Green promo or truly green
Ar Shirish Beri -
With their overuse, the words ‘sustainability’ and ‘green’ seem to have lost some of their true meaning and significance. True sustainability is born out of and can only be sustained by our attitudes & values in life.
Do we view this world around us as an extension of ourself and ourself as an integral and inseparably interconnected part of it?
Only then would we have some reverence for everything in this world. An attitude of caring and concern would emerge, not only for the present generation but for the generations to come. Would they inhabit a clean, green, plentiful world?
This attitude would help us understand the beauty of simplicity and spontaneity in our lives. A simple life style can only be considered truly sustainable.
Today we see people who consume so much energy and resources by their greedy, flashy lifestyle are talking about sustainability. There are people who exploit these trendy words ‘green’ and ‘sustainability’ to increase their own profits which would allow them to consume more and more, which is actually greenwashing rather than truly green.
Instead of learning from the mistakes of the over consumptive developed countries, we see today an alarming growth in energy consumption of the developing countries. Whereas the growth in energy consumption in U.S.A is 1.3%, this growth in the developing countries has risen to 4.3%. The construction industry which consumes almost 50% of the total global energy has grown by 5% in the west as compared to 10% in the developing countries.
This must make us all – especially those connected with the building industry to introspect. We must understand and reduce this consumption of building related energy at three levels.
1. The end use energy –
This is the actual energy – electricity used by us to illuminate, cool, heat our homes, workplaces and public spaces. It is the energy used to run our gadgets, equipments, vehicles and so on. We must understand that electricity and fuel generation are very polluting activities.
The green approach to enduse energy –
Adopting a simple lifestyle that uses less energy for different gadgets, vehicles etc would be the true ‘green’ beginning.
Designing and constructing buildings which are well lit, ventilated, insulated would be the second step. Using the right materials for achieving this would also be important. A simple overhand shading a window can be much more effective than an expensive heat absorbent glass.
Using construction processes that consume less energy during the construction would also contribute to the ‘greenness’ of the building.
Appropriate landscaping, plantations would also help conserve this end use energy.
2. Embodied Energy –
This is the energy embodied in any building material or product that we use. This energy is arrived at by adding up the different energies used to make it – right from the extraction of the raw material (+ sometimes creation of the raw material), transporting to the initial processing plant, the actual initial process, mixing with other materials, transporting it to the manufacturing plant, production, packaging, administrative overheads, transportation to the main company outlet, then to the dealers, storage, display etc, and finally the transportation to the actual site for use.
The amount of carbon dioxide emission and pollution created in this process is also noteworthy. As an example, the embodied energy of cement would be
The amount of carbon dioxide emission and pollution created in this process is also noteworthy. As an example, the embodied energy of cement would be 5 -10 times more than that of brick and that of P.V.C or aluminum would be 100 t0 150 times that of brick.
The green approach to embodied energy –
Using materials that have less embodied energy should be encouraged – Local, indigenous materials rather than highly processed, imported ones would be ideal for sustainability.
Use of discarded material wastes, used building components and by – products will also enhance the green cause.
Retrofitting and using old buildings for modern functions instead of building new ones would help too.
Resource consumption can be reduced by creating multiple use spaces. These spaces used at different times of the day for different functions will increase the utilization factor of a space too.
Water catchment and growing food on the site itself will also reduce the embodied energy in water and food.
3. Renewable energy –
The easiest form of this energy is found in solar radiation and wind which can be used to produce electricity, heating and cooling. We need to assess the embodied energy used while converting the solar and wind energy to electricity or heat.
The conversion of sewage to gas / manure and recycled water will also strengthen a sustainable habitat.
The purest form of this renewable solar energy is that which is used by plants in photosynthesis to create food from themselves. Thus, large energy plantations would also provide the cheapest green, renewable energy to us.
The green approach to renewable energy –
Plantations on a large scale, heat and electricity generated by wind and solar power, recycling of wastes and thereby maximizing the use of renewable energy would make our habitats more sustainable and green.
There are some myths about green buildings which need to be dispelled – such as:
- Green buildings are expensive
- Green buildings have to be air conditional
- Construction of green building takes more time.
Analysis of various case studies gives us the facts which do not confirm to the above statements.
Promoters and builders should concentrate on simple, common sense wisdom and create buildings that reduce the reliance on end use energy, minimize embodied energy and maximize renewable energy chimneys, Jacuzzis, scooters, cars, shopping malls, theatres etc.
How can the promoters and builders ensure that the real estate balloon is not burst by their own severe, unsustainable practices and impacts?
As the scale of their activity is large, can the Promoters & builders association of Kolhapur take up this challenge of creating of truly green habitats and environments? |
