CONSERVING ENERGY ARCHITECTURALLY

Anil Chotmarada

Tremendous amount of energy is used in the creation, running and maintenance of human habitats. Man has always wanted to make his living environment more comfortable using the available technologies very often at the cost of ecological balances, to rectify which, greater energy is expended. Bigger, higher, faster are the symbolic keys and demonstrative signals of human progress. All these features are achieved through the usage of large amount of energy. With human progress being measured by the amount of energy used to convert the environmental conditions Man has been propagating intense changes in the habitable environment ever since the advent of the machine after the Industrial Revolution. Of late, however there has been a sea change in the attitudes of serious thinkers. There seems to be a sudden awareness of the depletionof nonrenewable sources of energy and recently there has been a splurge of effort in conserving energy in all its forms specially energy obtained from nonrenewable sources. This is noticed a little more prominently in the developing world.
The current efforts of conserving energy are, however applied in isolated pockets of activities which have not received a very high level of acceptance because of primarily this reason. There is apparently a need for a holistic approach to the problem which also identifies the more esoteric and abstract areas and issues like user expectancy, economies of the unconventional systems and the reliability of the alternate systems. The under lying fact which needs to be emphasized and propagated is that there is the necessity to realize that if the conventional energy sources are no longer available then alternate energy sources have to be developed or the existing consumption levels decreased. Unless we are able to develop a new and environmentally sustainable energy consumption level, the doom of the present day illusionary prosperous society is pending.

ARCHITECTURE AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

Prior to probing the areas in which energy can be saved in architecture, it may be worthwhile to appreciate the spheres in which energy expenditure and architecture are related. As architecture stipulates the placement of activities in space, transportation of men and material become an issue of reference. Architecture can also be seen as articulation of spaces for human usage, whence the energy expended in making space usable in terms of constructing buildings, open space activities and communication networks form contexts of this study. Buildings to be constructed need secondary and industrially produced materials the manufacture of which requires a large amount of energy. Buildings after being constructed use a lot of energy for heating or cooling, lighting and ventilation, water ingress and waste egress, vertical circulation systems and regular maintenance and upkeep. As all human activities are performed in controlled space, it is evident that a large amount of energy is used by human beings through architecture.

REGIONAL PLANNING AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

Contemporary urbanization processes have created exclusive pockets of activities, production and consumption centers. Human habitats require a large number of different kinds of inputs for survival and if these are isolated and placed far apart there is bound to be a large amount of movement of men and goods. Movement as is well known consumes energy. A glance at the transport corridors leading to a city or large town easily exemplifies the need for huge amount of goods required by the citizens for their consumption.
There is no doubt that there are bound to be some specialized production centers depending on the availability of raw materials and other such like factors, and the product of these centers is required all over the region, even the country. Many activities can, however be interspersed to create reasonably self sufficient units in which there is less movement of men and materials. Proper regional planning which correctly projects the agricultural and industrial demands of the urban area, small town or rural settlements of the region can decrease the requirements of transporting workers and goods thus saving a large quantity of energy. The probable answer to this problem would be in the creation of self sufficient regions which can generate all the produce necessary for its sustenance, with the least amount of import of goods. The interaction between regions should be more on the intellectual plane using communication modes which do not require transportation.
Here it would be pertinent to note that properly laid transport networks in the region would go a long way in conserving energy used for transportation. Highways and interconnecting roads need to be not only correctly located but also need to be properly maintained.

TOWN PLANNING AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

Town planning layouts indicate the primary architecture of the settlement in terms of zoning, siting, densities, services and other such like aspects. These factors have a tremendous effect on the energy expenditure issue. Zoning for instance will entail movement of people for the fulfillment of their various needs like living, working, health, recreation, educational and the allied and subsidiary activities related to these needs. Siting of buildings and their mass allocation with respect to the street alignment will determine the orientation of buildings which will in turn effect the thermal and lighting qualities of the spaces within. Poorly oriented buildings will use greater amount of energy for lighting, cooling and other services.
Our present day policies of centralizing activities have lead to large agglomerations which are choking. Added to this the liberalized economy has produced a society which thrives on consumerism. Any Indian city or large town is an example of ill planned organic growth where there are too many cars and energy consuming vehicles with respect to the available road and parking space; activities too oddly placed causing constant movement for many, very often. All this consumes energy.
The small town may be a little better because of more manual means of transportation as the distances are lesser. The small town also does not show any signs of proper planning inputs leading to chaotic landuse patterns, ribbon growth and chaotic traffic.
The solution may well lie in proper regional planning and a well modulated urbanization policy in which small towns of differing character and villages form satellites to the nucleus city. Most units need to be as self sufficient as is possible with the region being able to cater to all the needs, except the very special, for all its populace.

BUILDING MATERIALS AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

The building industry uses as its raw material various kinds of products. Some of these are naturally available but many need to be industrially treated for usage. To convert the natural material into usable building material like cement, steel, aluminum, ply boards, hardware sanitary fittings, electrical fittings and fixtures numerous complex and energy consuming processes are required. The materials used for finishing buildings both inside and outside are generally factory made - these too require energy in their manufacturing. Then there is the issue of the transportation of these materials from the factory to the whole seller and then to the building sites which are also energy consuming procedures.
The use of locally available material in its natural form with the least amount of treatment is the evident answer to conserving energy on this front. This kind of solution to energy conservation is possible if there is an attitudinal change in accepting these materials for usage in ordinary buildings and the realization of the result of the depleting source of the conventional energy forms. There is also the need for a change in our life style for the acceptance of this hard fact.
There are a number of agencies working in the direction of propagating the use of basic materials like earth, stone and wood but the acceptance level is rather poor as the users have the capacity of paying for the expensive industrial products, energy is subsidized, lack of social awareness and the evident advantages of using energy consuming systems and products like air conditioning as compared to naturally cooled structures through the passive cooling systems. There is also the added issue of these industrial expensive appurtenances forming a status symbol.
There is also the need for greater research in the areas of alternate methods to increase their reliability and efficiency. All this will develop and grow when everybody realizes that we do not have an inexhaustible supply of the conventional energy system.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

In the search for creating more comfortable habitats, planners and designers have been exploiting land and technologies to the utmost. Achieving higher densities and erecting higher buildings have become the targets of most builders. This has resulted in complex building techniques which have become more energy consuming. Prefabricated industrial products, raising workers and materials to greater hights and multiple transportation of materials for effective construction management has resulted in building methods which are more energy consuming.
Using simple building materials, contemporising the native and traditional techniques and using manual methods, at least in the developing world, would yield a considerable saving in the consumption of energy for building.
It is not that beautiful and efficient buildings can be made only with only the high energy consuming industrial products, these can be equally well created through manual crafts using locally available building materials.

BUILDING SERVICES AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

Buildings for different functions have different energy consumption levels but by and large all buildings use external energy for lighting, cooling or heating, ventilating, vertical circulation and sometimes for water supply and waste disposal. A properly designed building could bring about a substantive decrease in the use of external energy.
Lighting: At least during daylight hours there should be no need for using artificial lights. At present this is happening because of incorrect orientation of buildings, indifferent window position, size, design and detailing. Either there is insufficient light because of incorrectly designed windows or there is too much light causing glare whence the users have to draw curtains and have to switch on the artificial lights. Effective fenestration details with ledges, louvers and reflectors designed according to the orientation can be useful devices for saving energy.
Even in artificial lighting, the choice of lamp and luminaire and their positioning, switching systems and maintenance can be energy saving factors. The colour of walls, ceilings and floors also make a difference in the efficiency of lighting devices. Effective differentiation between task and general lighting and their proper apportioning also help in conserving energy.
Cooling: In an urban agglomeration a large built up mass will change the micro climate of the place. This, of necessity, needs to be modified for creating comfort conditions. If effective architectural methods are used in the first instance then artificial methods would either not be required or minimally required. Proper orientation and effective insulation with the possibility of air drafts would ensure no need for artificial cooling. A number of research organizations are working on solar passive systems for creating comfort conditions within buildings.
Effective design of solar passive structures ensure that solar energy is used for heating the buildings in winter and evading solar radiation in summer equally effectively. The basic principle is to collect, store and distribute thermal energy by means of natural heat transfer systems.
Ventilation: Energy is used to create artificial wind drafts to ventilate and cool the spaces within buildings. This energy through architecture by the organization of open spaces, orientation of buildings, placement and size of openings with respect to wind directions, creating wind drafts through vertical shafts and other such like methods.
Water supply and waste disposal: Where topography does not permit and where the water has to be delivered to upper stories, there is need to expend energy to lift water. The higher the building, the greater the congestion and farther the building site from the water source greater is the energy spent for this essential need. Scattered, smaller habitats are the probable answer to this dilemma. Waste is the reverse of this. Though gravity is generally used to transport waste, but it needs to be treated when in large quantity which cannot be absorbed and treated by nature. This too is an out come of large settlements.

BUILDING MAINTENANCE AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

There is a certain amount of deterioration in the efficiency of working of all man made objects over time. These need to be maintained for longer life and greater efficacy. Windows with dirty glass panes, dusty lamps and luminaires, leaking faucets, fenestration permitting thermal leakage and such like features result in under utilization of fixtures and appliances which results in wastage of energy. Regular maintenance of all building components leads to saving of energy in the long run.

CONCLUSION

Building or creating is a complex interaction of conversion of matter by use of energy. Least changes in matter and use of energy which is from a nonrenewable source will lead to a healthier, sustainable society.
Before the advent of appliances and appurtenances which enabled humans to decrease manual inputs for their normal activities, Man was living a more natural life. It is not that we need to cut down on the quality of life , but we certainly do need to have a positive change in our attitudes. There is a need to review our aspirations to incorporate enhanced cultural values. The need is to include in our life styles the activities which involve nature instead of those which bend over to indicate human control over natural systems.
The future demands that effective use of renewable energies like solar, wind, tide, hydroflow or falls, ocean and geo thermal be made for the planet to survive as these would be the least polluting and retain our natural habitat in its pristine condition.


Anil Chotmarada is a Faculty & Director in Gateway College of Architecture & Design, Sonipat-131001, India.