Time to respect the earth

Karnataka unveils new policy to give impetus to green practices. By M.A. Siraj

Given the Earth’s finite resources and burgeoning pressure of population, buildings will have to inevitably move towards adopting sustainable models. Materials extracted from the earth are the mainstay of construction activity. The key to a sustainable futures lies in returning to the earth in equal measure what man takes from the earth. India faces the challenge of building hundreds of cities in the next 30 years which will put immense pressure on natural resources. Appropriate sustainable models will have to be found to reduce consumption of energy, conservation of water and reduction of waste.

Participants at the 2018 Sustainable Buildings R&D Summit held under the aegis of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) concurred that even as research for development to attain sustainability in the built environment proceeds, policy research too must keep pace for implementing the new norms to ensure efficient management of resources.

Network of Recycled Water

The Karnataka government has initiated measures to guide urban development. Anjum Parwez, Secretary, Urban Development Department, told the summit that the State plans to create a network of recycled water for industries and has drawn Karnataka Reuse and Recycling of Water Policy for 10 cities administered by Municipal Corporations.

The policy envisages waste-to-energy plants in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi and Ballari. The policy also makes it mandatory for all homeowners to install rooftop photovoltaic-based solar panels in all the smart cities and feed the power in excess of their individual need to the respective Escom grids. Under the plan, all canals will be topped with solar panels which besides generating power will reduce evaporation. A 10-KW solar installation has already been laid over a canal in Bagalkot district. He said the government had taken a decision to replace all the conventional incandescent street lights with LED lights across the State.

STPs mere showpieces

Parwez said citizens’ training and cooperation was important in adopting sustainable practices. A reality check of STPs in apartment blocks in Bengaluru reveals that though most of them had installed the STPs, they merely remain showpieces and the sewage is stealthily let out into the sewerage at midnight. ‘Perhaps this could be addressed by installing sensors and monitoring the discharge of sewage on a 24x7 basis’, he indicated.

Non-revenue water

He said, of the 1,400 million litres per day of water supplied to Bengaluru, 30 to 40 per cent does not yield any revenue due to seepage into the ground, non-metered homes, faulty meters and pilferage. If the same water is distributed fairly, the average water supply per day per person would work out to 230 litres. The water situation was grim in the State, and warned that there may be fight for water between districts in future.

The government opted for precast panels for the 340 Indira Canteens across the State as they exerted less pressure on resources and left little debris. He also outlined the policy of giving additional FAR within one kilometre area of the Metro under Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in order to address the mobility issue. Parwez said green buildings were a priority if the economy had to proceed on creative, competitive lines.

Climatic zones

P. Ravichandran, CEO, Danfoss, a Denmark based company that undertakes cooling and heating of entire urban communities and towns, said India had five varied climatic zones but buildings were being constructed with the same generic material everywhere, which should not be the case. Research in sustainable practices need to focus on specific needs and urges of the people in these zones and come up with appropriate business models and energy needs.

Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, opined that tomorrow should be different in terms of use of resources from yesterday and called for developers, researchers and government to chip in. Mathur said the demand for energy-efficient devices should accommodate innovative ideas.

Energy-neutral

Elaborating the step taken up by the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL) at Bengaluru, Lakshminarayanan S., vice-president (engineering & maintenance), said the green initiatives were aimed at turning the airport complex energy and water neutral by 2020 and send out no waste. He said the complex would be generating 50 million units of solar power. He said the airport currently consumed power equivalent to power used by 20,000 homes on an average day and generates 20 tonnes of waste. The second runway (4,000 mt. runway) would be ready by 2021 and was designed to harvest rainwater.

Barun Aggarwal, CEO, Breach Easy Consultants, feels the productivity of workers was linked to the indoor atmosphere of worksites and buildings as an individual spends 80% of his time indoors. He said wellness is the next trillion dollar industry. Health insurance for workers in the United States was increasingly getting linked to physical activity one undergoes at workspots. The wellness quotient of any building takes into account air, water, nourishment, light, fitness and comfort inside the building.