04-Sustainablehomes

Introduction of Er. P. Surya Prakash

VISION: To See Civil Engineering Profession in Best Standards.

MISSION: To Use All Forums-Academics, R&D, Professional
Bodies to Enhance Standards.
GOAL: To be a Prime Mover.

Born in 1964 at Razole, E.G. District, Andhra Pradesh

Graduated in:
B.Tech (Civil Engineering) from JNTU, Kakinada 1982-86
M.S. by Research in Structural Engineering from I.I.T., Madras 198790
Worked in Dr. B.V.S. Consultants & I.M.I. Engg. Ltd., 1990 to 1994
Founder & Head of the following S.V. Group of Companies, having
430 employees, since 1994

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SatyaVani Projects
And Consultants

Specialized Consultancy Services for

Architectural,

Structural

Design

Engineering and Project Management of

Pvt. Ltd.

Residential & Commercial Buildings, IT

Parks, Industrial Projects, Bridges, Roads
and Pre-cast Projects in USA & Middle
East Countries Etc.
Design

of

Steel

Lattice

Towers

for

Microwave & Power Transmission

Inspection and Audit of Foundation and
Erection of Microwave Communication
Towers.
Build Infotech
Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Software Company dedicated exclusively

to Construction Industry Solutions.
Developed

Products

&

Portal

for

Construction Industry & ERP Solutions

for SMES.
SatyaVani HOMES
Pvt Ltd

Holding Company of SatyaVani HOMES,

SatyaVani

HOMES-JV,

Usha

Shree

HOMES dedicated for development &

Construction of Residential Apartments,
Independent Villas, Shopping Malls
Office

Complexes

with

Green

and

Homes

Concept.
Designed

about

Million

Sqft.

Of

affordable housing which are in the

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process of being constructed with Green

Homes concept.
Presented Papers on
Subject
Advanced Computer Aided
1990
Analysis
Computer Aided Design
1991
Software
Expert ware in Tower Design

Forum

Year

GITAM, Bangalore

ACCE, Hyderabad

CPRI, Bangalore

1992

Steel Intensive Construction

INSDAG

1998

E-Governance in Departments

Institution of
Engrs., Hyderabad.

2000

Agent Systems in Building

Services

Institution of Engineers, 2000

India-Nagpur.

Project Management

NCCBM, Hyderabad

2000

Emerging Trends in
Civil Engineering

IITM, Chennai

2000

Building Services Automation

2001

JNTU, School of
Planning, Hyderabad

Experiences from Gujarat

Earth Quake

ACCE & Builders

Forum, Hyderabad.

International Conference on Steel

& Spatial Structures

C I Premiere,Singapore 2002

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2001

04-Sustainablehomes

Software for Construction

Management

RCCE2002

Invited Lecture in Workshop on

GVP
Transmission & Microwave Towers
Lectures Delivered at
ESCI, APTransco

2002
2003

- Computer Aided Design of

Transmission Line Towers during
1992 & 1999.

GITAM Vizag, KITS Warangal

On
Civil
Engineering
Challenging
GVP, Vizag, REC Warangal
Career during 1999 & 2000.
SRKR Engg College,
RVRJC, Guntur, Vasavi Engg
College, CBIT, MVSR Engg College

ESCI

- Training New Recruit Engineers &

Expert Lectures on Transmission
Line Tower Designs.

APTRANSCO, RTC

- Hazard Mitigation during 2000

Professional Memberships:
FACCE

Since 1994

MICI

Since 2000

MIIBE

Since 2000

MIE

Since 2000

Part of Six Member Committee for Damage Assessment &

Categorization of Earth Quake effected RCC Buildings in Gujarat
during February, 2001.

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Member of Committee for Repair and Strengthening of RCC

Buildings effected by Earth Quake in Gujarat during March,
2001.
Round

Table

Conference

on

Earth

Challenges during February, 2001.

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Quakes

Engineering

04-Sustainablehomes

SUSTAINABLE HOMES

TheEarthistheonlyplanetwecanexistupon.Tocoexistandliveinharmonywith
each other and nature, it is imperative to recognise available resources and utilise
them for a better tomorrow. It is a fact that human activities are contributing to
globalwarmingbyaddinglargeamountsofheattrappinggasesintotheatmosphere.

TheSatyaVani Group has dedicated itself to build greenhomes that complywith eco friendly
requirementsandeffectivelyharnessnaturalresourceslikethesun,trees,air,orientationofthe
buildingetc.,toprovidecomfort,withoutcompromisingtheenvironmentandthelifestyle.

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Sustainable homes / Green buildings

INTRODUCTION
Carbon dioxide emissions a major cause of the climate change come from
the fuel we burn to produce the energy we use to heat, light and run our
homes. Its our prime concern to ensure that homes are built in a way that
minimise the use of energy and reduce these harmful emissions. There is
now enough scientific evidence to show that climate change is a serious and
urgent issue that needs to be reviewed and tackeled.
Green building or Sustainable homes as they are called, is the practice
of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources - energy,
water, and materials-while reducing building impacts on human health and
the environment, through better orientation, design, construction,
operation, maintenance, and removal, i.e., the complete building life cycle.
Construction and use of our homes has a range of other environmental
impacts, created for example through water use, waste generation and use
of polluting materials, which can be significantly reduced through the
integration of higher sustainability performance standards within the design
parameters. More sustainable homes can also provide us with improved
overall well-being and quality of life.
Effective green building can lead to 1) reduced operating costs by increasing
productivity and using less energy and water, 2) improved public and
occupant health due to improved indoor air quality, and 3) reduced
environmental impacts by, for example, lessening storm water runoff and
the heat island effect.

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04-Sustainablehomes

On Earth, the major greenhouse effects are due to:

- gases in the atmosphere.
- water vapor, causes 3670 % of the greenhouse effect (not including
clouds);
- carbon dioxide(CO2), causes 926 %;
- methane(CH4), causes 49 %; and
- ozone, causes 37 %
- CFCs and Nitrous oxide(N2O)
- Larger Green House effect is due to increase in CO2.
When global temperatures increase, ice near the poles melts at an
increasing rate. As the ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both
land and open water are on average less reflective than ice, and thus
absorb more solar radiation, causing more WARMING, more MELTING, and
the cycle continues. It is also to be noted that there is vast amount of
Carbon Dioxide stored in the solar ice caps and this vast amount of Carbon
dioxide would be released into the atmosphere when the ice caps melts.

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Effect of Buildings
Buildings have a profound effect on the environment, which is why green
building practices are so important to reduce and perhaps one day eliminate
those impacts.
In the United States, buildings account for:

between 40 and 49% of total energy use

25% of total water consumption
70% of total electricity consumption
38% of total carbon dioxide emissions

However, the environmental impact of buildings is often underestimated,

while the perceived costs of building green are overestimated.
Green architecture or sustainable design is the philosophy of designing a
building that is in harmony with the natural features and resources
surrounding the site. There are several key steps in designing sustainable
buildings: specify 'green' building materials from local sources, reduce
loads, optimize systems, and generate on-site renewable energy.

Materials
Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include rapidly
renewable plant materials like bamboo and straw, lumber from forests
certified to be sustainably managed, dimension stone, recycled stone,
recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable,
and/or recyclable. Building materials should be extracted and manufactured
locally to the building site to minimize the energy embedded in their
transportation.
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Low-impact building materials are used wherever feasible: for example,

insulation may be made from low VOC (volatile organic compound)-emitting
materials such as recycled denim or cellulose insulation, rather than the
building insulation materials that may contain carcinogenic or toxic
materials such as formaldehyde. To discourage insect damage, these
alternate insulation materials may be treated with boric acid. Organic or
milk-based paints may be used. However, a common fallacy is that "green"
materials are always better for the health of occupants or the environment.
Many harmful substances (including formaldehyde, arsenic, and asbestos)
are naturally occurring and are not without their histories of use with the
best of intentions. A study of emissions from materials has shown that there
are some green materials that have substantial emissions whereas some
more "traditional" materials actually were lower emitters. Thus, the subject
of emissions must be carefully investigated before concluding that natural
materials are always the healthiest alternatives for occupants and for the
Earth.

Re-usable Materials
When older buildings are demolished, frequently any good wood- doors,
windows, columns
are
reclaimed, renewed, and sold and reused
effectively. Any good dimension stone is similarly reclaimed. Many other
parts are reused as well, such as doors, windows, mantels, and hardware,
thus reducing the consumption of new goods. When new materials are
employed, green designers look for materials that are rapidly replenished,
such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use after only 6
years of growth, or cork oak, in which only the outer bark is removed for
use, thus preserving the tree. When possible, building materials may be
gleaned from the site itself; for example, if a new structure is being
constructed in a wooded area, wood from the trees which were cut to make
room for the building would be re-used as part of the building itself.

Building Oreintation and Energy Efficiency

To minimize the energy loads within and on the structure, it is critical to
orient the building to take advantage of cooling breezes and sunlight.
Daylighting with ample windows will eliminate the need to turn on electric
lights during the day (and provide great views outside too). Passive Solar
can warm a building in the winter - but care needs to be taken to provide
shade in the summer time to prevent overheating. Prevailing breezes and
convection currents can passively cool the building in the summer. Thermal
mass stores heat gained during the day and releases it at night minimizing
the swings in temperature. Thermal mass can both heat the building in
winter and cool it during the summer. Insulation is the final step to
optimizing the structure. Well-insulated windows, doors, and ceilings and
walls help reduce energy loss, thereby reducing energy usage. These design
features don't cost much money to construct and significantly reduce the
energy needed to make the building comfortable.
Optimizing the heating and cooling systems through installing energy
efficient machinery, commissioning, and heat recovery is the next step.
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Compared to optimizing the passive heating and cooling features through

design, the gains made by engineering are relatively expensive and can add
significantly to the projects cost. However, thoughtful integrated design can
reduce costs - for example, once a building has been designed to be more
energy-efficient, it may be possible to downsize heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) equipment, leading to substantial savings. To further
address energy loss hot water heat recycling is used to reduce energy
usage for domestic water heating. Ground source heat pumps are more
energy efficient then other forms of heating and cooling.
Finally, onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind
power, hydro power, or biomass can significantly reduce the environmental
impact of the building. Power generation is the most expensive feature to
add to a building.
Good green architecture also reduces waste, of energy, water and
materials. During the construction phase, one goal should be to reduce the
amount of material going to landfills. Well-designed buildings also help
reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants as well, by
providing onsite solutions such as compost bins to reduce matter going to
landfills.

K2 sustainable apartments in Windsor,

Victoria, Australia by Hansen Yuncken (2006) features passive solar design,
recycled and sustainable materials, photovoltaic cells, wastewater
treatment, rainwater collection and solar hot water.
Parameters for Sustainable Homes
In the design and construction of green buildings, a set of sustainable
design principles / categories include:

energy/CO2
pollution
water
health and well-being
materials management
surface water run-off
ecology
waste

In this era, with a more environmentally-conscious public, aware of the

urgent need to limit their effects on climate change, there is a growing
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demand amongst consumers for more sustainable products and services.

With greater demand for homes that offer reduced environmental impact,
lower running costs and features that enhance health and well-being, there
is an increased need for home builders to demonstrate their capacity in
sustainable home building, and to market the sustainability of their homes
to homebuyers.

THE FUTURE IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT

What is required is a set of
Code / Regulation, with
consideration the climatic
availability of raw materials,
and energy use in homes.

guidelines
minimum
condtions
proximity,

closely linked to National Building

building standards taking into
of the region, the topography,
permissble carbon emissions, from

This is presently lacking, since the guidelines provided by IGBC are just a
replica of USGBC in toto which is flawed, since it does not consider the
parameters relevant to the Indian climatic conditions. The experts in the
field should view more pragmatically while formulating the guidelines based
on the geographic conditions. What is applicable in Alaska is not true for
Kolkata. More over if we look into our ancient scriptures and the specifics of
Vaastu one would not be surprised to conclude that what is being preached
by the West has been with us for centuries alas forgotten!!!
How should the Rating be?
THE RATING SYSTEM
A sustainability rating system need to be developed indicated by stars, to
communicate the overall sustainability performance of a building. A building
can achieve a sustainability rating from one () to seven ()
stars depending on the extent to which it has achieved Code standards. One
star () is the entry level above the level of the Building Regulations; and
seven stars () is the highest level reflecting exemplar
development in sustainability terms.
Seven stars - ()

Platinum rating

Five stars

Gold rating

- ()

Three stars - ()

Silver rating

One to two stars - ( or )

Citation

ACHIEVING THE RATING

The sustainability rating which a building achieves represents its overall
performance across the minimum design categories.
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Minimum standards exist for a number of categories these must be

achieved to gain a one star () sustainability rating. Energy efficiency and
water efficiency categories also have minimum standards that must be
achieved at every level, recognising their importance to the sustainability of
any home.
Apart from these minimum requirements the rating should be completely
flexible; builders and developers can choose which and how many standards
they implement to obtain points under the system in order to achieve a
higher sustainability rating.

ASSESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY RATING

Assessment procedures has to be transparent and at the same time straight
forward and beneficial to all parties.
Assessment will only be needed at design stage to be carried out on each
building type within the development not every single home/apartment.
Post-completion checks will be carried out on a sample basis.
Builders designs and completed work assessed under the system will
receive a certificate showing the overall sustainability rating for the
building, and a breakdown of how that rating has been achieved.

BENEFITS
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: With minimum standards for
energy efficiency at each level of the rating, there will be a reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. This will enable us to
reduce the threat from climate change.
Better adaptation to climate change: With minimum standards for
water efficiency at each level of the rating, including management of
surface water run-off, they will be better adapted to cope with the impacts
of climate change which are already visible.
Reduced impact on the environment overall: Promote the use of less
polluting materials, and encourage household recycling, will ensure that
we have fewer negative impact overall on the environment.
FOR BUILDERS / DEVELOPERS
A mark of quality: Increasing media attention and public concern over
environmental issues, notably climate change, has given rise to a growing
awareness among consumers for more sustainable products and services.
The System can be used by developers to demonstrate the sustainability
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performance of their buildings, and to differentiate themselves from their

competitors.
Regulatory certainty: The levels of performance for energy efficiency
indicate the future direction of building regulations, bringing greater
regulatory certainty for home builders, and acting as a guide to support
effective business and investment planning.
Flexibility: The system sets levels for sustainability performance against
each element but does not prescribe limits to achieve those levels. Builders
can innovate to find cost-effective solutions to meet and exceed minimum
requirements.

FOR SOCIAL HOUSING PROVIDERS

Lower running costs: Homes built to this guidelines will have lower
running costs through greater energy and water efficiency than homes not
built to the standard, thus reduce fuel poverty.
Improved comfort and satisfaction: Homes built to the guidelines will
enhance the comfort and satisfaction of tenants. Costs may be saved in
dealing with complaints.
Raised sustainability credentials: The guideline will enable social
housing providers to demonstrate their sustainability credentials to the
public, tenants and funding bodies.
FOR CONSUMERS
Assisting choice: It will provide valuable information to homebuyers on
the sustainability performance of different homes, assisting them in their
choice of a new home.
Reducing environmental footprint: By asking for a new home which
meets the guideline standard, consumers will be able to encourage
industry to build more sustainable homes, and reduce their own footprint
on the environment.
Lower running costs: Homes built to the guideline standard will have
lower running costs through greater energy and water efficiency than
homes not built to the standard, so helping to reduce fuel poverty.

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Improved well-being: Homes built to the guidelines will provide a more

pleasant and healthy place to live, for example with more natural light, and
adaptability for future needs.
References:
1. Code for Sustainable Homes-(Department for Communities and Local Government:
London)
2. Wekipedia.org

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