Unearthing Green Architecture

Evolving a Sustainable Campus

Vinod Gupta

ampus planning is about the

development of an institution
for learning, a place for

students and staff to live in, work and

learn. Learning is a continuous process

not limited to the classroom and master

planning aboutcreating the conditions

is

under which learning can take place.

Campus design revolves around the
site and 'its geographical and climatic

context, access to site, development

potential of site (zoning and bylaws),
organisation of components on

campus, conceptual design framework,

phasing of development, sustainable
mobility and parking. The client’s
own requirements can include other

functional and aesthetic requirements.

With _
climate change in mind, 2000-2006 2006-2011 2011-2016

many owners now ask for resource

conservation and green certification. SPORADIC DEVELOPMENT OF LPU

Some even ask for a Net Zero Energy
challenging areas. We
Campus. While the norms for green the last 50 years, the green ideas population are

abandoned in certain kinds of have an abundance of solar energy but

buildings are well established, there is were

call green buildings a huge shortage of water and of land for

no agreement yet on what constitutes buildings. What we

started in the Western countries agriculture. Food and water (other than
a sustainable campus. This article is a now

at how sustainable campus and arrived in lndia in 2001 with first the water used directly for operation of
quick look
LEED certification. The criteria adopted buildings) do not find a place in green
planning has evolved in India.
has tradition of for LEED by IGBC and later by GRIHA building norms. A more comprehensive
India a great
human for commercial buildings, reflect the approach to sustainable development
building green and sustainable
concerns of theWestern countries and in lndia would have to concern itself
settlements and in some ways these
with all aspects of food and water and
ideas influenced foreign architects who focus mainly on energy conservation.
is the time has come to look beyond the
came and built in India. Architects like Though energy supply a problem
in India well, there are other more norms for green buildings.
Lutyens, Le Corbusier and JA Stein also
as

problems that affect our While' sustainable development

built keeping sustainability in mind. With pressing
for new
the advent of the international style of survival in times of difficulty. Ensuring strategies are necessary

food and water for an expanding townships and cities, large residential
architecture and air-conditioning during

E September 2016 ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN

Food and Water

Agriculture is the major consumer of land

and water in the world. As much as 70

percent of available fresh water is used for

agriculture. This water constitutes what is

best called water embedded in food and
used indirectly by human beings. The author
has calculated that the water used by people
inbuildings, say 180 litres per person per

day is less than 10 percent of the water

consumed as embedded water in food and

other artifacts used by human beings.
Agricultural scientists note that food brings
embedded nutrients to the city and after
consumption by citizens; these nutrients
become pollutants (solid and liquid waste)
in thecity. If these are put to use for growing
food in the city, two things will happen. First
the water requirements for agriculture will be
reduced becausetechnologies used for
urban agriculture use water more efficiently. BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY
Second, the nutrients that pollute our water 50 Years of development
bodies and water ways will be used for

growing food and the need for artificial

fertilisers will be eliminated. Perhaps the
most important change will be a more

sustainable and resilient infrastructure for

food and water. Unfortunately, green design
has been focused only on the built
BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY

components of the environment —

buildings, 100 Years of development

roads and services.

Embedded Water in educational campuses present an This article is about campuses that
Buildings
The concept of embedded energy has opportunity for new sustainable grow slowly and have the potential
been used for along time in choosing design ideas. Two kinds of to deal with more environmental,
being built in India economic and social issues than
materials and technologies for construction. campuses are

The government sponsored other types of development can.

However, the idea of embedded water in today.
has not been used for universities like IIM and HT start with These include change of land use,
buildings making
allotment of large piece of land efficient and productive use of
green decisions. According to Indian and
a

forest land) land, efficient use of built space,

International research publications, every (often agricultural or

square metre of built area with commonly and an open ended development water self-sufficiency, energy self-
used RC frame construction has 20-25 programme, built over many sufficiency, minimum waste export,
cubic meters of embedded water used to decades. Private universities start sustainable mobility, preservation of
produce the building materials and to with a smaller site area that would bio-diversity and social equity.
assemble them on site. This means the support a well—defined building Large campus developments
volume of water used exceeds the volume programme. While successful private in India require Environmental
of built space by six or seven times. Most of universities like Jaypee and Amity Impact Assessment Clearance

this water goes into of steel used exhaust the building potential of process that deals with some of
production
then becomes not their site fairly quickly, a government the above issues. Green campus
in the building. Steel just
funded university like Banaras Hindu certification (GRIHA LB or LEED
an energy intensive material but also the
University, is still being built almost ND) is more related to buildings
most water intensive building material.
100 years after it was established. and construction management and

ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN September 2016 57

 other well- including energy and water if the built space not buildings.
less with planning. There are
Thus, Sustainable Mobility: A residential
known functional and aesthetic issues space is reduced by 30 percent.
transportation for
it is important that built space required campus requires
of urban design and landscape design
is decided after careful consideration connecting it to the surrounding areas
that campus layout plans address but
of the needs and not according to the and for connecting residential areas to
often the following issues get left out.
financial resources available. the institutional areas within the campus.
As the size of a campus grows, so does
Best Use of Land and Built Space: How If
the need for internal transportation.
High Density Campus: Does it need
to
much is enough? areas of the campus
for Technical be high-rise? the actively used
The All India Council
be kept small enough for walking,
minimum One common perception that persists in can
Education (AlCTE) prescribes be limited to
of clear evidence to the contrary the use of automobiles can
standards for infrastructure to be spite
campus needs connections with the surrounding areas.

provided by technical educational is that a high density

measures such
Indian institutes of high—rise buildings. While it is true that By appropriate planning
institutions.
university campus with 250
urban as safe, shaded and rain protected
Technology (llTs) and Indian institutes an
to encourage
not covered students per acre can be built only with walkways it is possible
of Management (IIMs) are
automobile
most others (such as the walking and discourage
by AlCTE regulations and each IIT
and tall buildings
If is limited on campus,
90 students per acre campus of NIIT use. car use
HM is therefore free to establish its own
standards for built and open space.
There are vast differences between

the per student space built by different

institutions. AlCTE prescribes that

engineering colleges should build 9sq Others

m or more of academic space for
each
hfleat

student and NIIT University’s campus at

Poultry
planned with
Neemrana, Rajasthan was
Daky
this number in mind. IIM Udaipur was
Fruit & vegetables
programmed with 16sq m of built space CereaB
per student while llT Gandhinagar’s Domestic use

requirements came to 44sqm/student. Dfiang x I

I I l
I t i

The land required to build the campus

F

400 500 600 700 800

0 100 200 300
the permissible FAR
depends upon
and once again there is wide variation BY AN URBAN INDIAN MALE ( LITRES PER DAY)
DAILY REAL AND VIRTUAL WATER USE
in this. NIIT University, Neemrana (100
acres, 9000 students); liT Gandhinagar
HM
(400 acres, 6000 students); and
Udaipur (250 acres, 1200 students) transportation
be built with three or an alternative system of
are all residential campuses and the University) can
is required to take care of the needs
of students on site varies four storey walk up buildings. Low-rise
density and the
have a better chance of being of young children, old people
from 90/acre at NIIT to 15/acre at UT buildings
less resource intensive, allowing for use handicapped.
Gandhinagar to 5/acre at UM Udaipur. the
of of sustainable technologies such as Social Equity: It is generally
The nature of terrain, connection
of Indian society that live and
areas, and the solar power and less energy and water privileged
site with nearby urban
intensive building materials. work in institutional campuses of higher
accepted lifestyle influence the carrying While there are relatively small
Preservation of Bio-diversity: Many learning.
capacity of an institutional site and there
flora fauna that differences in the income levels of those
green field sites have
or
are international urban campuses with
need to be preserved. Sometimes these employed directly by the institution,
250 students/acre and large campuses
There are also site there are larger inequities that become
like Stanford University with only two may not be obvious.
features such as water courses and obvious when one looks at people
students per acre. The extent of resource
employed indirectly by the institution.
water bodies that need to be respected
used in project depends directly upon
a
many years
and preserved. The best value of land A campus is built over
how much space is built for the project. force
and a large construction work
While it is difficult to save 30 percent is not derived simply from the built area
is engaged for carrying out the works.
or water in a building, it is easy but also in leaving space for direct and
energy
indirect functions that require open Institutions also outsource maintenance
to save 30 percent of all resources

2016 ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN

m September
work and facilities like dining halls. It is inplace of ornamentals trees. The major buildings (excluding embedded water).
Zero import of water is ideal which can
necessary that the needs of construction advantage of growing food on campus
staff and sub- is that the water and nutrients that are be achieved if the needs of the residents
workers, outsourced
contracted workers be taken care of at essential for agriculture, are available are managed and matched with the
the campus. Large institutions impact free of cost as solid and liquid waste availability of water.
from residential areas. Zero Waste Export: Waste generation
the population of the surrounding areas
at the site starts with the construction
even before they are established. In Harvesting Energy on Site: Keeping
land owned climate change in mind, it is necessary to of the buildings and infrastructure and
many cases by villagers
handed to the harvest renewable energy on a campus. continues all through the life of the
is acquired and over

for campuses to meet project. While it is possible to manage

institution by the government. While While it is common

construction wastes and compost

many villagers will welcome the infusion their commitment of using renewable
organic wastes within the site, zero
of capital into their economy, it can result energy by installing photovoltaic panels
waste export is actually not possible due
of on buildings, other sources of energy
in disruption of access routes, means

communication, grazing lands and even such as wind or bio mass may also be to the e-waste that campuses generate.
water supply. It is important that the available. On large campuses, ‘net zero major change has taken place in the
A

institution concern itself with welfare of energy’ is also possible if the energy way campus owners approach planning.

the impacted population as well. needs of the project are managed well. The new government funded campuses
are required to obtain minimum 3—star

Griha Certification for their buildings.

Carefully designed buildings can easily

attain this certification and with money

spent on the right things Griha LD rating

can also be achieved. llT Jodhpur and
REALWATER \_ REAL WATER IIT Gandhinagar spent a great deal of
20 %
time to build sustainable design features
REAL WATER
in the master plans for their campuses.
'1‘ .
10 %

\ In both cases, the buildings are being

s
~~ VIRTUAL
being
@
EVAPORATION
VIRTUAL
I [ designed and the infrastructure
WATER
detailed by architects and
engineers
WASTE other than the ones who planned the
WASTE
campus and there is a possibility that
WATER
WATER

some of the sustainable design ideas

for
.

WATER COURSE may be diluted. The competition brief

IIM Udaipur also asked for sustainable
REAL AND VIRTUAL WATER CYCLE
design features but amajor advance
took place with the design competition
The for Nalanda University where the
Food Growing: Residential complexes Zero Water Import: carrying
site be defined in competition brief asked for a ‘net zero
produce solid and liquid waste that capacity of a can

With proper different ways and in a water-scarce area energy’ campus. Since the master plan
need to be disposed off.
treatment, many of these wastes can an important factor is the sustainable and the buildings are being designed
be converted to solid fertilizer quantity of water available. All towns in by the same team for IIM Udaipur and
or liquid
that can be used for cultivation of plants. desert areas of Rajasthan depend upon Nalanda University, these campuses
Fresh vegetables grown on such manure rainwater even though the annual rainfall have the best potential for demonstrating
few hundred millimetres. As how a sustainable campus can be built.
are welcome on any dining table. is only a

these towns demonstrate, sustainable They should also point the way for
Every campus has extra land available
water source may be from the site itself sustainable features that future ‘Smart
during the initialphases, land that can
from distant areas.project requires
A Cities' ought to have. 6}-
be used for growing food. Planning or

can ensure that when the campus is water first for construction of buildings

built up, space is still available for and later for the use by the residents. I/inod Gupta is an architect practising
fully
Even if rainfall at the site is insufficient sustainable design at various levels
growing food. Space saving techniques
needs of the built in Delhi." He has been involved in
such as hydroponics, aquaponics and for complete project,
also be used. Fruit with proper and timely action it is almost university planning, architecture and
aeroponics may
furniture design.
bearing trees can and ought to be used always sufficient for construction of

m September 2016 ARCHITECTURE+ DESIGN