Had Shabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan been alive today, he would surely be hailed as the greatest green architects in conjunction to being one of the most magnificent ones. The ruler of the Mughal Empire in the early seventeenth century is celebrated for building the Taj Mahal and many other brilliant and beautiful edifices. But what the world doesnt really know or rather tends to overlook is that Emperor Shah Jahan was also a keen environmentalist, without really meaning to be one.

The Taj Mahal complex originally was spread over an area of around 900 sq mt. Of this, the main mausoleum in which the bodies of the emperor and his beloved wife are buried, cover an area of around 57 sq mt, a small fraction of the overall space. While much attention was paid to making the complex ornate and exquisite, no lesser attention was paid to making it green as well. In fact, the biggest area of the complex has been reserved for a large 300 sq mt Charbagh, a Mughal garden divided into four quarters by raised pathways; with a raised marble water tank at the center.

Early accounts of the complex describe its profusion of vegetation, including roses, daffodils, and Cypress trees adorned walkways, beside the reflecting pool. In fact, Emperor Shah Jahan had constructed another Charbagh garden just across the river to complete the symmetry. Even to this day, visitors can discern an ingenious, melodious perspective of gardens and canals, which also maintains pleasant and fresh environs even in the harshest of north Indian summer. Thus, in a way, the scenic monument of love is also an exquisitely green building complex in modern lexicon.

But Shah Jahan was certainly not the first Indian to emphasize on symmetry and harmony in construction. From time bygone, buildings have come to mean much more for Indians. Not only was the abode meant to be pleasant and convenient, it was also designed to be harmonious with various natural attributes. Vastu Shashtra is an ancient science of construction that talks of balance between the five basic and essential elements or Panchabhutam namely. Space (Akasha), Air (Vayu), Fire (Agni), Water (Jal) and Earth (Bhoomi).

In Ancient India, there was a lot of emphasis laid on being ecologically sensitive. Take for instance, the traditional architecture of palaces, forts, and even homes, they used to have big lawns, jharokhas (galleries), cooling screens, which provided light and air in most natural of ways. Over the years, we lost track and adopted the Western style of buildingbig mammoth glass buildings that are completely detached from the environment, so to say. But there seems to be a reawakening of sorts, a new renaissance, where we are shifting back to basics again and talking of low environment footprint, says Mili Majumdar, associate director, Sustainable Building Science, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

India LEED-ing
To be precise, the green building movement in India got a big shot in the arm during the presidential visit by Bill Clinton in 2000. It was during his visit to Hyderabad that the idea of a India Green Building Council (IGBC) came to fruition and CII and other agencies set about doing work on the CII-GBC Building in Hyderabad, which was meant to be a showcase for the industry wanting to go green. Since then, there has been a lot of excitement for green buildings in India and many innovative projects have come up around the theme. While a Green Building may look like any other building, the real difference is in the approach, sensitivity toward the environment, a conscious effort to cut down the use of resources like energy, and an attempt to provide comfort and safety to occupants, says S Srinivas, senior counsellor, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center.

LEED or Leadership in Environment and Energy Design, a leading voluntary certification methodology that has evolved in the US and applied extensively to green buildings across the globe, has surely found a cosy home in India. Scores of LEED certified buildings have come up in the last few years and many others are in the offing. In fact, when the CII-GBC was awarded the LEED Platinum, it was the first building outside the US to receive this certification. From 20,000 sq ft of green footprint in 2003, we have crossed 108 mn sq ft last week. This just goes to show the excitement and uptake of the green building movement. There are around 180 green certified projects constructed and under various stages of construction, in India, adds Srinivas.

The reason for going green is literally a no brainer, as a green building provides many benefits both tangible and intangible, starting from the immediate cost savings in terms of energy and water consumption to a healthy and productive environment for work. The energy savings could range from 2540% depending on the extent of green specifications. And the cost of constructing green building is directly dependant on how early the shift is made at the design level, or once the building is made. Either ways, the incremental costs are easily offset by cost savings in a few years.

Incremental costs are dependent on what the builder is going for. Also, the increment in cost is close to 5-6% and can even be lesser in the basic design is robust and incorporated at the very initial design phase. A green building pays back the incremental costs in 4-5 years through the drastic reduction in operating costs. While typically the life of the building is around 60-70 years, so imagine the pay offs. It is completely a win-win scenario, says Srinivas.

Green GRIHAs
But even so, Majumdar from TERI emphasizes on the need of a holistic approach, rather than just a blind rush for green. The focus should be on demand minimization, rather than just energy conservation. Currently the whole aspect of green is being worked in silos, for instance, water treatment, HVAC and others. If not looked holistically, the whole thing could backfire. Take the case of rainwater harvesting; we have come across several occasions when the system has actually contaminated the ground water table, resulting in actual harm. One should go green with intent and caution, she advises.

TERI has also come out with a certified process named as Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), which has been adopted by the Government of India. It is a 100-point system focussed on design efficiency, rather than just upfront usage of technology, addressing peculiar Indian issues like the underground water table, etc, adds Majumdar. Close to 30 GRIHA certified projects are in various stages of construction, from a Centre for Environmental Science in Kanpur to Fortis Hospitals in different cities. GRIHA could be the homegrown challenger to LEED.

IT Companies Go Green
It is the construction business that has taken the lead in going green, with a whole lot of green projects coming up from builders like Hiranandani, Raheja, DLF and others. The basic idea of green is change. We need to change the way we build, we need to follow a systematic methodology, a need to be aware of the materials we use and their impact on the environment. At Hiranandani, we have made a commitment to go green in a major way, not only for the sake of costs savings and ecological impact but also to provide a better life to our estate owners, says Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Constructions.

While the construction industry in India that accounts to nearly 10% of Indias GDP has decided to go green, another industry that also accounts for nearly 10% of Indias GDP, namely IT, has embraced green buildings as well. Among the Indian players, Wipro has again taken a lead and is ensuring that most of its upcoming projects are LEED certified. The IT giant also boasts of a Platinum certified green campus in Gurgaon. Meanwhile, the other IT titans, TCS and Infosys, seem to have woken up to the green building movement. For instance, TCS is going green for its Bhuvaneswar office while Infosys is working at making its Jaipur center green. It is indeed heartening to see Wipro going all out in the green building space; other IT companies can surely learn from its successes.

IT companies can also aid the green building movement in another way; by developing indigenous tools and simulations that aid in the design process. The tools available are pretty high end and not very user friendly. Currently only a few designers and architects that need to do complex modelling exercise to evaluate energy usage are able to use computer simulation tools. There is a need for a simple tool that can be used without much difficulty and IT companies can help in development of this tool, says Majumdar.

Green All the Way
Considering the trying times we live in, with much pressure on energy, space and lifestyle, the green building movement is here to stay. The best part is that we seem to be coming full circle, returning to the very basics that were discarded over time, as leading architect in the field of climate responsive/energy efficient Arvind Krishan, also an international consultant to the World Bank for and member UNEP Expert group on Eco-cities says talking on sustainability, rather than mere conservation. The idea/notion of sustainability has been central to Indian culture in its various forms: the manner in which we have planned/designed built our habitats: resource optimisation, the manner in which we conserve, preserve, recycle, and resource products has been part of our culture and has been our second nature. To my mind, Indian culture has been rooted in sustainability and not in consumption. Unfortunately, this has changed through globalization, which has spread unbridled consumption. Societies that are the most consumptive are now trying to corporatize sustainability through different mechanisms, he says.

Lets go back to our green Emperor Shahjahan, now if he were alive today, surely he could have gone in for a LEED certification for the Taj Mahal and his other magnificent buildings and palaces. In fact, he could have earned quite a few million dollars through the CERs gained (much like Olympia Technology Park). The money earned could have easily gone in to finance the Black Taj Mahal that he wished to make. And we would have one more magnificent edifice that we could admire and pride on. Now wouldnt that be something worth heaving a sigh: Wah Wah Taj?

Shashwat DC with inputs from Stuti Das
shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in

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