Green Building Audit

As early as 1896, a Swedish Scientist had predicted that human activities would interfere with the way the sun interacts with the earth.  His predictions have come true and there is now disruption in the global environmental stability.  The major cause of this disruption is various kinds of emission by the power plants, automobiles, industries and buildings in the atmosphere.  The concentration of these emissions is increasing in the atmosphere and causing severe damage to the environment.  Power plants mainly uses fossil fuels i.e. coal, gas and oil for generating power to meet the increasing demand of energy by the industries, agriculture, transport sector, buildings etc.  The burning of fossil fuel by these plants results in emission of carbon-di-oxide (CO₂), sulphur-di-oxide (SO₂), nitrous oxide (NO) and Carbon-mono-oxide (CO) in the atmosphere.  Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) gases are released from the refrigerant used for air conditioning.  The emitted CO₂ alongwith other gases creates green house effect in the atmosphere.  When solar radiation reaches the earth, one third of it is reflected back into the space by outer atmosphere and two third reaches the earth’s surface.  Earth’s surface reflects it in the form of infrared radiation but the long wave infrared radiation is returned back by the green house gases (mainly CO₂, CH₄) to the earth.  This causes warming of the earth. This warming of earth, called global warming, has severe adverse consequences like loss of bio-diversity, melting of glaciers and consequent rise in sea levels, severe storms and flooding, food shortage and increased diseases on the earth.  Release of CFC gases causes ozone layer depletion, which also has adverse effects. Due to depletion of ozone layer, harmful ultraviolet radiations are able to reach the earth and cause a number of  skin/cancer diseases.  Thus, the entire problem of disruption in global environmental stability is due to usage of more and more fossil fuels for generating energy.  While the use of electrical energy by the industries and for agricultural purposes cannot be avoided, since it is necessary for the development of the mankind, the use of energy in buildings can be optimized by taking several measures.  The buildings and infrastructure is the third largest consumer of the energy.  Using green and intelligent building features in the existing and new buildings can help a lot to conserve our natural resources and limit the process of environmental damage.

Green building may be defined as a building, which depletes the natural resources to the minimum during its construction as well as during its use.  The Green buildings use minimum energy to power it and also maximize the use of renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and incorporates systems for efficient waste and water management.  The architectural design of green buildings is such that it reduces the thermal load on the building by suitable orientation of the building and location of windows for light and heat gains with respect to sun-movement.  While designing the building the direction of natural air movement, selection of energy efficient building materials is taken care of.  A green building allows sufficient natural light and minimum load of air conditioning for the building and also provides the conductive and healthy environment in the building.  Although, the green building concept seems to be new to our country it is not really so.  Our ancestors had constructed a number of buildings (Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, Gol Gumbaj etc.) which were having thermally comfortable environment throughout the long hot summers and were properly ventilated while using a little or no energy.  Architecture of the buildings was such that sufficient natural light  was available at all places.  Now, with technological advancement and new ideas, more and more environmental friendly buildings are possible while having better level of comfort with minimal usage of energy.

An intelligent building is one that provides most effective and efficient use of all the systems and services provided in the buildings by integration of various systems.  A typical urban building and infrastructure has various systems like lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), elevators, pumps, access control system, closed circuit TV system, fire and security alarm system, public address system, power distribution system, fire protection systems, computer systems, various power appliances etc. All these systems are supplied and installed by different vendors and their operation and controls are done through their respective software packages or controllers etc.  The level of operation of one system may depend upon the parameters of other system, but in the  absence of any communication among the systems, the systems do not run in most efficient manner.  Once these systems are integrated by some means all the systems are able to communicate to each other and accordingly adjust their usage as per pre-determined levels and thus can run more efficiently.  In intelligent buildings, it is done by integration of the individual software packages by Building control network communication protocols.  Through these communication protocols different systems communicate with each other and operates according to the need.  The different systems work together in cohesion in an  integrated manner.  Thus intelligent building makes best use of information technology to get the optimum output from the various systems.  Effective management of all resources and systems in the buildings makes the building environment more productive, safe, healthy, thermally, aurally and visually comfortable.  Intelligent buildings incorporate best available concepts, materials, systems and technologies for the various facilities in the buildings.  The use of energy efficient systems and their integrated automated operation result in lot of energy saving while keeping the same or better comfort level.  Thus, it can be seen that basic aim of green buildings is to make best use of natural resources and basic aim of intelligent buildings is make best use of available information and systems to integrate and efficiently use the various systems.  The concept of a combination of  these two aims makes the buildings green and intelligent which is the need of the day.

For design of green and intelligent urban building and infrastructure, the first information required is the end use of the building, flexibility for future use, the location of building, the environmental and social impact of location of the building and its usage, the knowledge of local by-laws, availability of water, power and climatic conditions of the area etc.  The site location should take care of transportation, locality and amenities.  The building design should be environmental friendly, which means, the building should have minimal environmental impact during its construction as well as during usage.  The building construction materials to be used should be acoustically and thermally efficient, recycled and recyclable as far as possible and make maximum use of natural lighting.  In the buildings, the major consumption of power is due to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and lighting systems.  Therefore, design and selection of these systems should be most energy efficient.  The building materials and design should be such that there is reduction in air conditioning load when compared to a baseline-building load (as defined by LEED rating system).  This can be achieved by proper orientation of building, proper design of air-conditioning system and use of energy efficient air conditioning equipments (like high COP chillers, efficient cooling towers, VFD for AHUs, energy efficient motors), heat recovery system for fresh air, placement of doors and windows considering solar path analysis, proper selection of building materials having optimum U-value and heat capacity and their design. Use of CFC-free chillers in AC systems shall take care of ODP (ozone layer depletion problem). Use of solar energy for power generation through solar panels to the extent viable and solar water heaters can contribute to substantial saving in consumption of natural resources.  In case of  lighting, the LPD (lighting power densities in w/sq.ft) can be reduced by using efficient lighting systems,  day light dimmer controls, proper selection of light fittings, their placement and automatic control through sensors, timers and other controls.  Other sub-systems of the building like CCTV system, fire alarm and protection system, waste and water management system, security system, lighting and HVAC system should have proper integration for coordinated functioning to achieve maximum operational efficiency.  The building HVAC system design should have sufficient level of fresh air and lighting for optimum thermal and visual comfort level. Water efficiency in a building can be obtained  by rain water harvesting and grey water treatment .The selection of paints, sealants, adhesives and VOC (volatile organic compounds) should be carefully done to avoid release of toxic smell, gas etc.

With the pace of momentum in construction of Green and Intelligent Building there have been improvements in the buildings codes and establishment of new building performance standards. Different green and intelligent buildings and infrastructures adopt green and intelligent features at different levels. In order to evaluate and recognize these green and intelligent features, rating systems have been evolved. These rating systems play a pivotal role in market transformation of the given building industry. One of the popular rating systems adopted in US is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) System of US Green Building Council based in Washington. A number of countries including India, China, Canada and Spain have registered building projects for LEED rating.  While evaluating the performance of a building, LEED compares the energy consumption of a building with respect to the energy consumption in the baseline building.  The baseline building is a hypothetical building, which has same configuration and usage pattern as the proposed building.  The performance standards of the baseline buildings are set in ASHRAE Standard (See latest revision). LEED gives points for achieving different level of energy savings over standard.  LEED has three different levels of ratings i.e. Platinum, Gold and Silver, which define different levels of energy savings over benchmarking.  Platinum rating is the highest rating.  The LEED program does not tell designers how to achieve the savings and instead it is left to their discretion.  In India, the CII  Godrej Green Business Centre has been set up at Hyderabad.  This building has been rated ‘Platinum‘ by the US Green Building Council and is the third building in the world (1st outside the USA) to achieve this distinction. This building has energy efficient air conditioning system, advanced electrical systems, automatic plumbing and fire fighting system, addressable intelligent fire alarm system and security system.  All these sub-systems are integrated through a state of art Building Management System for cohesive and reliable operation.  In India, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), a division of CII Godrej Green Business Centre offers rating systems like IGBC Green Homes, IGBC Green Schools, IGBC Green Factories, etc.. Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Rating developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and has been adopted by the Government of India in 2007 as the National Green Building Rating System in India. The other rating standards for evaluating these buildings are the BREEM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) rating of excellence.  Further, the Intelligent Building Rating System Task Force is intended to assist building owners and managers, the commercial real estate industry and other industry stakeholders to assess the level of integrated system within a building (Building Intelligence Quotient [BIQ]).  A ranking matrix and comprehensive list of intelligent building criteria has been developed for the same.  

            The design and construction of green and intelligent buildings and infrastructure requires close coordination of all the concerned persons associated with design and construction.  The architects, structural consultants, air conditioning consultants, electrical, plumbing and energy consultants, information technology consultants, landscape designer, building management system consultants and suppliers and manufacturers of various systems, the owners and the builders are the people who have to understand each others interest and limitations for the successful completion of a project from  green and intelligent building standpoint.  All these players have to work as a team and look into all aspects of buildings and systems at every stage of planning, design, construction and operation and to critically evaluate the impact of each design decision on the environment and arrive at a viable design solution to have minimum impact on environment.

Green and intelligent buildings have the potential to save 30-40% on recurring energy cost and 20-30% saving on water cost. The payback period  of the additional cost incurred on these buildings is 2-3 years.  Green buildings increase occupant performance by 6-26% and the green building occupants have 15% less absenteeism compared to those in other buildings. Green buildings can reduce respiratory diseases by 9-20%. Thus, green and intelligent urban buildings and infrastructure has tremendous benefits to the building owners, users and the society.  For the same comfort level and indoor quality of building, these buildings use lesser energy.  This means, lesser energy cost to the owners, availability of the saved energy to the society for other   development purposes and lesser environmental degradation. Green and intelligent buildings enhance the building asset value, improve employee productivity, efficiency and satisfaction level.   Integration of various sub-systems creates more healthy, safe and comfortable environment in the buildings. These building have flexibility for change in usage to meet the need of future occupants. 

There is a tremendous potential for construction of green building in our country.  However, there is only a limited number of green and intelligent buildings at present as compared to the total number of buildings. The initial cost of intelligent and green building is higher than the conventional building due to use of energy efficient new technologies and networking and integration of various services but the increased energy efficiency, productivity and comfort of these building to individual users and lesser environmental impact to the society compensates it all.    Basic motives of the private builders are to generate profit by constructing and renting/selling the building to the users.  Further, there is little awareness about concepts of green and intelligent  buildings among the owners and builders.  In order to encourage construction of green and intelligent buildings, the architects and consultants shall have to play major roles in educating the owners and users about the long-term benefits of these buildings to them and also to the society.  Further, the government should also have in place some schemes for rewarding the architects, consultants and manufacturers for creating such buildings and for builders some relaxation in buildings norms may be given  for such buildings to compensate for their increased initial cost etc. The government may promote the use of energy saving equipments and construction materials by reducing some taxes and duties to make the same available to the builders or the users at competitive prices.  In the direction of conserving energy, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power has been conducting various awareness programs and incentive schemes. The Bureau has made it mandatory for the designated energy consumers to get the energy audit done for their buildings through accredited energy auditors and take necessary corrective action for conserving energy as per the guidelines of the auditor’s report. For promoting construction of green and intelligent buildings in India, CII Godrej Green Business Centre has taken initiative and is offering services for conducting feasibility  studies to explore, evaluate and recommend methodology of achieving green building rating and implementation of rating process in India.

In the times of energy crisis and need of energy for enhancing the GDP growth of a country, the development of intelligent and green building and infrastructure shall play a great role in future in the development of a country.  In this direction, in India, Energy Conservation Act   2001 and Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 has already been in place. Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 provides minimum requirement for the energy efficient design and construction of buildings. This is mandatory for the commercial buildings and complexes that have a connected load of 100 KW or more and it is recommended for all the buildings. Inoculation of green building concept right from the school level and carrying it forward in higher education for the young generation and also for the various kind of end users through periodicals, seminars, expositions, media and internet shall contribute a lot in the energy conservation. There is a need to continue to work to quantify these benefits and educate the owners to go for best available technology for making the necessary modification in the existing buildings to make them green and intelligent and to design new green and intelligent buildings.  For this it shall be required to combine best use of information technology with best use of natural resources to deliver the building that will address the exciting challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

References:

• Alan R kell, The Global Developments of Intelligent  and Green Building, i & I limited. 
• Paul Ehrlich,  P. E, An introduction to Intelligent Building design.
• Thomas Hattman, P.E.  what’s the Role of  advance technology  in Green Building Design.
• Nikolaon T, Kolokotsa D,  Stavrakkkis G., Introduction to Intelligent  buildings.
• Delivering  the intelligent building- Modern building services journal
• Ken Sinclair, Growing Green Buildings with Automation, Automated Building.com
• Industry and environment,  UNEP Publication Oct – Dec. 2004.
• AC &R Journal,Vol.7, No.2, April-June 2004, ISHRAE
• General aspects of Energy Management and Energy Audit, BEE, Delhi
• A report on the Indian Green Building Industry by Sh. S. Sriniwas, CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
• www.greenbusinesscentre.com/greenbuild.asp