Unfolding Narratives

Chaturvedi Director, Chintan Environmental Research and Action
Group, stated that citizenship is the right to belong to a city and this
citizenship needs to be maintained respectfully. Poonam Bir Kasturi,
Founder, Daily Dump, highlighted the need to segregate household
waste. She suggested ideas that would ensure that landfills in India would
not become toxic hubs of the city. Ashok Behera, Vice President, Indian
Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited, discussed on low-density aggregate
(LDA) and suggested the use of fly ash for making LDA. He shared his
experience of using LDA in industrial and residential projects, which he
claims is more eco-friendly and sustainable.
SOCIAL UPLIFTMENT AND INCOME EQUALITY
The panelists in the social upliftment and income equality session
discussed and presented their work broadly on 3 issues that aid in social
upliftment, namely skill development, affordable housing and policy
making. Preeti Sinha, Senior President and Global Convenor, YES Bank,
presented various affordable housing schemes which are delivered by
YES Bank. Selvam Ramanathan, CEO & Director, Geotrix Building
Envelope Pvt. Ltd and J P Shroff, CMD, Shroff Group, shared their
experiences in empowerment of construction workers through skill
development.
INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Sumit Sharma, Fellow, Centre for Environmental Studies, TERI spoke
about the integrated approach of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
improvement by reducing biomass fuel consumption and by adopting a
green lifestyle in rural and urban areas. He highlighted how this would
also help India in achieving the various Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) set by the United Nations. According to Varun Pahwa, Executive
Vice President, DRI, there is a revolution in the market for IEQ and that
it can be enhanced through the use of mechanical ventilation techniques.
He emphasised on how evaporative cooling can help reduce energy
consumption in the Indian climate. Corey Enck, LEED VP, US Green
Building Council, spoke about how US based standards like LEED and
the WELL certification address the IEQ.
SMART NETERING FOR BUILDINGS
The urban world is becoming a platform for generating data on the
workings of human society; human interaction with physical
environment; and manifold economic, political, social processes. Dr
Satish Kumar, Executive Chairman at the Alliance for an Energy
Efficient Economy, mentioned that a variety of sensors and meters are
designed and installed so that not only the users and occupants of the
buildings are more comfortable (thermally, visually, and acoustically) but
are able to control key performance functions in a simple and effective
fashion. This is reflected in the proliferation of different sensors
(temperature, flow, illumination, demand and energy meters, smart
thermostats, etc.) that deploy different communication protocols,
applications that allow users to control different operational attributes at
the touch of a screen to achieve the final outcome. On the other hand, as
distributed energy generation and renewables integration, demand
response, energy storage become ingrained as part of smart grid and
smart city focussed development, buildings are no more seen as passive
structures but as a part of a larger urban ecosystem that can play a
significant role in energy and environmental management at the macro
level and contribute significantly to the economic value that is created
inside and besides them.
Talking about innovation in transportation, Dr Anvita Arora, Head,
Innovative Transport Solutions, pointed out that ‘mobility is a derived
demand’ which must be catered to. She talked about the current trends
of digitalisation and the significant role it plays in creating a
sustainable city.
Talking about post disaster resettlement, Dr Ila Gupta, Director, MBS
School of Planning & Architecture talked about the vulnerability of the
Himalayan region. She highlighted a range of causal factors, such as
disturbances in ecosystem, population growth, poverty, natural resource
degradation, climate change, etc. In addition to this, she informed that
owing to factors, such as physical isolation, lack of earthquake resistant
building technology, poor communication technologies, the Himalayan
communities were vulnerable to disasters. She highlighted the need for
decentralised planning and assessment of tourism as some of the measures
for decreasing the impact of disasters in the region.
The summit was concluded on Green Lifestyle where the panellists
expressed concerns about the growing disconnect between nature and the
lifestyle and how environment aren’t been protected.
Architecture Update March 2016 45