How green is your building?
Eco-friendly homes are a latest Trend
By Mr. Madhur Khaitan CEO ArcMesh
India is all set to see high growth in infrastructure development in the next decade. In fact, the construction industry in the country is one of the largest and is growing at an annual rate of 9.5% compared to the global average of 5%. At the same time, it’s a challenge to preserve the environment. With rapid urbanization and dramatic growth of population in urban areas and excessive energy consumption, the concept of sustainable and green development has become a new paradigm in architectural pedagogy for the 21st century. Eco-friendly homes are a latest trend emerging in real estate business. The demand for Eco-friendly homes or apartments is rising in major cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Green building movement, though in its nascent stage in India, has already put the country ahead of quite a few developed economies. In terms of new construction, we have already left behind Australia, one of the prominent countries with vast green building mass, and we are ahead of China and close behind the USA.
There is tremendous scope in the context of today’s energy crisis and emphasis is being laid on saving energy and reducing carbon footprints. The talk is that such initiatives will contribute to 10 per cent of India’s GDP in the future. Energy conservation in buildings through suitable adoption of ‘green building’ concept, thus has become the need of the day. Green buildings have become a global phenomenon, driving innovation in the products that are used and the buildings in which we live and work. A green building is one which uses less water, optimizes energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building. A green home is one that is ideally constructed with a smart design, and requires minimal maintenance. The overall harm to the environment is at a minimum and the residents remain healthy.
Statistics reveal that there is over 160 million square feet of real estate being developed for green buildings in India. From 20,000 sq ft of green built-up area in 2003, India today has a growing green footprint in excess of 270 million sq ft under construction which includes 88 million sq ft being developed in the residential green homes category. In 2008, there were as many as 240 million sq ft of commercial buildings that requested green certification. I foresee India to be one of the leaders in the green building movement in the years to come and expect around 10,000 green buildings to come up in the country by 2012. Builders are opting for eco-friendly cement, lead-free and water-based paints and flooring tiles and roofing sheets made from 100% recycled material. That is why the use of architectural meshes is more relevant than ever to make eco-friendly buildings.
Metal fabric, also known as architectural mesh or metal mesh increased appeal and importance as green screening material, wire mesh is fabricated from recycled materials, and mesh itself can be recycled. As most mesh is fabricated, cut, trimmed and fitted to final applied size at a factory, ready to be installed with a ‘plug and play’ system at shops, on-site and overall waste are minimized. The stainless steel used in making mesh is durable with a long life cycle and has sizable post and pre recyclable content. Mesh provides effective sun shading and re-radiation, thus reducing the demand for and cost of energy, and can contribute to improved occupant views and air quality. Interestingly most architects are using wire mesh as a visual design element with its own particular appeal and benefits. Those benefits include: solar shading, enclosing material that permits the passage of breezes, daylight and sound; as a decorative finish conducive to dramatic lighting and visual effects; and as a surface appearing semi-solid, or transitional over time.
Architectural mesh applications can be as diverse as building façades, ceilings, in-fill panels; decorative overlay surfaces; wall cladding; flooring; column cladding; sun shades; partition walls ; automated roller shutters ; guard rails; view screens around equipment or service areas; signage or sign backing. The range of applications is limited only by the designer’s imagination.
