SELF-SERVICE AT HOME

SELF-SERVICE AT HOME
Green Norms Could Be Woven Into Building By-Laws; Expected To Reduce Dependence On Govt Agencies For Power, Water
Jayashree Nandi | TNN

Bangalore: ‘Go green’ is the prevailing mantra in the construction sector, and quite unsurprisingly, city planners are set to frame environmental guidelines for buildings.
The Energy and Resource Institute (Teri) has been awarded a project by Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnerships (REEP) to frame these guidelines for Bangalore. The BBMP and BDA are partnering with Teri to make these guidelines part of civic building by-laws.
“There are very few self-sustainable buildings or apartment complexes in the country. The Teri complex in Gurgaon is 100% off the grid. It’s important that we move towards self-sustainability. The kind of resources we have, decentralized set-ups can reduce the load to some extent.
There is a lot of interest in Bangalore but some mandatory policies can make the difference. Our new building guidelines will help as they’ll be implemented by the BBMP and BDA,” research associate, Teri, Minni Mehrotra, told TOI.
However, the number of corporates or private builders opting for it is far lesser than government buildings. Some like Biodiversity Conservation Ltd (BCIL) are taking the initiative for housing complexes like Red Earth in Yelahanka.
GREEN LAYOUT
First largest green residential enclave, in Yelahanka, will be 70% independent of the power grid and 100% independent of water from BWSSB
Several government buildings and PSUs in Bangalore have applied for Teri’s Griha, the green building certification
Green building designs use less cement and stell
Layout will have plantation timber for doors, CFLs and LEDs for lighting, home automation systems like water conscience meter, etc
Most of the power load will be borne by solar, thermal and solar photo-voltaics at the 20-acre enclave in Yelahanka
There’ll be percolation pits with withdrawal wells, biodigester for wet waste management and 24-hour treated water supply
One housing complex, two offices certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, one MNC building and the Teri building complex are following green norms POWER-WATER CONSERVATION While government buildings and PSUs are in the pipeline, many existing buildings are making small changes in waste, water and power management to make them efficient.
These buildings might not be absolutely independent of the grid, but
they reduce the peak power load. A regular stand-alone home has an average monthly expense of Rs 3,000, with a couple of rooms air-conditioned. At Red Earth, homes will be air-managed in all bedrooms, and have an average energy bill of no more than Rs 1,400 — that’s nearly 50% savings. The entire campus doesn’t need water from BWSSB; we need no sewage water to be connected to the sewerage board lines. We don’t use borewells
Chandrashekhar Hariharan | CEO, BCIL