Green building: the future

“Phenix Construction Technology is a visionary organisation and has rich experience in making green building,” remarks Jayanta Chakraborty, Senior GM – SCM, Phenix Construction Technologies
 The entire world is now marching forward for a cleaner, greener environment. Green building is one of the concepts, which are easily adoptable and can make a building green for a long time. In an interview with ACE Update, Jayanta Chakraborty shares why Phenix is ready to grab the future opportunity.
Journey towards greenEveryone knows what the unique drive Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken — Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. If we look in depth, we will find that the concept is not cleaning the road, removal of litter from areas and all. It is talking a lot on cleaner environment, low pollution, greener world and to make our dear world a better place to live. In fact, this concept has started long back in India in construction industry, when CII has taken an initiative to form IGBC to promote the concept of making energy-efficient, eco-friendly buildings.
Phenix Construction Technologies, a technology leader in PEB industry, ventured out and grabbed the concept of green building and constructed its first green building for a food and beverage major PepsiCo in Satharia in March 2013.
ChallengesAs the concept is just dawning in India, Phenix faced two types of challenges: technology related issues and sourcing related issues.
There are few major parameters that are essential to rate a building as a green building. One must know what is the rating system and the qualification parameters, which has to be achieved to claim a building green. A very well-crafted document prepared by IGBC is available (IGBC Green House Rating system Version 1 and 2) which is a thorough guideline to follow to make green building. This book became very handy during conceptualisation and execution of the project. There was a rich experience gained in the process of execution of the project which gradually ended with success and platinum certification of the project.
PEB in green buildingPEB industry has a major role to play as far as green building is concerned. There are couple of building components and systems, which are essential to get a building certified as green building.
A. Energy-efficiency front• Natural ventilation system using turbo vent and roof monitors in place of powered roof extractors• Installing solar heating system on roof space for reduction of electrical consumption where hot water is required for the industry• Installing poly carbonate sheet on roof to provide ample lighting in the shop floor during day time and reduction of electrical lighting requirements• Designing and placing the building in such a way that adequate natural ventilation system (natural flow of wind within the building) happens, resulting to reduction of exhaust fans or air circulators.B. Materials front• Waste reduction during construction is possible in PEB as it is assembled on-site and there is little chance of excess material or waste.• Steel is the basic raw material for PEB, and steel is a material with large quantity of recycled content, which is a pre-requisite for green building• Materials that are produced near and around the PEB manufacturing unit can be attributed for green building• Low VOC paint is also required for a green building.
Water efficiency in green buildingPEB can be utilised for rainwater harvesting. A very interesting method can be adopted for water storage and harvesting by effectively utilising PEB concept. If the down spouts are again connected with a common header at the bottom of the building and connected to a large, underground reservoir, the rainwater can be stored. As rainwater has purity near to deionised (DM) water, the same can be used in machine shops where CNC cutting tools are in operation. In CNC cutting tools, huge amount of cutting fluid is required on a daily basis, which demands DM water to dilute it. This harvested water can be utilised effectively as it is a free source. This is an ideal method of water preservation.
Promoting green buildingsThe entire world is now marching forward for a cleaner, greener environment. Green building is one of the concepts, which are easily adoptable and can make a building green for a long time. Adoption and implementation is comparatively easy. Success rate of making green building is high. To promote green building concept, India Government may consider some incentive scheme to motivate and propagate the construction of green building.
Phenix Construction Technology is a visionary organisation and has rich experience in making green building. The firm is poised to promote and grab the future opportunity.

7