Green Building Solutions: Photovoltaic Power Station

One of the major objective of green building or a green renovation is the energy efficiency. Photovoltaic panels can be a key ingredient in energy self-sufficiency. To convert sunlight into electricity, a photovoltaic power station is installed on rooftops of residential or commercial buildings. This system uses one or more photovoltaic panels and include photovoltaic modules, mounting systems, cables, Solar inverters and other electrical accessories.

The photovoltaic power systems don’t need much attention once installed since there are no moving parts. They are durable and work for at least 20 years. A photovoltaic power station prevents costly power failures when constant power is essential and are reliable and sturdy even in harsh conditions. Operates silently and with minimal movement, these power stations on your roof do not require the use of combustible fuels and are very safe when properly designed and installed.

Many people now advocate that the installation of photovoltaic power systems should be made mandatory on all buildings. The PV system is eco-friendly, helps in controlling global warming and no doubt saves money for the user in the long run.

The Effects of Modern Society on Architecture

Architecture reflects the religious, political and social values of the day. John Ruskin, once in his speech "Traffic", declared that a society's art and architecture directly reflects the morals and values of the people who dwell in and use its buildings.

It has always been said that the architecture is a product or mirror of the society and it also reflects the culture identity of the country. But do you think Modern Architecture still reflects our society?

The concern for environment and energy efficiency has created the need for 'Green' architecture. Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

The environment and energy efficiency are concerns of the modern society and these concerns have impacted the architects and modern architecture. Similarly, architecture has a central role to play in developing housing that meets the challenges of contemporary urbanism.

Green Buildings Gain Momentum in Indian Cities

The Indian cities have been plagued with numerous environmental problems because of increasing population, escalating economic development and migration from rural areas. The health and well-being of its residents, therefore, gets negatively affected. The demand for residential buildings which offers better environmental quality and have facilities that reduce environmental pollution and have provision for energy efficiency, water conservation and waste management processes are increasing.

The buildings in India consumes one-third of the country’s total electricity. According to BEE, lighting and air-conditioning use 80 per cent of the energy in commercial buildings, while fans and refrigerators guzzle maximum energy in residential buildings. The lifestyle of residents of cities have changed the electric appliance market. The National Habitat Standard Mission states that building energy consumption has increased from 14 per cent in 1970 to 33 per cent in 2004-05.

  

Green architecture ensures that the buildings are constructed in a way that the threshold level of water and energy requirements are low and waste is minimized, while the comfort level is improved. Now, there are enormous opportunities for innovation in energy-efficient technology and market, too, have taken notice of green building policies and thus abuzz with green building products for lighting, insulation and glazing.

Give attention to architect's advise before you select concrete blocks and vitrified tiles, plastering surfaces with cement and painting them. Green building is common sense and a mix of nature and modern science.

Solar Control - Reducing Energy Consumption

Architects can help create more sustainable cities by designing buildings that use less energy. One of the efficient methods of reducing the energy required for air conditioning and electrical lighting is by controlling how much direct sunlight enters a building. Sustainable architecture consider and incorporates solar control methods while designing green buildings.

The intelligent use of solar shading like venetian blinds, roller shades, brise soleil, and louvers - horizontal or vertical also helps in reducing energy usage. The need for air conditioning is also minimized by cutting down on the amount of direct sunlight that enters a building at the exterior glass wall. Similarly, the need for artificial lighting is also eliminated all through the day by using these installations. 

Cocoon structure can help design sustainable buildings for extreme temperature conditions

The cocoon, according to a team of scientists at IIT-Kanpur, is an architectural marvel that can help design sustainable buildings for extreme temperature conditions. They say that architects should look at nature to build temperature regulated green homes. The team studied how the cocoon creates optimum temperature and living conditions within the cocoon. The scientists were also intrigued that how pupa is in a cocoon for a dormant phase of a few weeks to months and then a healthy, adult moth emerges from it!

The study by the team found that the cocoon membrane is asymmetric; it allows preferential gating of CO2 from inside to outside and this allows CO2 to pass out from inside the cocoon but not the other way round. Hence, there is no build up of CO2 inside the cocoon. Also, the temperature within the cocoon is also regulated, irrespective of the temperature outside. 

To study how the cocoon responds to extreme temperatures, cocoons were exposed to two extreme natural temperature regimes of 5 and 50 degree C, but a temperature of 25 and 34 degree C respectively were maintained inside the cocoons. It was found that CO2 gating and thermo-regulation helps in maintaining an ambient atmosphere inside the cocoon for the growth of pupa.

The study concludes that cocoon is an architectural wonder that can help design sustainable buildings for extreme temperature conditions. The study was published recently in the Biointerphases journal.

All For One Goal

Experience isn't the only secret of success for any organization. There's another factor also and it's teamwork. Working as a team, we have one common goal - to serve our community and clients through architecture. It is important to have contributions from everyone. And therefore, we value each other and need everybody's perspectives.

Design Atelier boasts of a highly qualified team whose expertise matches the project scope and consists of multidisciplinary staff and technical partners. We have highly qualified professionals in the areas of Architecture, Landscape, Urban & Environmental Design, Strategic Planning & Communication, Structural Engineering, Air Conditioning, Electrical Engineering, Civil and Public Health Engineering, Project & Construction Management.   

We continue to expand our multi-disciplinary teams and technical partners of over 50 professionals to solve design challenges.

Meet the people

- Aashish V. Karode

- Sushil L. Karer

- Pawan Bangali

- Jaspal Singh

- Vivek K. Srivastava

- Prosenjit Banerjee

- Madhvi Gogia

We want to leave good marks on the earth and would like to measure our work by the pleasure of the lives lived in our buildings and projects. Click Here to meet our people.

India: Green building footprint to touch 2 billion sq ft by 2015

The concept of green buildings is gaining ground among developers of India and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) believes that green building footprint to touch 2 billion sq ft by 2015. According to IGBC, 1,745 eco-friendly building projects with over 1.21 billion sq ft of green footprint are registered with the council.

"Green buildings consume 40-50 percent less energy and 20-30 percent less water. Besides, the intangible benefits of green buildings include better indoor air quality, enhanced ventilation, better view and ample sunlight that significantly improve the productivity of the occupants," says Gurmit Singh Arora, vice chairman of IGBC Mumbai chapter.

Though the building cost of a green building may be marginally (3 to 5%) higher than the conventional building, but the incremental cost gets paid back within two-three years with substantial reduction in operational costs. Developers have realized the importance of the green concept as it also offers them a good financial business model.

Energy is the first step to green

Most architects would agree that a green building must be an energy efficient building. To be energy efficient, green buildings must include measures to reduce energy consumption. Over the years, embodied energy has assumed more importance and they make up for as much as 30% of the overall life cycle energy consumption. For instance, a study by the U.S. LCI Database Project reports that the buildings built primarily with wood will have a lower embodied energy than those built primarily with brick, concrete or steel. Green architects recommends passive solar building design. They will orient windows and walls and place awnings, porches, and trees to shade windows and roofs during the summer while maximizing solar gain in the winter. Similarly, windows are placed effectively to attract natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting during the day. Solar water heating further reduces energy costs. 

Also, energy efficient buildings must also be water and building material efficient. Reducing water consumption and protecting water quality should be key objectives of these buildings. Green architecture also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials used during construction. Rain water harvesting is also a good idea.

A restaurant has to be a memorable experience not only for its food but also interiors!

The interiors for a restaurant has to be a memorable experience! An interior designer would start his thinking process with defining what the brand is, where the space is positioned and who is the target audience. The interiors of a restaurant will actually create original food experiences. Therefore, its is wiser to use a far wider range of colours to fulfil any demands from the brand identity.

The work of an interior designer, according to a Wikipedia entry on interior design, draws upon many disciplines including environmental psychology, architecture, product design, and traditional decoration (aesthetics and cosmetics).

Each restaurant project (by Design Atelier) is a signature design, differentiated by architectural elements, finishes, furnishings, accessories, lighting and art to create style, image and an inviting ambiance.

Stepwells (Bawdi) for Natural Cooling of Buildings

A bawdi or stepwell is a small body of water that is constructed either below ground or surrounded by walls above ground. The nearby spaces gets cooled when the water in the enclosed area evaporates. Stepwells are certainly one of India's most unique, but little-known, contributions to green architecture. 

The architecture of these stepwells clearly suggests that these structures were not only used for rain water harvesting but also provided relief from daytime heat. The ancient cooling techniques of stepwells could be adapted in modern architecture as natural way of cooling the buildings. Even if air-conditioners are used in the building planned with the ancient cooling techniques, they will consume significantly less energy as the temperatures will be low in these building because of the natural air chilling.