Orientation Workshop on Agenda for Green Buildings in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

20 December 2012, Lucknow

• The Orientation Workshop on Agenda for Sustainable Buildings in Lucknow was organized by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) with Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) in hotel Arif Castles in Lucknow on 20 December 2012.

• The half day workshop was attended by over 70 stakeholders from various concerned government departments, academic institutions, green building experts, architects, builders, building material retailers, civil society representatives and media. It was extremely well received and appreciated by the participants.

• Giving the welcome address was scheduled to be given by the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Allahabad-South Shri Haji Perwaj Ahamad. Due to some family issues he himself could not come in person but he sent Mr. S.K. Dwivedi, advocate Allahabad High Court, former member Allahabad Development Authority to represent him. In his written address read out by Dwivedi he pointed out how villages were and are still energy efficient and cities need to learn from them. He also informed that the UP government is taking serious measures and is committed to improve energy consumption of buildings. Green buildings are the need of the hour and he highly appreciated CSE for taking up the issue in the city of Lucknow.

• Keynote presentation by Ms. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director- research & advocacy in CSE set agenda for the workshop. CSE’s presentation provided an overview of issues concerning urbanization, building construction and energy use with a special focus on developmental challenges in these sectors in Punjab. She highlighted the fact that the India has still to build 70 per cent of its building stock which will be there in 2030 as compared to UK which has already built 80 per cent of their building stock forecasted present in 2050. Pointing out that we have great opportunity to develop differently and be more sustainable. CSE also stressed upon the need for selecting and using the right kind of building materials and techniques suited for Indian conditions and to be careful about following the market trends.

• Mr. Deependra Prashad, Principal Architect Deependra Prashad, Architects & Planners (DPAP), Delhi talked about the need for promoting greener and sustainable buildings. He highlighted innovations and concepts used in several green projects across the country to achieve high performance. Mr. Prashad stressed on the need to change the perspective on energy efficiency, wherein per capita energy consumption also needs to be measured along with per unit area energy consumption of building. According to him, if the present lifestyles are not sustainable, green building will not be sustainable.

• Mr. Vamshi Ranga, Sr. Energy Associate Green Tree Building Energy Consultant, Delhi followed up with a detailed presentation on the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC). He shared the key features, requirements of the code and demonstrated its application through the online tools Eco-Nirman to stimulate energy performance of a building design.

• Panel discussion featured Mr. R. K. Govil, additional director general CPWD North Region 1, Ar. Anupam Mittal, director ARINEM (leading architecture firm in Lucknow), Mr. S. P. Srivastava, Chief Engineer UP Power Corporation Limited – State Designated Authority ECBC, Dr. Venkatesh Dutta, assistant professor at the School for Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University and Ms. Ritu Gulati, Asst. Professor Faculty of Architecture, Gautam Buddh Technical University, Lucknow. Other people who actively participated in the discussion included Mr. J.N. Reddy, Town Planner LDA, Ar. Ashish Srivastava, Lucknow based conservation architect, credited with the conservation of historic Harzatganj and Ms. Kulsum Talha, Lucknow based journalist. 

Issues discussed

Building sector

• LDA has been working towards revising the bye-laws to make them clearer to lay person

• Need to include provision for sustainable design and material efficiency in bye-laws

• Penalties for not implementing water conservation measures in building project.

• Monitoring of construction needs to be improved

• Incentives to buildings and developers are needed to encourage green buildings

• Need to include practicing professionals in the drafting and framing process of the laws and policies related to buildings and urban development.

• Need to reduce bureaucratic hassles and better coordination  among various departments and agencies.

• Green rating and building codes are focusing on high end buildings and no incentives are being provided to small and private builders. 

Energy conservation building code (ECBC) – Local roadmap

• UP draft of ECBC has been completed and currently it is with the government for notification

• energy audits of 20 government buildings have been successfully completed

• that the energy saving measures taken by them at the extension of Secretariat is yielding monthly savings of Rs. 7.5 lakh in electricity bill

• ECBC is just focused on electricity savings need is to go further ahead and incorporated other forms of energy for next level of sustainability in building sector

• No provision for penalties for non compliance with the code has been proposed

• Perfect light is sunlight, architects and engineers should focus on improving its availability in the buildings before debating CFL, LED and tungsten bulbs 

Bigger picture – Urban scale initiatives

• Carrying capacity of Lucknow has already reached saturation point

• With current status of land and water resources Lucknow can expand only up to 20 per cent from present day. A far cry from 70 per cent yet to be built.

• Increased distances for local commuters due to unplanned growth

• Discrepancies in development master plan of different agencies for same areas

• Need to bring about an Energy Conservation Urban Code in lines of ECBC to check enormous energy wastage by the urban infrastructure

Awareness and capacity building

• Government has organized many awareness programmes with school

• BEE has undertaken capacity building workshops with state officials

• Need to educate children, as they are the real force which can bring about the change in attitude needed to leap ahead

• Need to train architects and engineers

• Need to train teachers both at school and university level

• Difficult to convince people to adopt energy saving features in their buildings due to lack of knowhow and long term benefits

• Need to educate our politicians

My Lucknow

• Lucknow has become a city of monuments from city of nawabs

• Mindless construction of monuments in the city not only added to scarcity of land in heart of the city but also increased the travel distances within the city due to countless turnabouts and one-way street

• No green rated buildings in the city

• If NOIDA can have incentives for green buildings why not Lucknow

• Government should take initiative and introduce energy saving measures in all government colonies not just big government offices

• Need for social housing

• Incorporation of social, cultural, historic and informal fabric of the city in future development plans of the city to achieve real sustainability