ARA – 6E SUSTAINABLE

ARCHITECTURE

UNIT 3 : SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS

• Green rating system is scale that validates the
sustainable factor of different buildings.
REFERENCE HEATHER KEIL ENERGY LAW –
SPRING 2008
• LEED project certification - provides
independent, third-party verification that a
building project meets the highest green
building and performance measures
• United States Green Building Council
(USGBC) issued a set of guidelines in 2000
• LEED Professional Accreditation -
building professionals with the knowledge
and skills to successfully steward the LEED
certification process
• Sustainable Building and Construction
Initiative (SBCI) was launched by the
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
in February 2006
 Buildings
• In the United States alone, buildings account for:
– 65% of electricity consumption
– 36% of energy use
– 39% of greenhouse gas emissions
– 30% of raw materials use
– 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually)
– 12% of potable water consumption

• Buildings are one of the heaviest consumers of natural

resources
• Factors that are expediting the growth of green building:
– Unprecedented level of government initiatives
– Heightened residential demand for green construction
– Improvements in sustainable materials
 Benefits of Green Building
• Environmental benefits:
– Enhance and protect
ecosystems and biodiversity

– Improve air and water

quality

– Reduce solid waste

– Conserve natural resources
 Benefits of Green Building
• Economic benefits:
– Reduce operating costs

– Enhance asset value and

profits

– Improve employee
productivity and satisfaction

– Optimize life-cycle
economic performance
 Benefits of Green Building
• Health and community
benefits:
– Improve air, thermal, and
acoustic environments

– Enhance occupant comfort

and health

– Minimize strain on local

infrastructure

– Contribute to overall quality

of life
 LEED for Homes
• LEED for Homes Checklist
• 8 categories:
– Innovation and Design Process
(ID)
– Location and Linkages (LL)
– Sustainable Sites (SS)
– Water Efficiency (WE)
– Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
– Materials and Resources (MR)
– Indoor Environmental Air Quality
(EQ)
– Awareness and Education (AE)
• Rating:
– Certified: 45-59
– Silver: 60-74
– Gold: 75-89
– Platinum: 90-136
• Initiative for Affordable Housing
 LEED for New Construction
• LEED-NC Rating System is designed to guide and distinguish high-
performance commercial and institutional projects
• Includes office buildings, high-rise residential buildings, government
buildings, recreational facilities, manufacturing plants, and
laboratories
• Rating:
– Certified: 26-32 points
– Silver: 33-38 points
– Gold: 39-51 points
– Platinum: 52-69 points

• LEED-New Construction (NC) buildings are delivering anticipated

energy savings
• LEED energy use is 25-30% better than the national average
 LEED for Existing Buildings
• The LEED for Existing Buildings Rating
System helps building owners and
operators measure operations,
improvements and maintenance on a
consistent scale, with the goal of
maximizing operational efficiency while
minimizing environmental impacts

• Addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues

(including chemical use), recycling programs, exterior maintenance
programs, and systems upgrades

• It can be applied both to existing buildings seeking LEED

certification for the first time and to projects previously certified
under LEED for New Construction or Core & Shell
 LEED for Commercial Interiors
• LEED for Commercial Interiors is
the green benchmark for the
tenant improvement market
(office, retail, and institutional
buildings)
• Tenants who lease their space or
do not occupy the entire building
can LEED certify their space as a
green interior
• Benefits:
– Healthy, productive places to work
– Less costly to operate and maintain
– Have a reduced environmental
footprint
 LEED for Core & Shell
• Complementary to the LEED for Commercial
Interiors rating system

• Acknowledges the limitations of developers

in a speculatively developed building and
encourages the implementation of green
design and construction practices in areas
over which the developer has control

• Developers can often implement green

•Core and shell covers base building
elements such as structure, envelope
and the HVAC system
• Works to set up a synergistic relationship,
•Core and shell covers base building
elements such as structure, envelope
and the HVAC system
strategies that indirectly benefit future
tenants. Conversely, developers can
inadvertently implement strategies
that prohibit tenants from executing green fit-
outs
which allows future tenants to capitalize on
green strategies implemented by the
developer
 LEED for Schools
• Recognizes the unique nature of
school spaces and children’s health
issues

• Addresses issues such as

classroom acoustics, master
planning, mold prevention and
environmental site assessment

• Green schools are productive

learning environments with ample
natural light, high-quality acoustics
and air that is safe to breathe

• Green schools nurture children

while saving money
LEED for Retail
• LEED for Retail is in Pilot

• Recognizes the unique nature of

the retail environment and
addresses the different types of
spaces that retailers need for
their distinctive product lines. 

• USGBC and over 80 Pilot project

teams are collaborating to create
two new rating systems:
– LEED for Retail: New
Construction
– LEED for Retail: Commercial
Interiors
LEED for Healthcare
• Developed to meet the unique needs of the
health care market, including inpatient care
facilities, licensed outpatient care facilities,
and licensed long term care facilities
• It may also be used for medical offices,
assisted living facilities and medical
education & research centers
• Addresses issues such as increased
sensitivity to chemicals and pollutants,
traveling distances from parking facilities,
and access to natural spaces
• Represents a culmination of four years of
close collaboration between the Green
Guide for Healthcare (GGHC) and USGBC.  
 LEED for Neighborhood Development
• The LEED for Neighborhood
Development Rating System is currently
in its pilot period

• It integrates the principles of smart

growth, urbanism and green building
into the first national system for
neighborhood design

• Purposes:
– Reduce urban sprawl
– Encourage healthy living
– Protect threatened species

• A collaboration among USGBC, the

Congress for the New Urbanism and
the Natural Resources Defense Council
 Federal/State Requirements
• The system is rapidly spreading –
federal departments and agencies
and state and local governments
are adopting LEED as a guideline
or are adopting other LEED
incentives
• The federal government now
requires that new official buildings
above a certain size be LEED-
certified
• Several cities have adopted similar
measures
LEED – The System

- LEED was a step in the

right direction
- Created a national
standard, providing reliable
information, a rigorous
rating system, and a
checklist for going green

- However, there are serious

problems
 Problems with LEED
- LEED has become expensive, slow, confusing, and unwieldy,
resulting in:
- Mediocre green buildings where certification, not environmental
responsibility is the primary goal

- A few super high level eco-structures built by ultra motivated and

wealthy owners – stand as a beacon of impossibility

- Explosion of LEED certified architects and engineers chasing lots of

money but designing few buildings

- Discouraged group of professionals who want to build green but

cant afford to certify their buildings
Problems with LEED
• System is easy to manipulate

• Focus on points, not environmental benefits

– points game
– get the PR benefits of a green project without
actually having the most environmentally
friendly building
- a $395 bike rack and a multimillion-dollar low-
energy A.C. system both get one point

• Basic certification is too low a hurdle to merit

the green stamp of approval
– developers can rack up the minimum number
of needed points without going much beyond
the requirements
 Problems with LEED
• System does not consider
regional differences
– Water conservation is more
important in some areas

• Neglects the importance of a

building’s life cycle

• Location is not emphasized

enough

• No penalties for non-compliance

after certification
 Cost Problems
• Developers have to bring in many consultants
and reviewers to approve each step

• Can significantly raise building costs

• The USGBC's fees for registration range from

$750 to $3,750, and certification runs from
$1,500 to $7,500, depending on the size of the
building.

• The big costs come in the form of energy

modeling, commissioning, and other
requirements of certification; these can run
into the tens of thousands of dollars,
according to architects and developers
LEED – the future
• The idea behind LEED is a worthy
goal, there have just been
problems in the execution
• LEED does not guarantee energy
efficiency
• Some critics argue that the basic
certification is too low a hurdle to
merit the green stamp of approval
– developers can rack up the
minimum number of needed points
without going much beyond the
requirements
 Solutions to LEED
• Shift the focus from points to environmental benefits:
– Make more critical credits mandatory (energy efficiency)

• If the cost of LEED continues to go up, then ppl will stop

seeking LEED certification
– Provide for additional cost cuts

• The USGBC is working to address member concerns and

refine LEED while broadening it to cover more types of
building projects

• LEED in an ongoing project, constantly being revised and

approved upon
 Three primary rating systems for Green buildings in India

• Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA)

• Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is India’s own rating
system jointly developed by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy, Government of India. It is a green building design evaluation system
where buildings are rated in a three-tier process. The process initiates with
the online submission of documents as per the prescribed criteria followed
by on site visit and evaluation of the building by a team of professionals and
experts from GRIHA Secretariat.  GRIHA rating system consists of 34 criteria
categorised in four different sections. Some of them are  –
• ( 1) Site selection and site planning, (2) Conservation and efficient utilization
of resources, (3) Building operation and maintenance, and (4) Innovation.
• Commonwealth Games Village, New Delhi, Fortis Hospital, New Delhi, CESE
(Centre for Environmental Sciences & Engineering) Bldg, IIT Kanpur, Suzlon
One Earth, Pune  and many other buildings has received GRIHA rating
• The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is the rating system
developed for certifying Green Buildings. LEED is developed by the U.S.
Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization promoting sustainability
through Green Buildings. LEED is a framework for assessing building
performance against set criteria and standard points of references. The
benchmarks for the LEED Green Building Rating System were developed in
year 2000 and are currently available for new and existing constructions.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) formed the Indian Green Building
Council (IGBC) in year 2001.  IGBC is the non profit research institution
having its offices in CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, which is itself
a LEED certified Green building. Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has
licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the USGBC. IGBC facilitates
Indian green structures to become one of the green buildings.
•  IGBC has developed the following green building rating systems for different
types of building in line and conformity with US Green Building Council. Till
date, following Green Building rating systems are available under IGBC
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)
• BEE developed its own rating system for the buildings
based on a 1 to 5 star scale. More stars mean more
energy efficiency.   BEE has developed the Energy
Performance Index (EPI). The unit of Kilo watt hours per
square meter per year is considered for rating the building
and especially targets air conditioned and non-air
conditioned office buildings. The Reserve Bank of India’s
buildings in Delhi and Bhubaneshwar, the CII Sohrabji
Godrej Green Business Centre and many other buildings
have received BEE 5 star ratings
EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
 General Details

Project name : CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre

(CII - Godrej GBC) 

Architect : Karan Grover & Associates

Investor / Owner: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Project built date: 2004

Area of project : 5 acres

Built up Area : Built Up Area : 20000 sq ft

 Large area for landscape to enhance micro climate and for visual delight

Environmental Management
Environmental Management
 CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CII - Godrej GBC) 

• one of the 10 Centres of Excellences of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

• CII - Godrej GBC offers advisory services to the industry in the areas of Green
buildings, energy efficiency, water management, environmental management,
renewable energy, Green business incubation and climate change activities. 

• The Centre is housed in a GREEN BUILDING which received the prestigious LEED

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Rating in 2003. This
was the first Platinum rated Green Building outside of U.S.A and the third in the
world. The Centre was inaugurated by H.E Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, the then
President of India, on July 14, 2004.

Environmental Management
 WHY – CIRCULAR ?

Unrestricted
circulation of Air

The ROUND shape can

support the concrete At least 10 times
Limitless flexibility roof which gives strong then
of design layout uncompromised convectional square
strength & security from construction
any kind of disaster

Takes advantage of
views which is
present

Environmental Management
Climatic Design for Wind & Ventilation

Environmental Management
 Materials used & Green Facts

• Concrete used for construction has 15% fly ash and 20% GGBS

• Bagasse Board – by product of sugarcane industry-a good substitute for

plywood or Particle Board It has wide usage for making partitions, furniture
etc.
• Eco-friendly method - does not involve any harm to the timbers, unlike
plywood.
• 66% (by cost) of the material was sourced within a radius of 800 km.
• Of this, 95 % of the raw material was extracted or harvested locally.
• An impressive 77 % of the building materials use recycled content in the form
of fly ash, broken glass, broken tiles, recycled paper, recycled aluminum, cinder
from industrial furnaces, bagasse, mineral fibres, cellulose fibres, and quarry
dust.
• Low VOC paints have also been applied

Environmental Management
 • Lighter than clay bricks.
• High strength, practically no breakage
during transport
• Uniform size of bricks reduces mortar
required for joints and plaster by 50%.
• Lower water penetration, considerably
reducing seepage of water through Bricks.
• 65% walls in GBC are constructed with this
material

Environmental Management
 Ground Hugging Construction

VS

• Like most olden systems of construction, structures are kept ground

hugging ensuring natural modulation of microclimate and creating
more interaction with nature.

• Gives a sense of being close to nature

Environmental Management
 Green Roof & Water conservation

• The green roof assists in increasing the lifespan of the roof and reducing the
heat island effect.

• Rainwater collection and reuse.

• Waste-water and rainwater run-off is 100 % recycled and redirected to one of

three ponds, to be used for domestic purposes.

• 35 % reduction of municipally supplied potable water.

Environmental Management
Environmental Management
Passive Ventilation – wind tower

• High efficiency HVAC system

• Passive cooling system using wind

towers.

• Use of aerated concrete blocks for

façades to reduces the load on
air-conditioning by 15% to 20 %

• This technique can be found in

Persian architectural building
constructions.

Environmental Management
 • A Wind catcher, Wind scoop
or Badgir is a traditional
Persian architectural element
to create natural ventilation in
buildings

• Energy savings are achieved by

the GBCs two wind towers.

• Air, cooled by up to 8 ^C, is

supplied to the AHUs,
substantially reducing the load
on the air conditioning system.

• A heavily insulated roof further

reduces the cooling load.

Environmental Management
 ENERGY FACTS

• 1,022 m² of green roof, with vegetation

covering 60 % of the total roof surface.

• The remaining portion of the roof is covered

by PV panels, meeting 20 % of the total
energy necessities of the building.

• Double-glazed units with argon gas filling to

enhance the thermal properties of windows.

• Energy-efficient lighting systems and

compact fluorescent  light bulbs.

Environmental Management
Instead of using regular windows a mesh type ventilation is made
of Bricks for fresh and cold breeze to enter Corridors

Environmental Management
 • Most of the path ways
laid in landscaping are
stones/tiles which were
left over materials in
other construction.

• All of the new wood used was

sustainably harvested, as
certified by the Forest
Stewardship Council.

• A waste management plan in

hand made it possible to
recycle 96% of Construction
waste.

Environmental Management
• Some rainwater goes into the soil by the use of permeable grid pavers.

• The remaining rainwater follows existing flow patterns and is collected in a

water pond another traditional method of rain water harvesting, constructed at
a lower end of the site.

• All wastewater generated - recycled by "root zone treatment" simultaneously

irrigates the vegetation.

• Attractive alternative for wastewater management

• Enhances the Landscape

Environmental Management
 Light & Ventilation

• Building layout ensures that 90 % of spaces have daylight access

and views to the outside.

• North facades are glazed for efficient diffused light.

• Low heat transmitting glass used.

• Double glass to further reduce heat gain.

• Natural lighting - no lights are used until late in the evening.

• Minimum lux levels for all work stations have been ensured.

Environmental Management
Environmental Management
 LEEDS & IGBC
The First LEED Platinum Rated Building in India – CII Godrej GBC

LEED India for New Construction

LEED India for Core and Shell
IGBC Green Homes
IGBC Green Factory Building
IGBC Green SEZ
IGBC Green Townships

 India stands 5th among the top five countries in the world in pursuing the green path.

Environmental Management
THANK YOU!!!