Training programme on 'Green Campus: Design and Operations for Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure'

Date: October 14-17, 2019

Venue: AAETI

Habitat Programme organised a joint training programme titled 'Green Campus: Design and Operations for Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure' with the Water Programme from October 14-17, 2019. This course was organised with a view to enable the participating CPWD engineers and architects, estate managers such as from British High Commission, administrators from Gurugram District Administration and practitioners on how to embed sustainability in operations and management of campuses or neighbourhood level habitat.

The programme commenced with an introductory session by Dr. Suresh Rohilla, Senior Director & Academic Director (School of Water and Waste, AAETI) on October 14 at CSE Tughlakabad office. Starting with CSE's journey, Dr. Rohilla stressed on the need to pick a new paradigm for water management to avert water crisis, especially in urban areas. With Day 1 focusing on water, Ms. Shivali Jainer, Programme Manager, Water Programme engaged the participants on Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning on different scales. Dr. Mahreen Matto, Programme Manager, Water Programme demonstrated CSE Tughlakabad Campus's rainwater harvesting and decentralised wastewater treatment system and brought into discussion key points for operation and maintenance of such technologies. 

Day 2 was dedicated to energy management. Mr. Rajneesh Sareen, Director, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme kicked-off the sessions at AAETI and sensitized the participants about the existing regulatory frameworks for sustainability in the built environment. Master ECBC trainer, Mr. Akshay Gupta, brought into light several principles of energy conservation in buildings and focused on how to efficiently operate HVAC systems in campuses. Shifting to cross-cutting resource management in campuses, Mr. Sugeet Grover, Programme Officer, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme, presented case studies from different parts of India and discussed their performance across the themes of energy, water, waste, air and land. Mr. Rajneesh Sareen sensitized the participants on water-energy nexus and pointed on the reason to couple strategies for water and energy management in campuses. He then engaged the participants on unscientific Construction & Demolition waste management becoming a major issue in cities and how it should be dealt with at a building and neighbourhood scale considering the campuses undergo maintenance, retrofitting or expansion. Mr. Sareen gave an overview on AAETI and it's making as a green campus jointly to the participants of the two trainings taking place at AAETI - Green Campus and Urban Lake Management. This was followed by a campus tour. 

Day 3 commenced with engaging participants on preparing baselines for their respective campuses by Dr. Marisha Sharma, Director of MinMec Environment laboratory. Shifting to the next sector in campus operations - waste management - Mr. Dinesh Bandela, Deputy Programme Manager, Solid Waste Management elaborated generator's roles and responsibilities as per the Waste Management Rules 2016. In order to ensure the participants are able to translate the learnings into practice, he engaged everybody in an exercise to prepare an integrated waste management plan for a hypothetical RWA and office complex. In the evening, a field exercise to enable the participants to conduct a visual survey and identify whether a campus is green was conducted by the Habitat team at Kesroli Fort. 

The results of the exercise were presented by the participants in groups the next day, which brought together their learnings from the past three days of training. Bringing focus on monitoring of campuses for sustainability and efficiency, Mr. Sareen discussed components of Building Management Systems. To conclude the course, Mr. Sareen informed participants about existing tools such as rating systems that culminate several concepts and techniques, and can act as guidelines for uplifting environmental performance of campuses.

The 18 participants who attended the course complemented the comprehensive and very practical content of the course. They appreciated the speakers for their relevant knowledge, examples and effective delivery method. Participants enjoyed their stay at AAETI and conveyed best's for the AAETI and CSE team.