Strategies to Implement IMPACT
Passive Design
Shelter is a basic human need. Buildings provide that. Urbanization has forced the green cover and groundwater to give way to developing structures. Inefficient overuse of limited natural resources is evident in today’s construction. Whereas sustainability is a complex concept, it requires an integrated approach to design, specification, construction, and operation. Applying the principles of passive designs from site planning, selecting appropriate eco-friendly materials and finishes we arrive at the most efficient building by design. Earlier Building bye-laws recommended sustainability, but more recently, BEE launched, Energy Conservation Building code, ECBC 2017 and many state governments have enacted sustainable design principles as bye-laws with mandatory simulations for compliance. EcoCollab has a tribe of sustainable solution providers to make your sustainable building a reality and code compliant.
FACADES & LOW CARBON MATERIALS
The facade is an important factor to address during building design, with a particular focus on developing elevations. Appropriate massing, mutual shading, and specifying the best materials (locally sourced) can reduce or eliminate the use of auxiliary cooling/ air conditioning. "A well-designed building does not need to be controlled artificially" in 70% of cities Pan India, and building typologies. Unless the building type is specialized manufacturing, airports, and Hospitals, or buildings situated in extreme cold or hot climatic zones.
OPTIMUM WINDOW to WALL RATIO
Window to Wall ratio (WWR) differ with orientation & climatic conditions. Research proves the total energy consumption increases when the WWR is also increased. Eco Collab design team finds the WWR that is appropriate for a building, as a part and parcel of designing facades.
EFFICIENT BUILDING ENVELOPE
The building envelope has a direct impact on reducing the Carbon Footprint of a building. An in-efficient building envelope results in a higher cooling load, thereby increasing dependency on fossil fuel-generated power, which is 80% of the supply in India. Strategic placements of cool roofs, green roofs/ decks, double-height spaces are considered by Eco Collab design team to conceptualize the most efficient building envelope, for the given climatic condition and building typology.
Green Roofs & Vertical Gardens
Roof top gardens is a successful strategy to prevent heat gain. Living Greens is India’s first and largest Urban Organic Farming company that has created innovative products to convert un-used urban spaces (rooftops, plots, gardens, farmhouses etc.) into organic food producing spaces, using green roof solutions, vertical gardens etc.
Started with the vision of converting rooftops into lush green organic farms, today Living Greens, led by Prateek Tiwari and Siddharth Agarwal, has not only covered more than 100,000 square feet of rooftop space (spread over 15 cities) under urban organic farming.
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Their Portable Farming System (PFS) is now being used by individual families to grow fresh organic vegetables on their rooftops, and also by institutional clients (like schools, hospitals, hotels etc.)
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Rooftop Organic farming and Vertical garden systems act as cooling barriers and help reduce the thermal load on a building, thereby creating a naturally cooler space and simultaneously reducing dependency on artificial cooling methods.
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