TECHNOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY CONVERGENCE
Ar. Vivek Rathore, Design Principal, Salient Design Studio said if we talk quantitatively, building construction consumes 40 percent of the resources I.e. energy and physical resources. In comparison, in last 20 years how many trees have we actually planted in our projects. Are we really leaving enough fresh air for the future generation?” Ar. Anjan Mitra, Principal Architect & Urban Designer, The Appropriate Alternative expressed that rather than building anew, the emphasis should be on restoring and conserving what already exists. “The moment we try to displace any development, we are consuming natural resources. Even the word sustainability is a misunderstood term as it changes from person to person and from economic, social and cultural context.” Ar. Shakuntala Ghosh, Principal Architect & Partner, Ghosh Bose & Associates & Immediate Past Chairperson, IGBC Kolkata Chapter added, “The awareness for building sustainably is growing among the real estate community and India is now at the forefront in terms of number of green buildings in the world. I believe AI is a game changer that will make our buildings more intelligent and help save water, electricity and improve air quality.” Manash Singh Roy, Director, Practice Design Pvt. Ltd was of the view that apart from green ratings creating an awareness about the benefits of building green, infrastructure planning is also important. “Like planned development of Rajarhat, similar infrastructure development should happen in other places first and then development. There should be infrastructure planning byelaws too.” Bipratip Dhar, Founder & Principal Architect, Epsilon stated, “The common tendency today is to first create a problem and then find a solution. Design is of an esse nce. If we can incorporate natural light and ventilation, much of the building’s reliance on artificial lighting and air-conditioning goes down.” Ar. Ayan Sen, Founder, Ayan Sen Architects Urban Planners & Designer concurred, “Projects need to be very contextual and be inspired from the landscape around – from natural vegetation to water and air flow. At the macro level, the neighbourhood planning can help maximize use of natural resources and minimize wastage.” CHANGING THE MINDSETS Manash Singh Roy shared, “There is a need to update our building byelaws. Also reducing the cost of eco-friendly materials will increase their adoption. For instance, building integrated photo voltaic for the facades is a fantastic source of renewable energy but the cost is a deterrent. Bipratip Dhar gave an example, “New Town Development Authority allows 8 percent green area in the project and I wanted to increase the green area by reducing the driveway area, but the plan did not get sanctioned because the people sitting at that desk are trained only to follow the rule. So the planning department officials need to be updated and trained on the new ways of building.” Ar. Ayan Sen agreed, “There has to be a collective effort towards changing the mind-sets, from designers, developers to government authorities.” Anjan Mitra added, “Engaging the planning departments at city level and even at the semi-urban and villages level is important if we want to drive down the sustainability goals to all levels of development.” Ar. Vivek Rathore suggested, “We can have Apps to measure how much a person travels by walking or cycling and offer monetary benefits on that or increase property tax in tandem with the construction materials sourced locally, from a distance of far away.” Ar. Shakuntala Ghosh concluded with saying, “Design is the core to building sustainably. It is the starting point for eco-friendly construction and tech enabled operations of any development.” The repurposing of architecture extends life of existing building, reducing embodied carbon, compared to new construction. Proper land-use is critical so as not to overburden the utility infrastructure and to provide quality buildings and living. AI driven building management system can help in achieving Net Zero Water, Net Zero Energy, Net Zero Waste and Carbon Neutrality. Looking into your own roots can give us a course correction of building environment sensitively.
Tags : technology sustainability convergence lifestyles technology goal future Ar. Vivek Rathore Design Principal Salient Design Studio Ar. Anjan Mitra Principal Architect & Urban Designer The Appropriate Alternative Ar. Shakuntala Ghosh Principal Architect & Partner Ghosh Bose & Associates & Immediate Past Chairperson IGBC Kolkata Chapter Manash Singh Roy Director Practice Design Pvt. Ltd Bipratip Dhar Founder & Principal Architect Epsilon Ar. Ayan Sen Founder Ayan Sen Architects Urban Planners & Designer