ENERGY CONSCIOUS ARCHITECTURE

Anil Chotmarada

The physical manifestation of architectural concepts and ideas in the built form or changed landscape is a matrix or symbol of the development of the social order in a given period of time. The more developed nature or rich a given order the more advanced would be its architectural outputs. These developments are generally represented in the more complex use of industrially generated materials and complicated servicing systems which are essential to make living conditions comfortable and conducive for envisaged activities of the inhabitants and users. Man, in his endeavour to create a more beautiful and, habitable and comfortable world, has been changing the natural elements and materials into called more usable forms. The changing of the form of materials and surroundings leads to a more immediately utilizable form but entails the use of a large amount of force to bring about the change. Nature, too, has hanged the form of materials in the physical world, but Man wishes to bring about changes much faster and consequently requires much more force and creates in the process a situation of unbalanced ecological organisation.

The agent of charge in the physical world is some kind of energy in some form as the other. Nature has provided energy in the solar, hydal, wind and geological formats. Man converts there into other usable forms which an dissipation is available in the cycles of energy charges. Unfortunately a large amount of energy is used in the process of all these can changes- charging energy forms, changing the form of materials, changing the physical of our surroundings, changing the face of the earth in search of bringing joy and happiness for Man. It is here that couful thought and effort has to be applied for the purpose of censering energy.

CONSERVATION AREAS.

Architecture as a progenitor of some of these changes can be used directly and indirectly to help in the conservation of energy. As an architectural contribution savings could be effected in the areas of sitting, building materials, building methods and most important the building materials, building methods and most important the building design with respect to building services which are meant for creating human comfort conditions within and arounds building, parks, stuets and wherever, physical form of the surface of the land.

SITTING

Maximum energy is consumed when buildings made form alien materials are over crowded and there are a large number of people living on a very small parcel of land necessitating the mechanisation of all facilities. There conditions are found in cities and metropolises where the consumption of electrical energy for creating habitable conditions is at the highest. The reasons for there high levels of consumption. are numerous, but the problem is quite clear- a casual look at any rural habitat would amply indicate the proportions. Thus if energy is to be a serious concern, urbanisation world have to be contained specially the creation of mega metropolises where tremendous intervention is required to create comfortable living conditions all of which require high levels of energy inputs. A balanced urbanizapolicy would go a longway in energy conservation.

Individual placement of buildings on land can also effect the level of energy inputs. If the naturally available energy is utilized to the optimum like maximum use of daylight without overheating the environment manmade energy forms could be conserved. Wind direction, such movement, land form and existing plantation mud to be fully exploited for saving energy and this can be done when the site and its conditions are taken as a serious aspect of the design thought.

Building sites when treated with care and sensitivity in terms of minimum change of their existing form and usage of the natural cycles of ecology can bring down the consumption of energy. This is feasible when the whole building habitat is envisaged on a holistic self sustaining format. Land, climate and ecology play an extensive role in determining the need of energy levels and proper use of these can bring about a saving in energy consumption of both the building stage and at the later stages of running and maintaining the habitats.

MATERIALS

Reduction in energy consumption in the context of materials used for building construction can be effected through the appreciation of the act that energy is used in both the manufacture of materials and also in the actual application of the materials in the building process. Large amounts of energy is used in the manufacture and fabrication of materials used for all elements of building viz. civil works, finishes services and maintaining specially as the new building products are produced by highly complex industrial processes, Construction processes becoming more and more mechanised are calling for greater energy inputs, which could certainly be reduced if the process is simplified and large scale urbanization is controlled. Use of ‘advanced’ building materials using modern methods is one of the reason of high energy consumption in the building industry and can be avoided by decentralized physical growth and simple constructional methods and using simplex and native building forms.

DESIGN

While architectural design incorporates sitting and analysis of building materials but large energy conservation can be effected by effective spatial configuration, building orientation, form detailing and services which are the major issues of consideration in the design thought process.

Properly organised spaces go a long way in not only conserving human energy when the spaces are being used, but large amount of electrical energy conservation can be effected in the heating or cooling of buildings, lighting interiors, supplying and disposing water and air and other general conditions of human confort in which electricity is used. Similarly the way the building is oriented with respect to the sun and wind movements, will effect the amount of manmade energy used in heating, cooling and ventilating. The way the fenestrations and their protections are designed can also effect the consumption of energy. Large windows on the west without any protection will increase the air-conditioning load in a building on the north Indian plains. Detailing, too, can be a positive instrument in the saving of energy. Cenity walls, additional insulating through air gaps an roofs, properly planed landscape can be effective passive modes for conserving energy in buildings.

CONCESSION

As far as the building industry is concerned wastage of energy can be checked by balanced urbanization policy, effective town planning, effective building sitting, sensitive building designs which respect the energy savings in use of materials, method of construction and take full advantage of all the energy available in nature through the sun, winds and vegitation.


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