CONTENTS
1.12 RECOMMENDATIONS
people live and work in the same environs, and feature lively and enjoyable public spaces.
1.11.8 ENVIRONMENTAL PYRAMID
As this simple pyramid shows, the biggest environmental gains come from the least financial investment: the city’s orientation and form. This is equally true of the buildings. In the middle of the pyramid is building performance optimization, with tools such as responsive shading and maximizing the use of natural lighting and ventilation. At the top, where you have active controls such as heat recovery and photovoltaic’s, you spend the most money with the lowest (relative) returns. Given this, designers concentrated on the lower two tiers of the pyramid first, thereby reducing a large amount of energy demand with little cost, and only then focused on the active controls because they are the most expensive. (Anon., n.d.)
Masdar City is an example of how the future cities of the world should transform into. The foresight of planning for a sustainable city with a horizon of 50 to 100 years ahead should be the aim of architects and planners. The de- pendence on fossil fuel has to be reduced and a shift to the perpetual resource energy has to be made. The sun is the infinite source of power, which is wait- ing to be trapped, similarly the wind, geothermal and the tidal energy all have immense potential for meeting our future energy demands.
great enabler and can help reduce wastage of various resources . There are several ways by which technology can be a game changer. Human element plays an important role in bringing together technology and practice.
• Education can play a great role here in bringing about a change. Sensi- tizing people about concern for the environment and its impact can have a great cascading effect on people. It is the little changes that can create a big impact.
• Implementing innovations: Changing office timings, which allows beat- ing the traffic, is again a big contributor, saving lights. Switching off lights for entire office after 6 pm enables huge energy cost savings and also leaves a low carbon footprint.
• In India almost 1.5 billion square feet is under construction. TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and GRIHA (Green Rating for Inte- grated Habitat Assessment) have also millions of feet which are being created. Building in sustainable designs can greatly help in our mission towards sustainability.
• Sustainability will need to be embedded in the curriculum. We need to exploit the solar energy, also bringing down reliance on oil as a source of energy. Over $145 billion worth of oil is imported. In terms of ag- riculture, we need to care about soil security, agricultural security, and also ensure that land is more productive. The top soil is 10-12 inches, and also we will need to use drip technology.
• Roads for pedestrians, cycling, public transportation and deploying pri- vate cars are some of the aspects which could be initiated.
Some of the other recommendations emanating after discussion with other practitioners are as below:
• The building design is an important aspect in achieving energy sav- ings. The solar and wind impact also affect the impact building design.
The VRV systems and chiller systems need a proper understanding. The common misperception is that VRV systems are a better technology op- tion. However, if the business context for hospitality industry is seen, industry has low profit margins and sensitive to economic cycles. When sustainability is sought as a goal, there are initial investments, which are required. To get good solution, consultants need to be engaged for a good engineering design and design cooling systems. Many investors in India do not see value in deploying good consultants. This is in contrast to the situation in the middle east where there is a willingness to deploy
consultants. The VRV technology has done well in India as there has been a good PR around the same. The initial capital cost is low. With chiller design, consultants would be required. A proper system lasts for 23–30 years. For a longer time frame, the chiller system remains active and the coefficient of performance is also high. The operating costs are better as well. The VRV system has a life span of 10 to 12 years. An- other instance is that air coolers on roofs sitting on high-density sites could contribute to acid rain. The owner focuses on cash flows and the immediate pricing. Also VRV technology deploys a refrigerant and has great impact on environment. The air throw on an individual is also higher. When deploying technology, the whole life cycle impact needs to be looked at. Embodied carbon value of a 20 or 30 years life cycle needs to be looked at. Consultants’ fees should be seen as an invest- ment. A detailed cost analysis should be done and also other by products should also be looked at.
• Another aspect contributing to sustainability that legislation needs to be proactive and also there could be incentives by way of taxes and disincentives for not engaging in green practices. In a hotel, energy con- sumed for running A/c’s constitutes 40 to 60% of the bill and managing the same is absolutely essential. The design of the building, direction of the same, glazing, maintenance of chiller plants, cleaning condens- ers regularly, cycling when not in use, cleaning filters—all impact the energy consumption.
• The behavior element is also extremely important. Green thinking can be enhanced by a participatory approach. Green awareness should be created in the community. At IHG, there is an idea library. There is social website on intranet where initiatives are show and the same can be copied by other employees.
• A carrot and stick approach can be adopted for compliance and adopting green practices. Name and shame approach could also make a differ- ence. In Asia, ego aspect plays an important role and most people would like to be associated with positive achievements. Tax penalties should be levied. Australia has been toying with an idea of carbon taxs. There is a political debate on deploying of mineral taxs, carbon taxs. Because of legislative and effective planning it has started affecting solutions adopted by people. People can’t buy incandescent lamps and have in- creased tariff for power consumption. Households are curtailing energy consumption. People are motivated to produce energy and sell back to
the grid at a higher price. Regulatory environment should be strong. The bottom up approach must be deployed. Wind energy has lot of potential.
• Globally well-established standards are there for design and India could follow these guidelines.
• In India, the technology does not really percolate below. Adaptation to green building requires investment. As the demand for green products increases, the costs will come down.
• For implementing sustainability, wind power and solar power needs to be deployed.
• In construction standards, we are way behind and not conducive to weather conditions. If proper steps are taken towards design, 46% of energy consumption can be reduced. A well-insulated house leads to a lower energy consumption.
• The building materials need to be relooked at. The bricks are not sus- tainable material as it traps the temperature. An alternate material such as reinforced concrete is a better option.
• Internationally, doing a LEED building or a green building can really be helpful. The concrete building creates a heat island effect. The standards tell you how to design but a guideline does not. There is an autonomy to break the rules in case of just the guidelines. Supervision and imple- mentation of standards is poor in India.
A key question to ask is about future budgeting—What is the life cycle of all equipment and what are their efficiencies? For example, one needs to look at cooling through chilled water. If the temperature of the chill- er is reset and humidity levels are optimized, energy consumption can come down. If the humidity is maintained at 45–60% level and temperature set back by 1°C, electricity saving can emanate by 5–7%. A 27% of the cost of hotel is energy cost. Building in automation helps.
• Leverage experience of older professionals is helpful. Retirement age should also be extended to 65 years.
• Deployment of PV cells is also helpful. The return on investment in Canada of PV cells is 20 years. Subsidy helps to produce electricity through PV cells and feeder can be initiated into the grid during peak demand. People generate electricity and 3-tier plans are there—Plan for peak period, mid Peak and off peak period. Tariffs need to re looked at People who feed into grids can be given rebate on electricity.
Architecture plays an important role in how the building performs in its life cycle. Careful planning in terms of:
• Site selection.
• Orientation of the building to minimize the dependence on energy for achieving comfort conditions.
• Use of local materials for construction so as to reduce the cost of trans- port and the embodied energy of the materials.
• Integrating local building techniques and traditions.
• Installing energy efficient fixtures.
• Rain water harvesting.
• Shifting to renewable energy sources like solar.
The architect is the visionary and thinker who can envisage and plan the things in advance at the level of planning the projects, which will result in a sustainable future.
There is a lot of innovation possible in design. In every building the right from the sourcing of materials to disposal of products, all aspects must be considered. There are best practices, which have been evolved globally. De- signing next generation cities and buildings involves a coordinated effort be- tween various agencies. The government, industry, consumers, associations and civil society need to put in joint efforts to bring about a change. Unless, partnerships are involved and messages communicated to the stakeholder, change will not come in. It is not only corporate behavior but also individual attitude that needs to a radical reform. Different institutions can play a key role in ushering this change. School and higher education can play a key role in instituting sustainable values in the next generation. The current generation can go through a mind set change if there is a value that they derive from their efforts. Lessons from Canada on sharing of grids and tariffs can play a role in modulating the demand and supply.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors deeply acknowledge the support received from the following pro- fessionals who spared their time to share their valuable insights for this work.
Mr. Niranjan Khatri, General Manager, ITC Hotels, Gurgaon, India.
Mr. Shailen Verma, Assistant Vice President-Engineering Services, Lem- on Tree Hotels, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, Aero City, Delhi, India.
Mr. Mahinda Gunewardena, Director Design and Engineering, India and Middle East, InterContinental Hotels Group, India
Mr. Pradeep Sachdeva, Pradeep Sachdeva Design Associates, Aya Nagar Village, New Delhi, India.
Mr. Sanjay Prakash, SHiFt: Studio for Habitat Futures, Hauz Khas Mar- ket, New Delhi, India.
KEYWORDS
• green hotels
• GRIHA
• India
• ITC hotels
• LEED
• sustainable building design
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