Habitat And Urbanisation

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  • 01 November, 2014

Making sense of green building rating

The building sector is set to grow exponentially. It already has a huge environmental footprint, with the domestic and commercial sectors consuming some 30 per cent of India’s electricity. So, the imperative to go green is clear. The question is where India is and where it should go. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has issued the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) to improve the energy performance of buildings by 40-60 per cent. But the use of the code in design is not linked to the actual performance of the building after it has been commissioned.

  • 30 September, 2014

The myth of green building

There is no question that India and other parts of the still-under-construction world must build green. The building sector is a major contributor to climate change and local environmental destruction because of construction materials used; energy expended for lighting, heating and cooling; and water consumption and waste discharge. This is the threat. There is an opportunity as well.

  • 01 August, 2014

How smart is a smart city?

Smart is as smart does. The NDA government’s proposal to build 100 “smart” cities will work only if it can reinvent the very idea of urban growth in a country like India. Smart thinking will require the government to not only copy the model cities of the already developed Western world, but also find a new measure of liveability that will work for Indian situation, where the cost of growth is unaffordable for most.

  • 31 March, 2013

A green facade

Building green is definitely important. But equally important is to know how green is a green building. Take the glitzy, glass-enveloped buildings popping up across the country. It does not matter if you are in the mild but wet and windy climate of Bengaluru or in the extreme hot and dry climate of Gurgaon, glass is the in-thing. I have always wondered how buildings extensively using glass could work in such varied climatic zones, where one needs ventilation. Then, I started reading that glass was green. Buildings liberally using glass were being certified green. How come?

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  • 28 January, 2013

Rating System for Water Efficient Fixtures

Water is under pressure from increasing demand stemming from growing development pressures, with its manifestations in the form of deteriorating water quality, declining availability and unregulated groundwater extraction. 

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  • 18 December, 2012

What's good insulation?

Many architects use imported, expensive and environmentally inappropriate material

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  • 18 December, 2012

Green buildings: it's common sense

Frenzied growth in real estate and changing lifestyle in Indian cities are inciting resource guzzling. Architects have innovative ideas to build green homes

  • 17 October, 2012

A tale of two cities

I travelled to two different cities in two different states last week—Indore and Guwahati. I came back with images identified by common distinctions: piles of garbage and glitzy new shopping malls. Is this our vision of urban development? There is no question that cities are imploding; growth is happening faster than we ever imagined. Construction is booming and expansion is gobbling agricultural land.

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  • 24 September, 2012

Earthscrapers: Environment Impact Assessment of Buildings'

Our homes, offices, shops are the end users of energy, water and materials that influence the resource footprint of cities. Buildings cannot be treated as a low impact sector any more. While individually they aggravate local pollution and resource impacts,cumulatively they are a heavy draw on key resources in the country. Buildings must be managed well to cut their gregarious resource use and wastes.