City police HQ to be energy efficient

Project will be an example of green building consciousness, says architect

An architectural rendering of the proposed city headquarters of the police in Kochi.

The Kochi City Police Complex, now under construction and scheduled to be commissioned by the middle of 2023, is expected to highlight Kerala’s concern over climate change and carbon emissions by considerably increasing energy efficiency through measures that include attention to natural lighting and airflow.

“Public buildings in the State are more and more concerned about reducing their carbon footprints by adopting measures to reduce energy consumption,” said B.R. Ajith, architect, who is involved in designing the building of the police headquarters that will come up close to the busy Banerjee-Shanmugham Road junction in the city.

K.A. Shanavas, joint director of the Kerala State Productivity Council and accredited energy auditor, said there has been a considerable push towards more energy-efficient buildings, especially after the Energy Conservation Building Code came into force.

The police headquarters complex in Kochi will be spread over 1,25,000 sq.ft. A building of such extent, under normal circumstances, will require energy supply of around 400 kW of power. However, adoption of energy-efficient measures like using LED lights, maximum natural light usage and natural airflow will help bring down the potential power consumption, excluding the requirement for air conditioning, to about 300 kW.

The concept of more energy-efficient buildings stands out as the country observes a fortnight of Energy Efficiency between December 1 and 14. December 14 is celebrated as Energy Conservation Day. C. Jayaraman, an expert in energy conservation in Kochi, said it was time people became more responsible for the use of energy just as they are being educated about the use of water. There should be more accountability on the use of energy because energy is a great resource like water, he said. Accountability about energy utilisation should be considered a part of social responsibility for the greater good of society, he added.

Mr. Ajith said the upcoming police headquarters would be an example of green building consciousness being promoted by the Indian Green Building Council, which has helped reduce carbon footprint by the building industry by providing support to a range of measures in energy conservation.