Author: Meenal JainPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Sustainable Development is one of the biggest challenges in today's scenario. Development cannot subsist on a deteriorating environmental resource base; the environment cannot be protected when growth leaves out of account the costs of environmental destruction. Construction is an essential part of any country's infrastructure and industrial development. The way we design, build, and operate buildings has negative impact on people and families as buildings use resources such as energy, water, generate waste and emit potentially harmful atmospheric emissions which are ultimately contributing to climate change. Buildings account for more than one third of total energy use and its associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the world. At the same time, this sector has the largest potential for cutting GHG emissions responsible for global warming. Thus, it is imminent to go in for green buildings which would bring in energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the building sector, thereby reducing the negative health impacts on families. In developing countries like India, there is a huge stock of existing buildings that are not so efficient and thus, there is an immense potential for energy efficiency measures in the country. Also, considering the current economic challenges, retrofitting an existing building can be more cost effective than building a new facility. Worldwide, a variety of assessment programs have been developed around environmental and energy impacts of buildings. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. The LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) is intended to provide the existing building stock an entry point into the LEED certification process. It has become an important benchmark of sustainable building operations and maintenance. But still, there are only a handful of people concerned about making their existing set-up green. The present paper, thus, throws light on the hindrances and catalysts associated with LEED-EB as a tool for greening of existing buildings in India. Case study method was adopted to have a better understanding of the processes involved in greening of existing buildings. The study was undertaken in India in two buildings, namely Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park, New Delhi (registered under LEED-EB at the time of data collection) and L&T ECC Division - EDRC Building, Chennai, (certified under LEED-EB), and case studies were developed for the same. Hindrances and catalysts associated with LEED-EB were studied from the perspective of project managers, architects and green building consultants associated with the selected case studies. For the purpose of data collection, Questionnaire and Interview Schedule were used. The tool was administered on some other green building consultants who were not associated with LEED-EB projects to get a wider perspective on the hindrances and catalysts associated with the process as they have a major role in the construction of the building and it is imperative to take their viewpoint on the greening process in terms of the hindrances that they face or the catalysts, which they feel, can accelerate this process of greening the existing buildings. On analyzing the data, Prestige, image and reduction in operational costs were found to be major catalysts behind LEED-EB. Better rental value, social responsibility, Improved Indoor Environmental Quality emerged as catalysts with medium and minor importance. The major hindrances were found to be high renovation costs, difficulty in meeting prerequisites and unavailability of the required data for LEED-EB submission. Some hindrances with medium and minor importance were resistance to make changes in the existing buildings, lack of skilled professionals, difficulty in retrofitting, lack of awareness among the stakeholders, lack of technology and no immediate benefit. Adopting the green initiatives in the existing buildings, including homes, and taking the LEED-EB certification will prove to be a very useful tool in minimizing the negative impact of such a large number of existing buildings on the environment, and in turn, on the health of the people residing in them. The catalysts being revealed by the study need to be made overt and hindrances which have been brought forth by the study can be worked upon so that LEED-EB certification gains momentum and the stakeholders and families start taking initiatives to give the country a sustainable path towards a green built environment. The hindrances like high costs, difficult prerequisites and such can be made easier by more efficient technologies so that this process of greening of existing buildings gains momentum in the country.