2AR733 - Research Seminar - IAPNU-Fall 2018

Assignment 8: FIRST DRAFT RESEARCH SEMINAR PAPER

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Arth Patel

Green Building: Understanding the LEED rating for Green

Building - case of Ahmedabad
Arth Patel
2018
Nirma Research Seminar Working Paper Series

Abstract
Building technologies and materials have evolved through ages. The amount of
energy is consumed in construction and maintenance, natural resources used for
the project, impact of the building on environment is increasing day by day This
paper investigates the principles of green building to reduce the impact of
building on the environment so that resources are preserved for future
generation. Sustainable building includes the consideration of numerous issues
such as land use, site impacts, indoor environment, water utilize, solid waste
,impacts of building materials. Energy consumption and green house gas
emission will keep on rising except if measures are not taken to coordinate the
development towards sustainability.

Keywords
Sustainability, Green construction, Energy efficient, Environment, Resources

Introduction
Due to rapid industrialization by man has made an incredible harm to the earth
Consideration has been paid towards securing the earth. Measures for ensuring
nature and protecting the energy for future is basically required. The term
"green" refers to practices which are environmentally friendly to achieve
sustainability for building design . It includes principles for construction strategies
,techniques and maintenance of the building. Building can be rated for their
sustainable development and one such evaluating is the LEED (Leadership in
Energy And Environment Design ). U.S Green Building gathering (GBC) has
developed this rating and it was created to design "green building ".It has certain
set of standards and principles to achieve sustainability. The less effect a building
has on human well being and condition, the more green it is . The paper consists
of two parts .First ,this paper will discuss the understanding of the criteria set by
LEED for green building. Secondly it will explore different projects developed
under these green system .

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Aim & Objective/s.
Green building practice aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings
.Buildings account for large amount of land use ,energy and water consumption
,air and atmosphere alteration. The amount of natural resources building
consume and the amount of pollution given off is seen as crucial for future
sustainability .The environmental impact of the building is often underestimated
,while the perceived costs of green buildings are overestimated.
Leadership in energy and environmental design has been developed by Green
Building Council in U.S for designing environmentally sustainable construction.
Certain requirements are set for LEED certification such as
 Be in compliance with environmental regulations and standards
 Must need the threshold of floor area requirements
 Meet a minimum of building occupancy in terms of number of users
 Maintain a reasonable site boundary
 Be a permanent building
 Share energy and water usage data
 Must have a minimum building to site area ratio

The project must need to full fill the criteria to achieve above categories such as
sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and
resources, indoor environment quality, innovation and design process. Building is
analysed by using above mentioned criteria and rating is done accordingly.

Literature review

Sustainable sites
Sustainable sites criteria of LEED included green opportunities to reduce the
impact of built mass on the existing environment. The first step is designing the
building with existing topography rather than Cut and fill of the. Landscaping is
also an important component to make site sustainable. Preserving the existing
trees and plants of the site is necessary. Selection of site becomes important for
emission of co2 gas .If basic needs are around the site people tend to walk which
promote street life and reduces the emission caused by vehicles.

Water efficiency

Water utilization and ensuring water quality are key goals in sustainable building.
In many parts of the nation, the demand on the providing aquifer surpasses its
capacity to recharge itself. Production of waste water might be reduced by using
water saving fixtures, for example ultra low flush toilets and low stream shower
head .Bidets help take out the utilization of tissue ,lessening sewer activity and
expanding potential outcomes of re utilizing water. Use of non potable water and

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grey water for onsite use such as landscaping requirement, irrigation shall reduce
the demand on local aquifer. Also the use of potable water for non potable
applications like plumbing ,landscaping etc should be reduced

Energy and atmosphere

Efficiency of the building can also be achieved by treating the envelope of the
building .High efficiency windows, insulations in walls and roof can be used to
achieve sustainability. Designers arrange windows, walls and trees to shade
windows ,rooftop amid summer while augmenting sun based gain in the water
Proper arrangement of fenestration can help in reducing the electric lighting.
Passive solar design and landscape design can help to save the energy. Passive
solar design means using the energy of sun for cooling and heating of spaces. It
uses different elements such as windows, materials which absorbs the heat and
release it when the sun is not shining.CO2 sensor, daylight sensor are used to
monitor the amount of

Material and Resources

Building materials which are included to be green like bamboo, straw, lumber
from forests can be ecologically managed. Reused stone, reused metal, ecology
blocks and different materials that are non harmful, reusable and recyclable.
should be used. In order to reduce the energy used in transportation, use of
locally available materials should be done..Where conceivable ,Building material
should be manufactured off site building(precast construction ) and delivered to
the site in order to minimize the material wastage, increasing the quality and
efficiency of materials and reducing noise and duct .

Indoor quality environment

IEQ was added to LEED measures to increase the indoor quality of the building
This particular criteria mainly focus on thermal and lighting quality of the
building. Indoor Air quality includes special treatment to reduce the impurities in
the air such as microbial contaminants. For proper ventilation ,lighting and air
quality building depends upon planned HVAC framework. Selection of materials
and techniques for low emission is necessary to enhance IEQ. Proper
combination of natural and artificial lighting is important for all over quality of
the structure.

Methodology
With the increase of negative impact of the building on the environment the
need of a green building has become important to bring a positive change in the
atmosphere and natural environment. Sustainability lies in preserving the
resources for future without compromising the needs of the present and
reducing the negative impact on the environment. Green building aims in
preserving the natural resources for the future generation and enhance the
quality of life of the people. Green building can also be known as sustainable

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building or High performance building.

The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly what actually is green building and
how does it impact the environment and affects the life of life is explained. The
benefits of building a green building are mentioned. For creating sustainable
environment, Green building Council in U.S has developed Leadership in energy
and environment design (LEED). LEED has set criteria for define a building as
green. The criteria set by the LEED are studied and further inferences are derived
by relating those criteria with primary case studies. The Criteria are justified by
using two case studies of ahmedabad Shapath V and Solaris.

The buildings taken for the case study are analyzed using the LEED criteria.
The case studies helped in understanding different materials and techniques
which are used for saving energy and reducing the negative impacts.

Case Study
Every kind of projects from commercial building to historical building, there is
LEED rating .Various criteria such as water efficiency, energy use are set and LEED
certification points are allotted. The project can be categorized in any one of the
4 LEED rating level Certifies, Silver, Gold, Platinum.

The case study to understand the criteria of LEED rating for green building are
Shapath V and Solaris in Ahmedabad .
impact

Shapath V
Shapath v ,a 70 meter high commercial building is developed by Savvy
Infrastructures Ltd on SG Highway, Ahmedabad. The building stands first in the
state for its LEED gold rating form Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
The following are the green features of the building

Material and resources: The material used for construction is fly ash bricks. The
heat gained by the building is less than other buildings which reduces the use of
air conditioners. High performance glass is used which absorbs the light but
reflects heat.

Sustainable sites: The building worth Rs 300 Croce is built on 20,000 sq yards
land. The building is mix of ownership and lease and is house of Crown plaza
Hotel. During the foundation process, the soil which was excavated was used for
terrace garden of the building. Because of terrace garden the heat gain will be
reduced to 20 -30 %

Water efficiency: Waste water treatment plant is set in which flushed water
comes to the treatment plant and is treated in such a way that it can be reused

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for other purposes other than potable use. Also the building has set its own
sewage treatment plant

Energy and atmosphere: The building has maximum opening towards North and
minimum opening in south facade. Because of maximum availability of natural
light, use of artificial light is reduced. About 30% lesser electricity bills is paid by
the owners. About 100 solar panels are set on the top of the building .This solar
panels have capacity of 15000 litre hot water everyday. Water based air
conditioned system is also set in the building

Indoor Air Quality: For IAQ, the building has used special techniques like HRW, TF,
BMS system .Heating recovery wheel separates the impurities form the air treat
before supplying to the building. Treated fresh air (TFS) is supplied to each floor
of the building .CO2 sensors are fixed in the building which helps in the
monitoring the amount of gas emission in the building. Building management
system (BMS) is set which looks after the plumbing, fire ,electrical, HVAC. Also
the refrigerant used in the building does not contain chlorofluorocarbon (CFC).

The expenditure for green building construction is 15% high compared to non
green building at initial stage, but the breakeven period is as low as 3 years
through energy saving costs.

Savvy Solaris
Solaris project developed by Savvy Infrastructure Ltd is high rise apartments
located at Motera, Ahmedabad. It is green building applied by IGBC rating. Green
technologies such as rain water harvesting, Ground water recharge, Waste water
treatment plant, Solid waste management, use of local materials etc

sustainable sites: Before the construction process, the top soil of the site is been
preserved and maintained. Landscape developed using maximum plantation, soft
paving to maximise ground water percolation. Concrete pavers are used. Benefit
of using it is water will percolate through joint

Material and resources: The material used for construction is aerated concrete
blocks (AAC) blocks. These blocks helps in maintaining lower temperature inside
the building by lesser heat transmission. High reflective china mosaic finish is
used at the terrace. The radiation heat gain is reflected back

Water efficiency: The supply of water is from the ground water and municipality
.The building has Waste water treatment plant and rain water harvesting through
which water can be reused. Impervious paved areas helps in collecting and
reusing the rainwater water. Sewage treatment plant is also fixed in Solaris

Energy and atmosphere: Use of windows and light wells are the source of

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daylight in the building which minimize the use of artificial light and air
conditioner

Scope of the Research

The aim of using the criteria set by the LEED rating is to make energy efficient
buildings which have less impact on environment and low life cycle cost. LEED
rating provides standards and measures to define a green building for achieving
sustainability .The paper only investigates the criteria that makes a building
green. Focus of the paper is on qualitative data of defining a green building. The
study of quantitative data along with qualitative data would have been helpful in
providing better understanding regarding the subject.

Achieved Learning
Incorporating green features increases the cost of the building construction by 8-
10% , but in long run the amount of energy cost saved will be more than n0on
green building. Following the criteria of LEED for sustainable development not
only helps in reducing the over all cost but also helps in preserving the energy
and resources for future generation. Making building green also helps in
improving the quality of life of the people along with preserving energy.

The most important benefit of constructing a green building is it does not have
any negative impact on the environment. The emission of greenhouse gas can
also be reduced by designing green building. Economically, green building helps
in saving cost on utility bills and it increase the property value. By following the
criteria of LEED , one can save about 20-30% energy which ultimately reduce the
energy cost. Making a building water efficient can help in saving about 40 -50% of
water. As green building has lesser negative impact on the environment it helps
in maintaining the quality and health of the people.

The study of criteria by LEED have served to be helpful in better understanding of

various prevailing techniques and methods which are used to create a green
building to achieve sustainability. However the study of technical data regarding
the same would have provided better understanding .

The cost will go high as compared to normal building in going green because of
incorporation of green materials and techniques, but in a long run will be able to
save on energy costs, because going green also means conserving energy. It
works as an investment which will benefit one in further. Along with saving
energy cost, creating a green building helps in reducing the negative impacts of
the building on environment.

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Schedule

Week 2: Selection of 10 thesis topics of interest .

Week 4: Selection of 1 out of the 10 thesis topic and reviewed it to for better
understanding of the topic.

Week 5: First take on exploring research topics which included listing down PIC
(Problem, Inclination, Curiosity) and finding a linkage between them. the problem
is the building are made in isolation instead they should be designed in such a
way that they bring people together rather than separating them. Inclination was
to interweave urban elements. The buildings should not just be seen as individual
unit but as whole entity which includes transitional spaces between building,
public open spaces, streets. Curiosity is sustainable development and
methodological principles of sustainable architecture.

Week 6: Second take on exploring the research topic which included detail
review of Linkage of PIC ,historical background of the research topic.

Week 7: Third take on exploring

Week 8: Reviewing a research paper

Defining Sustainable Urbanism: towards a responsive urban design
Author : Prof James Steven , Prof. Philip Plowright , Dr. Anirban Adhya

Week 9: First take on deciding the title and writing the abstract, Aim & objective
of what we want to research. However the research topic evolved from
understanding sustainable urbanism to sustainable building. The title selected is
"green building".

Acknowledgement
The information presented in the research paper is based on work of others .
I would like to thank Professor Mansee Bal, Professor Jitendra Meghani and
Professor Sneha Ramani who have been guiding me to reach up to this level
Thank you to the anonymous reviewers who took time to read my proposal

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References

Williams, D. E. (2007) Sustainable Design: Ecology, Architecture, and Planning. New

York: John Wiley.

Zuo, J. (2013 ).Renewable And Sustainable Energy Reviews. Australia

Bowyer, J.L.(2007). The green building programs-are they really green?. Forest
Prod. J. 57(9): 6-17.

Sinha,A.,Gupta,R.,Kutnar,A. (2012).Sustainable Development And Green

Building.USA

Parashar, A., Parashar, R.(2012) . Construction of an Eco-Friendly Building using

Green Building Approach. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research,
Volume 3

Umar,U.,Tukur,H. (2012).Sustainable Building Materials For Green Building

Construction, Conservation And Refurbishing. University Technology Petronas/Civil
Engineering Department, Perak, Malaysia

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