Building a Sustainable Future with Smart Design Interventions

Ar. Atul Shah, Founder, Access Architects Is there a growing realization for need of enviro friendly designs among architects? Designing sustainably is one of the most crucial challenges faced by architects with the growing population and climate

BY Realty Plus
Published - Monday, 07 Jun, 2021

Building a Sustainable Future with Smart Design Interventions

Ar. Atul Shah, Founder, Access Architects Is there a growing realization for need of enviro friendly designs among architects? Designing sustainably is one of the most crucial challenges faced by architects with the growing population and climate change. There is a noted conversation to adapt to design ideas that harmoniously work with the environmental surroundings of the building. Longer life spans of structures can be realized with the raising awareness in the use of feasible materials. There has been a deeper understanding of the importance of developing ergonomic spaces. There is a deliberate approach in building structures that emit less carbon footprint & have more eco-friendly design interventions. This also includes planning efficient structures with minimum wastage in spaces. Designing building layouts with coherent spaces helps encourage a more environmentally conscious future in architecture. With the rising demand for spaces in urban cities, architects have to consider user-based design interventions. It is the architect’s responsibility to design for functional, sustainable and user-interactive developments rather than solely focusing on aesthetical needs. How are you working towards resource efficient designing? We follow eco-friendly design building schemes such as employing passive design strategies while considering the sun orientation, climatic conditions, and management of daylight & natural ventilation. We believe that architects should also incorporate active design strategies with highly efficient electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. We makes use of smart glass in structures that provide soothing interiors. While green building practices cost merely a 2 percent increase, they result in better energy efficiency interventions. Is Steel an eco-friendly construction material option? We have incorporated steel in designing most of our recent commercial & residential buildings. Steel as a construction material allows the buildings to have a higher number of floors as per the total height ratio. The beams in steel structures don’t go as deep as RCC to support the floor plate that aids in producing a higher efficiency in structural construction. Steel offers little to no construction waste. With continuous innovation and production techniques of reusable steel, there is a permanent reduction in energy emissions. We recognize that steel’s longevity, versatility, and renewability value grant exceptional construction applications. Steel is best suited for modular construction further spurred by new technological advances. We make it a priority to use steel and precast concrete as construction materials to achieve environmentally friendly structures & increase the ante on sustainability. Like Steel, Precast concrete is environmentally sound and contributes to social responsibility. It causes minimal waste in the process of manufacturing. This is possible due to the precise manufacturing techniques used that produce less wastage. How is technology enabling sustainability? Technological advancement and its easy adaptation towards building design parameters have allowed to design commercial buildings for sustainable and social development. Use of BIM aids in delivering highly functional designs while using maximum FSI. Technology helps break barriers in architecture & design parameters by offering unique viable solutions to complex design challenges.