We Need Smart Design Thinking And Not Smart Technology: Ambrish Arora

How can the government support regulations for developing net zero energy buildings in India?
In India we need to focus on sustainability measures that go beyond the limiting view of “net-zero” buildings - a perspective derived more from the challenges that the West faces. With our socio-economic and regional diversity we need to begin with how we set our aspirations. As a start, we need to set thermal comfort and energy benchmarks that are suitable for the subcontinent. By adopting the idea of adaptive thermal comfort, we can begin to create more localised benchmarks and metrics based on regional and climatic context. For instance, the threshold for comfort in Ladakh is vastly different from a region like Kerala. Thereafter, we need ensure that these localized benchmarks are widely advocated and enforced - perhaps by making them a part of local building code in each region. 

A shortcoming in the widespread implementation of current net-zero regulations is that these standards currently focus on air-conditioned buildings with highly engineered capital intensive responses; whether it is through high performance envelopes or smart cooling / heating technologies. In the context of the subcontinent, this ends up excluding a majority of the built footprint. We need to start developing a set of guidelines focused on passive design and low cost, low-tech methods to ensure that a net reduction of energy consumption is achievable by all. For a population of 1.4 billion people it is not so much about achieving net-zero consumption, but education and sensitisation to this aspect of building which results in a net reduction in energy consumption. 

Governmental bodies need to urgently devise a new policy framework that work within the existing frameworks of construction and are easily implementable. By localizing the idea of net-zero building, simple design considerations like wall-window ratio, solar shading, and strategic building orientation could be adopted more readily in construction.

We have to rapidly ensure that the policies we make shift conversations on sustainable design out of the hallowed portals of “Green Architects” or sustainability consultants, and are accessible to all designers.

Green buildings are the future - what specific aspects of these will architects focus on in the near future? 
The Greenest building is the one that already exists - I believe the focus will shift to the principle of circularity in design. It is time we as designers learn to celebrate existing buildings, repurpose, and reuse them.

There is latent potential in the overlooked and underutilized spaces in our cities, which provide a viable alternative to the complex problems of the built environment. Emerging from the idea of circular economies, and going back to the question of care, if we begin to understand the building life-cycle as a closed loop instead of a straight line, where the building and all its parts can be traded in cycles – being recycled, refurbished, and/or reused; a regenerative urban framework might emerge; one that is conscious of capital, energy consumption, and construction refuse, but is also resilient to the instability of the real estate market. A circular building industry would significantly lower the carbon footprint of construction activities while offering endless possibilities for “development”.

A sensitive, localized approach to building that considers available resources and the socio-cultural context – creating something that is beautiful and timeless, and hence loved by the community –  is more pertinent to environmentally conscious architecture than a “green” building. Green architecture needs to be inclusive, it must transcend the preserve of specialists, because there is no other way to build today.

The courtyard morphology and the inclusion of a stilt level aid in optimal air circulation through the building; the staggered building profile enables self-shading. The high thermal mass of the complex has cut down mechanical air-conditioning needs to only 20% of the built spacesPlease tell us about a recent project that focuses on sustainability.
Krushi Bhawan was a facility designed by the studio for Government of Odisha’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment. The building transcends the typical closed office campus morphology by integrating governmental functions with direct community engagement and education. 

Originally planned as a purely administrative space; we took a cue from Königsberger‘s original vision for Bhubaneswar, where he saw the Capitol Complex with a host of government offices becoming “a lively point of public life”. This attempt to include the building into the public domain was achieved by designing the Ground floor as a free-flowing public space opening out into a Plaza, an extension of the street. The ground floor comprises a learning centre, a gallery, an auditorium, a library, and training rooms. Similarly, the rooftop has been designed to house urban farming exhibits and demonstration of agricultural best practices. 

Given its location, climate and purpose, we were excited to test the limits of the Energy Performance of the building and along with our sustainability consultant Gaurav Shorey, aimed for an EPI of under 40 kwH/sq.m/year - way below the highest current efficiencies. Indigenous passive design strategies contributed to the sustainability parameters of the building. The courtyard morphology and the inclusion of a stilt level aided optimal air circulation through the building, whereas the low window-to-wall ratio and deeply recessed windows and balconies help lower heat gain. The building profile along the Central Court is characterized by staggered masses which enables self-shading and blocks direct glare. The use of locally-sourced materials also lowered the carbon footprint of the construction process. The façade was designed to ensure 100 per cent daylit internal spaces. Further, a double-skin facade strategy put in place at the complex, consisting of DGU on all external fenestration with louvers and sill projections as shading devices acted as a system that reduced heat gain to 40 per cent by regulating ingress of sunlight. Consequently, the building achieves high thermal comfort for its users while cutting down the need for air-conditioning via HVAC systems to only 20 per cent of the built spaces, while the rest is achieved using a night-purge mechanism—in which cool air at night is flushed through the building using a simple extraction system, activated only when temperatures drop below a given threshold. When temperatures exceed the setting, the system shuts down—turning to rely on the cool air trapped within the thermal mass of the building.

Can India have something like The Line (the NEOM project)?
It is a smart city, tech-driven, and futuristic in a manner that is disconnected from where we are as a country. For our context aspirational architecture should celebrate the local, and be inclusive – ensuring that conscious models of building are accessible to all. Even a 5 to 7 per cent difference in the energy consumption of a large sum of buildings has a greater impact than a 50 per cent difference for the limited number of buildings that can afford to integrate smart technology. 

For India, the answer to a greener future lies in a hybrid model marrying appropriated technology with our grassroots.

What are some of the challenges in developing smart buildings in India?
In a developing country like India, technology is accessible to a small segment of the population. Moreover, everything is driven by cost – every rupee that is spent in the construction of a property has an impact on its value in the real estate market. Widespread access to resources such as power also hinders the adoption of smart technologies in building in the country.

Today, we need smart design thinking and not smart technology. For instance, the interstitial, transitional areas in a building need not be air-conditioned, and could instead be passively cooled and naturally lit. These areas make up 25-30 per cent of the built footprint, which means one stands to gain 25-30 per cent in terms of savings on operational costs. This can also be achieved by regulating our thresholds of comfort. Even a 2-degree increase in set point along with the use of a fan can result in massive energy gains. Passive technologies are the way forward because they take the issues of environmental consciousness and climate action to the grassroots.