‘LEED is a connecting tool for buildings and communities’

“Citizens are city’s eyes and ears. Let people be smart and green certified before buildings and cities are,” exclaimed Mala Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, PEC Solutions Green Designs while explaining that any smart city development would be futile without people being smart.

Architects and planners agree in unison that people should be at the centre of any development, but time and again the question arises whether people are really ready and actually contribute to the overall growth and development of the nation, more specifically cities and buildings. “Even though we design buildings keeping in mind people’s choice, it’s uncertain that they are using it in the right manner,” reasoned Roshni Udyavar, Head of Department, Rachana Sansad Institute of Environmental Architecture.

Awareness among people about green buildings and smart cities and how to smartly use the resources at their disposal is much required. Architecture students agree that education and awareness among city dwellers is lacking, let alone villages where literacy rate is comparatively lower than urban centres. They feel as students and alert citizens of the nation, they should conduct education programs in villages.

Undeniably, well-informed citizens seem to find bliss in ignorance as they just try to wash their hands away from their duties. Energy-efficient green buildings could function and operate wholly and efficiently if the occupants utilise the resources in a responsible manner, especially in commercial buildings where occupants feel that since they are not the owners, it’s fine if they keep the lights, ACs and computer systems switched on even after they leave the premises. To encounter this, Rajesh Rawal, Towner Planner, Gujarat retaliated, “If government officials are not switching off lights and ACs, they should be fined by deducting their salary.”

Winds of change are blowing though, and definitely in the right direction. There are self-motivated individuals who are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. “We do not permit desktop computers and only allow laptops in our office building because desktop normally consumes about 250 -260 watts of energy as opposed to laptop which only takes up 50 watts of energy,” said Kamal Meattle, Paharpur Business Centre. Paharpur Business Centre in New Delhi, which can accommodate 500 employees, is India’s first top-rated LEED O+M existing building.

Even residents of housing societies are taking initiatives to ensure that their activities have minimal impact on environment, and to achieve this, technology is helping them a great deal. “We’ve created a WhatsApp group wherein we keep on updating about municipality decisions and directives and what each one of us could to make our society green. I’m against wastage of water, so I keep on messaging in the group asking them whether they have closed their taps when not in use”, said Manjusha Pawar, an active and alert resident of Laxmi Narayan Residency – an existing building in the Indian city of Thane which has rooftop solar and rainwater harvesting system in place, and is credited to be the widest building in Asia.

Thane, along with its neighbouring city Mumbai and many other parts of India, is facing severe water shortage for past many months which was followed by a weak monsoon in the year 2015. For Pawar, who is very environmentally conscious, it’s disheartening to see other residents of her society waste water carelessly. “People in my society don’t know the value of water. They waste 5 buckets of water just to wash a 150 sq. ft. balcony. 60 percent of water problem in my society is because of these ignorant people,” she says.

Pawar therefore feels a possible solution to this problem could be by charging each of the apartment for the water they actually consume.  “Water bill is paid by the society to the municipality. Each of the flat owners contribute to this amount by paying maintenance to the society. When I’m not wasting water, why should I bear the brunt of a humongous amount in the water bill. It’s better each flat has their own water meter and based on that, they pay the water bills,” she added.

Ken Simpson, Director, Energy/HVAC, Green Business Certification Inc. suggests that to maintain operational efficiency of buildings, one must switch to native plants. Pawar recalled an incident when she approached the apex committee of her society to get a Neem (Indian Lilac) tree planted in her society garden. “Neem is a local variety, has many health benefits, provides ample shade and keeps mosquitoes away as opposed to certain European tress in our garden that are just show-trees,” says Pawar.

The housing society is also taking steps towards energy efficiency as they keep the common passage lights switched off during the daytime. Very recently, they’ve replaced all the CFL tube lights with LED lights. The residents’ active participation in greening activities has fetched the society third place in ‘Thane Go Green Eco Award’ for best energy conservation. Laxmi Narayan Residency is undoubtedly setting an example of community engagement through its various green and sustainable initiatives.

At U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC) too, community engagement is a major motto which is undertaken by the world’s premiere green building certification system - LEED. “LEED is like a connecting tool for buildings and communities. To me, the exciting thing is to inspire people so that they can make a difference in the work that they do. We are focusing on the next level of technology for us to connect as humans across the globe and we believe this can be brought about by LEED and the LEED Dynamic Plaque”, said Scot Horst, Chief Product Officer, USGBC.

Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, of which USGBC was a contributing partner, reveals that 51% of respondents from India consider creating a sense of community as one of the most important social reasons for building green, a statistic that is 22% higher than the global average.

If we are to build green and smart, community engagement and people’s participation are of utmost importance.