Building keeping in mind the environment. Photo credit: Satya Prakash Varanasi
How many of us common people consider climate as an important factor for survival?
Climate change has been one of the major issues discussed globally during the last 25 years, largely when the IPCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, CoP or Conference of the Parties (conference of world leaders and experts) and Green buildings movement started. The recent COP held in Egypt also continued with disappointing performances and promises.
The construction industry contributes up to one-third of GHGs, or green-house gases, which cause global warming, hence climate change. One bag of cement generates up to 10 bags of waste, causing about 7% of GHGs, and steel together emits up to 15% of GHGs. There are 4 more products with these two. Glass, aluminum, plastic and chemical paint are 6 building materials that are deadly to Mother Nature, yet widely used.
Many people today are aware of these implications, yet are not aware of the actions and solutions in the design, architecture and construction industry. This essay lists some ideas that can be implemented.
1. Regional Design Approach
The design typology around the site would have evolved from the context, hence from the nature. Not that there weren’t problems with the historic designs, but they were resolved as ideas progressed and buildings were time-tested for performance and efficiency. To ignore the past and blindly follow modernity is the tragedy of our times.
2. Site-specific plans
Travel around our state or nation, modern buildings look alike without any regard for context. How can the same scheme be equally effective in Mangaluru or Meghalaya? Ecological buildings must be local without exception. Land slope, orientation, soil type, water issues, wind flow, solar heat and such others are to decide the design, not us.
3. Relevant building materials
Every material is available everywhere today, of course at the cost of nature due to transportation, wastage and mismatch with the local climate. Traditional buildings with local materials had low embodied energy, minimal cost, ease of construction, climate compatibility and available skill sets.
4. Minimize manufactured materials
Technology has enabled mass production of some materials to achieve low costs. Coupled with the ease of transportation, they are dominating the construction industry. Globalization introduced branded goods from abroad, further harming the idea of energy efficiency in construction. Most of these materials have created a new image or imported new images have demanded such built materials, which together make buildings enemies of nature. Produced things have to be destroyed one day while natural things remain.
5. Recycling
Nature survives on the regeneration of plants, the life cycle of animals, the repetition of the seasons, and essentially the return to Earth from time to time. Unfortunately, our manufactured building materials do not comply with any of these rules. Cities are seeing an increase in the demolition of buildings, with landfills as the main means of disposal, although rubble is a valuable reused material. However, it is easy to manufacture with construction waste mainly because current approaches do not consider this as a possibility.
6. Different types of plans
One of the major myths about eco-friendly buildings is that using natural wall materials is all that is achieved. Yes, it helps a lot, but overall eco-design has to start with planning. Our elders mostly made square or rectangular plans, subdividing them into smaller rectangles and calling each a room. Whether at home or school, a similar approach was adopted, with corridors or courtyards inserted as needed, yet most such plans were functional. But nowadays, too many rigid plans are being drawn up, making the building a box, which is not necessarily ecological.
Ecological architecture as a discipline is picking up in some cities, but little by little. Currently more visible in residential, recreational and some institutional architectures, it is definitely a route towards a safe and sustainable future.
(The author is an architect working on eco-friendly designs and can be contacted at varanashi@gmail.com)