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GREEN AND ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Conference Paper · December 2020

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 GREEN AND ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS:
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Prof. Manoj Anaokar

Assistant Professor (Civil Engineering) MPSTME, NMIMS University, Mumbai 400 056
Maharashtra, India, Email: anaokarm@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

Although, the Civil Engineers are relentlessly working with the goal of enhancing the quality of human
life by providing the buildings which offer comfortable, carefree and healthy life to its occupants, there
are still challenges faced by them. The environmental impact of construction activities, increasing
demands for resources like water and energy with their rapid depletion, global warming are the major
snags till to be surmount to achieve their goal. ‘Green and Energy Efficient Buildings’ provide the
solution to this by efficient use of the resources, reduce waste, pollution, and protect health of occupants.
This paper deals with the challenges faced by the Construction Industry, while constructing the Green
and Energy Efficient Buildings and discusses the possible solutions to overcome these challenges.

INTRODUCTION

The Reserves for the different forms of energy such as Oil, Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear Energy, Hydroelectricity,
are rapidly depleting as the consumption of these energies is increasing day by day. A ‘Review of World Energy
June 2011’ is published by the multinational BP Group of companies working in the field of Oil & Gas
Production and Statistical Reviews, states that, the Global Energy Consumption has recorded the highest growth

Figure 1 Hydro Electricity Consumption

of Energy Consumption of 5.6% in 2010 since 1973. As per the data availed in 2010 by this review, the
Hydroelectricity Consumption of the Asia Pacific Region is highest as shown in the Figure 1. The International
Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that world primary energy demand between now and 2030 will increase by 1.5%
per year from just over 12,000 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) to 16,800 Mtoe- an overall increase of
30%. Developing Asian countries are the main drivers of this growth, followed by Middle East. Out of these
Total Energies the quantum of Electrical Energy is largest. It is more than 25 million tonnes of equivalent and
the consumption growth rate per annum is 5.8%. India’s coal-fired, oil-fired and natural gas-fired thermal power
plants offer significant potential for greenhouse gas (Co2) emission. This contributes to the effects like global
warming. If we want to provide solution to this problem by bringing down the requirement of electrical energy,
then we need to go for some better technology like that of Green Building.
According to the Report of Central Pollution Control Board, India accounts for 4% of water resources
of the world but represents 16% of the world population. With the present population growth-rate (1.9 per cent
per year), the population is expected to cross the 1.5 billion mark by 2050. The Planning Commission,
Government of India has estimated the water demand increase to almost 1180 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters) in
2050. Thus availability of potable water is one more acute issue which needs solemn attention. To resolve this
issue also, we need to plan the use of water judiciously. The way of doing this is to go for Green Buildings. Thus
by constructing the Green Buildings we can prudently use the resources like Electrical Energy, Water, etc. with
improved environmental conditions resulting in better health conditions for the habitants.

THE CHALLENGES IN CONSTRUCTION OF GREEN BUILDINGS:

Limited Awareness and Lack of Strong Policy and Program on Green Buildings:

Currently there is a limited awareness and lack of strong policy about the construction of Green Buildings. The
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has formally launched Energy Conservation Building Codes (ECBC), in
May 2005 as a provision of the Energy Conservation Act of 2001. As per the Act, ECBC will be mandatory for
buildings with a connected load of 100 KW or a contract demand of 120 KVA (KVA is kilovolt-amps, or volts
times amps divided by 1000 and KVA·PF = KW, where PF= Power Factor) or more. ECBC focuses only on the
operation energy use impact of a building and specific maximum and minimum limitations on a number of key
building features to reduce a buildings energy use. ECBC has both prescriptive and performance based
compliance paths. The prescriptive path specifies the minimum requirements for the buildings and energy
systems (lighting, HVAC, service water, heating and electrical) that should be adopted. While the performance
based compliance path requires the application of whole building simulation approach to prove efficiency over
the base building as defined by the code. ECBC takes into account location and occupancy of the buildings and
provides minimum standards for reducing energy demand of the buildings through design and construction
practices while enhancing the occupants’ comfort. The ECBC document is complementary to the NBC 2005.
Several references to natural ventilation, day lighting, lighting, comfort, and other standards in the document are
also detailed out in the NBC. The sustainability chapter of NBC refers to the ECBC document for specific
energy efficiency standards for buildings and their components. But in spite of all this, there is lack of sufficient
responsiveness. There are various voluntary programmes, voluntary industrial agreements, information
programmes available in myriad forms. But for increasing market penetration of energy efficient products and
processes these programmes must be designed and implemented gigantically to spread the awareness through all
the sections of the society. The participation in this awareness movement and implementation should be carried
out by both central and state government, industries and industry associations through public private partnerships
(PPPs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Market for Commercial Green Buildings:

There is no fully developed Market for commercial Green Buildings and thus there is a need of developing
robust marketing strategies for selling the energy efficient products and processes. With abet of big marketing
business houses to individual doorstep marketing the goal of increasing the popularity of such products and
processes can be achieved. This will lead to the commercial growth of the Green Building market.

Higher costs of Energy Efficient technologies for Green Buildings:

Basically the distaste for the use of energy efficient technologies is because of the high costs of the related
products. Though the initial costs are very high there are equally higher savings in the long run. This fact needs
to be emphasised on the users. But this is a temporary measure and the permanent solution to this problem is the
need of convalescing energy efficient technology for making it available at cheaper prices.

Limited design expertise in the market:

Limited expertise is available for the design and certification of the Green Buildings. Engineers, Architects,
Interior Designers and all the related stakeholders need to be trained for the design of energy efficient buildings.
The training modules are available by the leading agencies in this sphere like CII-Indian Green Building
Council. Apart from this to train the future engineers in this regard the training programmes can be organised by
the educational institutions apart from incorporating this subject in the curricula.

Inadequate implementation services for onsite integration:

Specialised contracting firms should be formed for executing the Green Building Projects. The architect should
facilitate with the various contributors taking into account all aspects of the Green Buildings. The testing
facilities for the Green Building materials need to be developed.

SOLUTIONS BY THE OVERALL DESIGN APPROACH FOR GREEN BUILDINGS:

The overall design approach for construction of Green Buildings is though multifaceted, mainly it is three
pronged. It consists of Management of Energy, Management of Water usage and Management of Waste
generated in the Buildings, thus creating the healthy and soothing environment for habitants.

Management of Energy:

Energy costs are constantly increasing. Building and construction sectors are consuming more than 30% of all
energy produced. Out of this, Residential and commercial buildings account for about 33% of the total
electricity used in India. The details of the residential energy usage are shown in figure 2. HVAC systems take

(Source: National Academy of Sciences)

Figure 2 Residential Energy Usages
up a large portion of 31% of energy resources in household setups. Although, technology has made oil extraction
more efficient, the world has to struggle to provide oil by using increasingly costly and less productive methods
such as deep sea drilling. The prices of coal are increasing. As per McCloskey Coal Information Service, the
Prices of coal in the World Coal Markets have increased by more than 50% in the span of 10 years from year
2000 to 2010, whereas the Reserves to Production (R/P) Ratio for Asia Pacific Region in year 2010 was just
50%. The prices for Natural Gas though not increased much in the span of 10 years from year 2000 to 2010 in
US and Canada Markets they have increased by double to triple fold in UK and Germany Markets. Again if we
think of Asia Pacific Region, in year 2010 the Reserves to Production (R/P) Ratio was about 35%. Thus the
generation of Electric Energy by Oil fired, Coal fired and Natural Gas fired plants is going to become a costlier
affair in the years to come. Hence we have to find the ways of efficient use of Electrical Energy.

Design Methodology

The Energy requirement in the Green Buildings can be reduced by the two design approaches, the one of Active
Solar System Approach and Passive Solar System Approach. In Active Solar System, the conventional energy
requirement is reduced by fulfilling the need of energy by installing Solar Panels and using Solar Cookers, Solar
water heaters. The Passive Solar System requires the measures to be taken from planning stage of the building.
The orientation of the building on the plot is planned East-West. Because the East-West solar path in winter is
lower than that in summer (Figure 3). Thus, in cooler months the lower position of the sun keeps the indoor of
the house warmer and in summer when the afternoon sun is higher the roof or the window weather sheds block

Figure 3 Solar Path and Figure 4 Passive System: Orientation of Building

Building Orientation
the direct sun rays and the hot air entering the home rises up and exits through the windows provided on upper
side of opposite walls by convection. High efficiency walls & roofs in the form of double wall construction and
over-deck roof insulation can be provided. In the double wall construction the openings are adjusted in such a
way that, through the principle of convection and air circulation the requirement of electrical energy can be
reduced (Figure 5). The roofs are provided with over deck insulating materials.

Figure 5 Double Wall Construction for Energy Efficiency

Terrace Garden can be provided in the building which, serves as a Green Roof. In addition to this, on the surface
of terrace exposed to sunlight, high albedo coating can be provided. They are also known as ‘Reflective Roof
Coatings’. They can reduce the surface temperatures by large amount.

Management of Water

Figure 6 World Water Availability (Source: World Water Council)

While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-
fold. Figure 6 depicts that, India falls in the High Stress to Very High Stress Area with respect to withdrawal to
availability ratio. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This
population growth coupled with industrialization and urbanization will result in an increasing demand for water
and will have serious consequences on the environment.

Design Methodology

The Water Management Design Approach is three pronged. It consists of reducing the water usage, storing the
natural water resource in the form of rain water by the method of ‘Rain Water Harvesting’ and Recycling the
Water.

Employ the use of low-flow faucets and shower heads. They utilize aerators, thus consuming about half the
volume of water and providing twice the water flow power as opposed to those provided by standard fixtures.
With ultra-low flush toilets, you can save even more water. They use water almost 50% lesser than the standard
models. While choosing one, look out for a model that poses minimum problems of clogging. Dual-flush toilets
come with two knobs to control the volume of water used. Pressure-assisted toilets utilize compressed air for
efficient flushing, thus saving water too.

The popularity gained by the ‘Rain Water Harvesting Method’ has resulted in its common use for water
conservation. Many Local Bodies have made the method mandatory. But the success of the method depends on
the proper planning by taking into account the quantity and pattern of rainfall at the site under consideration.
Hence, to determine the potential rainwater supply for a given catchment, reliable rainfall data are required,
preferably for a period of at least10 years. Also, it would be far better to use rainfall data from the nearest rain
gauge station. The pattern of rainfall indicates the number of rainy days per annum. The number of annual rainy
days influences the need and design for rainwater harvesting. Another important factor which affects the amount
of water received from Rain Water Harvesting is the Catchment Area Characteristics. Runoff depends upon the
area and type of the catchment over which it falls as well as the surface features. All calculations relating to the
performance of rainwater catchment systems involve the use of runoff coefficient to account for losses due to
spillage, leakage, infiltration, catchment surface wetting and evaporation, which will all contribute to reducing
the amount of runoff. (Runoff coefficient for any catchment is the ratio of the volume of water that runs off a
surface to the volume of rainfall that falls on the surface).

Table 1 Runoff Coefficients for Different Type of Catchments

(Source: Pacey, Arnold and Cullis, Adrian 1989, Rainwater Harvesting: The collection of rainfall and
runoff in rural areas, Intermediate Technology Publications, London)

Type of Catchment Coefficients

Roof Catchments
- Tiles 0.8- 0.9
- Corrugated metal sheets 0.7- 0.9
Ground surface coverings
- Concrete 0.6- 0.8
- Brick pavement 0.5- 0.6
Untreated ground catchments
- Soil on slopes less than 10 per cent 0.0 - 0.3
- Rocky natural catchments 0.2 - 0.5
Untreated ground catchments
- Soil on slopes less than 10 per cent 1.0 - 0.3
- Rocky natural catchments 0.2 - 0.5

Based on the above factors the water harvesting potential of a site could be estimated using the equation given
below.
Water harvesting potential = Rainfall (mm) x Area of catchment x Runoff coefficient
….. (1)
The third method of Water Conservation is by the Recycling of water. The on-site Gray Water Treatment Plant is
the effective solution for recycling of water (Figure 7). The water, after the use of showers, sinks, basins and
washing machines is called as Gray Water. If any significant quantity of food waste enters the system from

Figure 7 Gray Water Treatment Plant (Source: www.graywater.com)

dishwashers and kitchen sinks receiving cooking grease and a fair amount of food residue, this option is
recommended. A typical installation is not very different from a traditional system; but the treated effluent is of
much better quality and does not pollute the surrounding area. Ideally, it should consist of a septic tank for
sludge and grease separation. The separated sludge can thus be removed less frequently (every fourth year
instead of bi-yearly as is standard practice with many conventional systems). The outgoing effluent in the septic
system is anaerobic. Following the septic tank is a sand filter designed for restoration of aerobic conditions. The
final treatment stage leading to purified water of nearly potable-quality is the final treatment in a planter bed.
This is not the most inexpensive solution. It is, however, one of the most effective, simple-to-maintain on-site
treatment techniques available today.

Management of Waste

As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates, around 57 million tonnes per annum of municipal
solid waste (MSW) is generated in the country. The indiscriminate littering and dumping of waste causes severe
health risk to people, either through direct exposure or indirectly through contamination of surface and
groundwater. The unsanitary disposal sites become prolific breeding grounds for insects and rodents, which act
as disease vectors. Burning of garbage in open dumps causes air pollution leading to release of certain extremely
hazardous persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins and furans. Thus, the ways that waste is handled, stored,
collected, and disposed of can pose risks to the environment and to public health. Solid-waste management is a
major challenge in urban areas throughout the world. Solid waste management is the purification, consumption,
reuse, disposal and treatment of solid waste. The task of collecting the generated municipal Solid waste is very
huge and hence if this waste is treated or disposed off at site, the load on the local bodies can be reduced with the
reduction in its effect on environment. In the methods available to do this, two methods are note worthy. One is
popular especially in rural parts of India- Bio Gas Plants for their use as a free source of renewable energy. Not
only does this system provide energy, it also recycles waste, improves public hygiene and controls pollution. The
biogas produced by this product can be used instead of gasoline and other fuels to generate electricity.

The other method which is recently practiced successfully in the city of Pune is the Electricity Generation from
the Solid Waste collected by Municipal Corporation. The Pune Municipal Corporation has set up a biogas plant
at Model Colony in Pune to generate energy for street lights. This is a first of its kind for Pune. The biogas plant
utilises waste generated from the city to power up around 70 street lights for 7 hours daily. The garbage collected
is about 8 tonnes. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has developed the bio-methanisation technique for this
project. After the dry and wet garbage is segregated, the biodegradable wet garbage is used in the plant. The wet
garbage is then segregated at the ramp. It is put into a crusher and then in the digester. On completion of the
process, the by-products are - biogas and slurry. The sludge from the slurry can be used as manure. The Methane
Gas produced in this process is used for power generation.
 Other Miscellaneous Measures in Green Buildings:

In addition to management of Energy, Water and Solid Waste, some other measures are taken for the building to
be Green Building. They include the use of low emitting materials such as adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets,
provision of atriums or skylights and glass partitions for increased natural light and enhanced views, enhanced
lighting and ventilation controls, better controls on HVAC equipments and systems to achieve optimum power
along with better thermal comforts.

CONCLUSIONS:

At present the Civil Engineers are not fully equipped with the complete set of data and design principles for
designing the Green Buildings. The scattered and inadequate information available on various facets of Green
Building products and processes and also about their use at the right places, poses problems in achieving the
maximum efficiency from the Green Buildings. Thus the higher cost coupled with uncertain results from the
technology lead to reluctance about the use of Green Building Technology. To overcome this stumbling block it
is therefore necessary on the threshold to spell out the challenges and issues which need to be resolved. This will
help to focus the key areas which need immediate attention for implementation of Green Building Construction.
This paper discusses the challenges ahead the construction industry in implementing the Green Building Projects
and also suggests the solutions on the issues. The paper, also discusses the major features of the Green Building
like Management of Energy, Management of Water and Management of Solid Waste. At the end it also gives the
suggestions about the broad design principles.

REFERENCES:

BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2011

Tanmay Tathagat, Green Building Policy and Codes, April 2011

Water Crisis, World Water Council, www.worldwatercouncil.org

Report to the People on Environment and Forests, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India,
2009–2010

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