The Energy Research

Institute
Jatin Hukkeri
Sirisha
Madhumitha Srinivasan
Sarvesh Srinivasan

INTRODUCTION
Established in 1974
Project is designed to house an

office block with approx. 75

workstations & a small guest
house attached to it
Conducts energy services for
major corporates
Concerned with effective
utilization of energy,
sustainable uses of natural
resources, large scale adoption
of renewable energy
technology.

BANGALORE

Garden city
Location: 12* 58 N 177* 35 E
Altitude: 919 m
Green cover: 40 %
Rainfall: 97 cm
Climate: moderate temperature
Temperature:
mean max
mean min
summer
35*c
20*c
winter
28*c
14*c

LOCATION
Located at domlur bus stop
( 3 kms from Bangalore airport rd) ,

amidst a residential area, park and temple

Long narrow site with roads on the eastern and

northern sides

Western side has an open ground

Southern side has an open drain ( 9m wide)
Site located adjacent to a foul smelling drain on

south which dictates design development as wind

comes from south.

BUILDING DETAILS
The building has been

divided into individual and

common areas

75 intimate small spaces

are provided for individual

work

Common areas refer to the

atriums, courts, nodes and

corridors meant for wider
interaction

ORIENTATION
Building is oriented along NE-

SW direction

SW is the primary wind and light

direction for Bangalore

Along SW faade is a foul

smelling drain.Hence entrance is

towards NE direction

All window openings are in this

direction

South wall is a double wall to

provide insulation from southern

sun.

Floor Plans

LIGHT
Main source of light- SUN
Building opens on northern side to

take advantage of glare free light

( north light)

Atrium spaces and sky lights

ensure enough lighting

Presence of light shafts to transmit

light from skylight above into

meeting rooms and parking below
through a photo sensitive glass

Artificial lighting used only for work

stations

Light

Sun
Photo voltaic cells are used to capture the suns energy thus

generating electrical energy for the various stations.

These photovoltaic cells have been arranged in line with the
primary orbit of the sun ( about 22-22.5 degrees from the
west ccw)
The panel are integrated with dynamic truss to optimize the
generation of energy
The suns energy is further used in the form of solar heaters
which is used to generate all the hot water in the guest
house
The thermal comfort levels are mainted by the use of filler
slabs which provides insulation between the inside and the
outside of the building.
Filler slabs are designed with alternate panel of concrete
and hollow blocks,
The holow blocks help in reducing the transimission of heat
from outside to inside of the building.

RADIATION
Use of double glazed windows with

coating

Use of cavity wall construction with

kadappa stone which is a heat

retentive material

Terrace garden helps in insulation ,

reducing radiation as well as

moderating temperature fluctuations

Roof consists of a hollow loft space

which reduces conduction of heat to

work areas

AIR
Primary wind direction along SW
A long SW faade is a foul smelling drain
Wall towards south is blank allowing the breeze to flow over the

building which in turn creates negative pressure and pulls in

fresh air from the north.
South wall is a double wall so as to heat up the void between
the two walls creating negative pressure thereby enhancing
convection currents
Ventilation is enhanced by the use of solar chimneys and vents
Allows breeze to flow over building
Creates negative pressure
Starts pulling fresh air flow at body level to provide thermal
comfort
Hot air rises towards the top on southern faade

Ventilation - analysis
The primary winds blow from the south to north over the
nallah, hence the building needs to react to this if,the foul
unhygienic air has to be prevented from entering the
building .
Thus the development of the south wall was a prime design
factor in achieving this purpose.
Here the south wall has was treated as an independent
system linking the rear walls of the building over a cavity
This cavity creates a negative pressure setting up the
convectional currents. The entire systems works very
effectively in generating the desired reverse wind
circulation.
The blank wall carries a system of cudappa.The colour
black was deliberately chosen because of its heat
absorptive power which is the highest among all colours.

The working of the system is very

simple
The suns rays heat the black south wall
increasing the temperature of the
immediate environment around.
This causes the air in the cavity to rise
upwards naturally. These convectional
currents are blown away by the winds
blowing south to north.
This creates a vacuum at the at the top
core structure. To fill this vacuum, air
from inside is drawn up.
This system of hot air rising and drawing
in of cool fresh air is a continuous
process.

Hence reverse wind circulation is

established by bringing in the fresh air
from the north open face of the building,
and drawing it through the entire
section of the structure and removing it
by convectional means up through solar
wind vents.

Water
The central court which connects the
office complex and the guest house
section plays an important role as a
space generator .
The spaces around it follow the age old
concept of the verandah that are outside
but are shaded, hence giving a feel of
withinness to it .
The central court houses an amphitheatre
thats acts as an informal gathering but
more importantly it holds within it the
rainwater harvesting sump for the whole
complex.
the rainwater is collected through
downtake pipes at the various levels of
terraces. Thus rain water harvesting plays
an effective role in water management

Earth

Earth berm
As thermal capacity of earth is high, daily and
annual temperature fluctuations keep
decreasing with increasing depth of earth
At depth of 4m below ground, temperature
remains constant and equal to annual average
temperature

CONCLUSION
Sets a new standard of energy efficient,

environmentally conscious office space

Building conveys skillful interplay of natural

elements with the building form to reduce

energy demand