A movement for promoting green buildings picks up pace in India, promising to reduce the high level of carbon emitted by the brick-and-mortar buildings.
Is sustainable zoom zoom possible? For those feeling guilt pangs while zipping off in their cars, there is company. Car companies are feeling the pinch too.
At the 2008 Paris International Motor Show, a lightweight beauty, called Mazda Kiyora, was unveiled. It means “clean and pure” in Japanese and represents the blending of driving pleasure and lesser emission guilt. World Auto Steel has been talking more and more about “sustainable steel,’’ lightweight designs and so on.
Not to be left behind, cement companies are also flaunting their green report cards. Lafarge, the French cement company, is projecting its gypsum division as its green ambassador. Gypsum cuts energy consumption by 80 per cent, according to the company, as it is heat resistant, besides being quake resistant.
These ready-to-use boards can be used along with brick walls and also as standalone walls where the only purpose is to partition rooms. Plus, the boards can be recycled, are ten times lighter than brick and you need 20 times less material to construct a wall. Tha material is also fire proof and can take in sound so well that gypsum board walls can be the best friend of those who want to listen to loud music in the dead of night without getting neighbours at the door.
Recently, industry’s rating system for green buildings, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, modelled after LEED USA, awarded their gypsum boards 14 points for keeping buildings green. And the parent body, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), set up by the Confederation of Indian Industries, made the company an accredited member for its green quotient.
Lafarge’s gypsum division, housed in a plant in Kurukshetra in Haryana, has been waving its green flag ever since as proof of its being a sustainable business. Its only regret is that the government here is yet to promote the material the way some countries have done, bringing emissions down and taking its business skyward. It said, China had banned the use of cement and brick walls in the interiors, while Korea, Malaysia and Thailand had been proactively promoting gypsum. India’s consumption, meanwhile, was the same as that of little Dubai.
By the way, 40 per cent of CO2 emissions are from buildings. Not that buildings or cement emit gases. About three-fourths of these emissions are from the energy that is used in the lifecycle of a building. And what if this consumption is cut by half, what if there is no need to turn on air-conditioners during the day, or if there is natural ventilation for light and fresh air, along with harvested rain water.
The IGBC, started in 2000, has been leading a green building movement, which means promoting buildings with low energy requirement, low water wastage, and other green features.
Today, there are 32 green-rated buildings. Its LEED India ratings have been sought by both private and public sector buildings. Its Green Homes project has been trying to penetrate the housing segment and piloted 50 homes last year. Its target is to register 1,000 buildings annually by 2010, to certify 5,000 green building professionals and to tap the green material market worth Rs 15,000 crore in just two years.
The IGBC believes every architect can do the job. But it is not taking any chances and has been holding design contests for architecture students with the aim of installing a green brick right on campuses.
