materials available locally, such as lime wash, stone, wood and bamboo.”

Termite-resistant Babool wood, sun-dried mud blocks or thatch roofs, all find their way in Abhikram’s work.

But Parul Zaveri, also with Abhikram says that the movement for sustainable
architecture is only at its initial stages right now. “It is extremely difficult to educate our own fraternity—architects, students and executing engineers.”

Architect Nimit Desai, who rarely uses green technology, thinks that the cost involved in constructing green buildings is prohibitive. “The cost of construction increases by almost 20% when you use green technology and materials like wind towers, screen walls, fly ash brick and broken mosaic tiles. Not many clients are ready to pay that kind of money.”

The advocates of sustainable architecture, however, point out that using green technology will not only help the environment, but also save costs in the long run.

As HVAC consultant Surendra Shah says: “A study carried out in the USA showed that the amount of energy consumed by residents of green buildings accounted for just 39.4% of the total energy consumed by people living in regular buildings. At the end of the day, sustainable development will only help save costs.”