Mumbai dialogue on green architecture

"Building sense: Beyond the green facade of sustainable habitat"

Half day dialogue on green architecture was organized in Mumbai in collaboration with Institute of Urbanology, Mumbai. The event was organised at Studio X, Kitab Mahal, 192 DN Road, Fort, Mumbai.This event is a part of CSE’s initiative to promote good practices in the building construction sector and habitat management for resource efficiency and sufficiency in Indian cities. As a public interest organization we are seeking to build public discussion and policy debate on crucial issues of sustainability of the urbanscape. India has plunged into frenetic construction of buildings to meet the burgeoning demand for homes, offices, and shops. Building construction, occupation and lifestyle pressures have come under spotlight for its very strong linkage with energy use, resource depletion, natural habitat destruction and climate impacts. At the same time there is the larger challenge of meeting comfort and liveability expectations in poor peoples’ homes and settlements. If the regulatory interventions are not designed well early and the idea of green building is not demystified it can have unintended consequences and the new built area can lock up enormous resource guzzling and waste.

The dialogue was continuation of the discussions initiated at the national conclave and CSE analysis of environmental fall out of Indian building sector was shared with the local architects and green building professionals community. The regional release of the study was done by eminent green architect Shirish Beri at the dialogue.

Issues discussed at the conclave covered environmental impacts of buildings and townships; energy efficiency of buildings; affordable housing for the urban poor; building materials and waste; green rating of buildings; and gender equality in sustainable urban design.

Conclave had  Shirish Beri, Principal Architect, Shirish Beri & Associates, Kolhapur; Jay Dhariwal,Lead -  Team Shunya,Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; Shilpa Phadke, Faculty Member,Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Malak Singh, Principal Architect, Architect Malaksingh Gill, Mumbai; Sameep Padora,Principal Architect,Sameep Padora & Associates, Mumbai; and Bejoy Davis,Civil Engineer in personal capacity as speakers, while Anumita Roychoudhary, Executive Director, CSE and Avikal Somvanshi, CSE made thematic presentation and Rahul Srivastava, Co-Founder,Institute of Urbanology moderated the dialogue proceedings.