Page 18 - September 2015 Digital Construction Opportunities

COVER STORY Sustainable Heights A qualitative and sustainable design can efficiently transform the high-rise structures into sustainable developments of urban architecture. ANUP NAIK, PARTNER AND DIRECTOR, SPACE MATRIX ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS writes… It is a well documented fact that the built will be minimized while keeping health and into the natural environment environment is responsible for half of the welfare of the dwellers optimized. A high-rise building needs to synthesize all world’s CO2 emissions, leaving architects, Clearly, the design process is signifcantly such interactions into a balanced ecosystem engineers, designers and developers in a key complex since the designer has to for creating an efective way to design an position to make a signifcant impact by understand the building performance ecologically responsive built environment. changing the way buildings use energy and in terms of diferent design factors and afect the environment. Today these high variables, under differing conditions. 'GREEN PRINCIPLES' APPLIED TO energy, gas-guzzling, glazed buildings can Few benefits of such high performance HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS be found in virtually every large city in the designs are - energy efficiency, design Te afrmations of Green Principles largely world, regardless of climate, orientation or fexibility, resource conservation, indoor cover the aspects of reduce, conserve and site characteristics. High-rise buildings are environmental quality, etc. Te principal maintain. massive consumers of energy. Tey are the design factors that are crucial for achieving 1. Embodied Energy- A high-rise dominant elements in urban architecture a high performance high-rise building are: building needs to make efcient use of due to their scale and purpose, and should site context, environment, structure and raw materials (environment-friendly be the focus of sustainable designs. Many use of materials, energy consumption, use materials). architects believe that, the danger of of water, ecological balance and community 2. Energy Efficiency- A high-rise skyscrapers to the environment is more development. Te design team involving building needs to consume a minimum threatening than air pollution. Meanwhile varied professionals hence need to uniformly amount of energy over its life span. most designers, engineers and architects set their goals at a much earlier stage – only Energy efciency means minimizing believe, if these buildings are designed and then can the building deliver an optimum energy consumption (energy built under appropriate conditions, they can performance. requirement to heat cool-ventilate, to indicate sustainable development and green Te interaction between the building and light and to power all machines in the architecture. By believing in such attitude, its environment can be visualized as a set of building) without sacrificing either negative factors infuencing the environment dependencies and exchanges: the comfort or productivity of the • External Interdependencies: The occupants through the entire life of processes and activities that take place the high-rise building. in the environment of the building 3. Bio-climatic Approach- A high- • Internal Interdependencies: The rise building needs to optimize processes and activities that take place the meteorological data to achieve within the building comfort. • External to Internal Exchanges: Te 4. Recyclability- A high-rise building exchange of energy and matter from needs to minimize new resources the natural environment into the built and generate a minimum amount of environment (the building) waste and pollution over its life span. • Internal to External Exchange: Te Reducing the usage of non-renewable exchange of energy and matter from energy sources, mineral resources and the built environment (the building) water resources, through reuse, recycle, 18 construction opportunities|sEPTEMBER 2015