Unit – 5

Built environment

Q1) What is built environment?

A1)

The term ‘built environment’ refers to aspects of our surroundings that are built by humans, that is, distinguished from the natural environment. It includes not only buildings, but the human-made spaces between buildings, such as parks, and the infrastructure that supports human activity such as transportation networks, utilities networks, flood, defences, telecommunications and so on. The built environment includes all of the physical parts of where we live and work (e.g., homes, buildings, streets, open spaces, and infrastructure). The built environment influences a person's level of physical activity.

Q2) What is climate control in buildings?

A2)

The term ‘climate control’ is used to refer to the way that we control the climate inside our homes. Those in the know commonly refer to it as ‘HVAC’ – which stands for ‘heating, ventilation and cooling’. These are the three main aspects of climate control.

Basic heating and cooling technologies

The most common ways to heat and cool a home are using heaters and either fans or air conditioners. There are many different options available for both heating and cooling purposes, as well as a number of choices in terms of the fuels you use. The technologies and the fuels you choose to use in your home will have a big impact on:

Insulation, materials and passive design

One way to keep heat in (or out) is using insulation. Thick layers of insulation materials in walls and ceilings do a great deal to help prevent heat from entering or leaving your home. The materials you use to build your home also affect this. Bricks and concrete, for example, absorb a lot of heat. This might be excellent during winter months, but might also make cooling your home harder in the middle of summer. Likewise, good glazing or window film can make a huge difference to your home’s overall insulation.

Another increasingly popular approach to heating and cooling is to use what’s known as ‘passive design’. Put simply, this involves cleverly designing your home using natural principles so that the temperature inside’s almost always comfortable, which in turn reduces the need for expensive artificial cooling or heating technologies.

Air quality and ventilation

The last thing you need to consider – and the reason that ventilation is included as a part of climate control – is air quality. Designing your home so that it’s air tight and well insulated is one thing, but if you don’t have a constant supply of fresh air to your home you can easily get very sick.

This is mostly what ‘good’ climate control boils down to – striking the right balances, and choosing effective and efficient ways to heat, cool and ventilate your home.

HVAC SYSTEM

A Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system, also known as HVAC system, removes contaminants in the air and conditions indoor air either cooling it or heating it to provide comfort.

Q3) What is a carbon footprint and how it is calculated?

A3)

A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide—released into the atmosphere by a particular human activity. A carbon footprint can be a broad meaasure or be applied to the actions of an individual, a family, an event, an organization, or even an entire nation. It is usually measured as tons of CO2 emitted per year, a number that can be supplemented by tons of CO2-equivalent gases, including methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases.

Calculation of carbon footprint

Typically, a carbon footprint is calculated by estimating not just the CO2 emissions that the activity in question causes, but also any emissions of other greenhouse gases (such as methane and nitrous oxide) and in some cases other types of climate impacts as well, such as vapour trails from aeroplanes. For simplicity, all these impacts are added together and expressed as a single number in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): the amount of CO2 that would create the same amount of warming.

There are many existing and evolving standards for calculating carbon footprints but in truth no footprint is precise. Even for simple activities such as burning a litre of petrol, which releases a known amount of CO2, there are still uncertainties about the emissions caused by extracting and refining the petrol before it was burned. 

Q4) What does LEED mean?

A4)

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building types, LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership.

LEED 2009 encompasses ten rating systems for the design, construction and operation of building, homes and neighbourhoods. Five overarching categories correspond to the specialities available under the LEED professional program. The suite currently consists of:

Green building design and construction

Green interior design and construction

Green building operations and maintenance

Green neighbourhood development

Green home design and construction

Q5) What is a smart building and what are its benefits?

A5)

A smart building is one that is using technology to share information about what goes on in the building between systems so as to optimise the building's performance. This information is then used to automate various processes, from heating and ventilation to air conditioning and security.

Smart buildings tend to provide a healthier, productive and comfortable space for the people staying in. Be it a workspace or residence, with advanced climatic and lighting controls, smart buildings improve the indoor air quality and lighting in a significant way.

BENEFITS OF SMART BUILDING

1. Benefiting from smart data

2. Efficient consumption of energy

3. Increase in the asset value

4. Decreased consumption

5. Real-time action

6. Anticipating well in advance

7. Smart maintenance of equipments

8. Following green norms

9. Increase in work efficiency.

10. Saving operational cost

Q6) What are the benefits of GRIHA system?

A6)

GRIHA is an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment. GRIHA is a Sanskrit word meaning – ‘Abode’. Human Habitats (buildings) interact with the environment in various ways. Throughout their life cycles, from construction to operation and then demolition, they consume resources in the form of energy, water, materials, etc. and emit wastes either directly in the form of municipal wastes or indirectly as emissions from electricity generation. GRIHA attempts to minimize a building’s resource consumption, waste generation, and overall ecological impact to within certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks.

On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, reducing energy consumption and the stress on natural resources.

Some of the benefits of a green design to a building owner, user, and the society as a whole are as follows:

Q7) What is HVAC?

A7)

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. "Refrigeration" is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation, as HVAC&R or HVACR or "ventilation" is dropped, as in HACR (as in the designation of HACR-rated circuit breakers).

HVAC is an important part of residential structures such as single family homes, apartment buildings, hotels and senior living facilities, medium to large industrial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and hospitals, vehicles such as cars, trains, airplanes, ships and submarines, and in marine environments, where safe and healthy building conditions are regulated with respect to temperature and humidity, using fresh air from outdoors.

Ventilating or ventilation (the "V" in HVAC) is the process of exchanging or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality which involves temperature control, oxygen replenishment, and removal of moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases. Ventilation removes unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduces outside air, keeps interior building air circulating, and prevents stagnation of the interior air.

Q8) What are the ways to reduce carbon footprints of a building?

A8)

Managing and reducing carbon footprints as part of a low carbon strategy, with its inherent cost benefits and revenue opportunities, is increasingly important in building design. Building green is one of the best strategies to temper negative climate change because the technology to make substantial reductions in energy and CO2 emissions already exists.

Reducing a building's carbon footprint reduces its running costs, improves employee morale, raises property values and improves LEED scores. Buildings become environmentally responsible, profitable and healthier places to live and work in. The following tips can help reduce a building's footprint.

1. Start early

Evaluate and measure a building design's carbon footprint as early in the process as possible. "That is when there are the most opportunities for reduction," says Andrea Charlson, senior engineer of advanced technology and research, Arup, London. "At this stage, alternative layouts and materials can be considered and details can be refined to use less material.

2. HVAC

Since HVAC comprises 40 percent of all carbon emissions, incorporating the most efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, along with efficient operations and scheduled maintenance of such systems, reduces carbon footprint.

3. Continuous insulation

Continuous insulation saves energy and reduces the carbon footprint. It provides thermal, air, water and vapor control layers in one system and simplifies the construction process."

4. Lighting

Use state-of-the-art lighting and optimize daylighting. Lighting accounts for approximately 40 percent of the energy used in a typical commercial building. Solar thermal gain lowers carbon footprints, but too much solar gain in summer causes overheating and increases the need for cooling. Too little solar gain in winter increases the need for heating. Solar control window films can reduce carbon footprints by cutting energy expenditures by up to 30 percent.

5. Recycled content

Choose recyclable building materials that have less negative effect on the environment. Support green suppliers and vendors that embrace green practices. "Metal building systems are the ideal product for sustainability and green as steel is the most recycled material on the planet.

6. Water usage

Designing for water conservation, efficiency and reuse are among the largest and most cost-effective energy and carbon reduction strategies available

7. Renewable energy

A building's carbon footprint can be reduced by sourcing its operational energy from environmentally responsible sources, or by generating renewable energy on-site. Using the walls or roof of a building for solar air heating, solar electric photovoltaic (PV) systems or solar water heating can permanently eliminate part of the demand for conventional energy.

Q9) What techniques are used to restore monuments to their aesthetic, cultural and historic value?

A9)

There are two main techniques which are used to restore monuments to their aesthetic, cultural and historic value. These techniques include Structural Conservation and Chemical Preservation.

1. Structural Conservation: Although the ancient monuments have stood the test of time, not all of them are as strong as they were. Over the course of decades or centuries, the monuments incur significant loss in their structural integrity. Many monuments are often rendered in a weakened state. This may be due to the weakening of the foundation pillars, weakening of columns, ceilings, etc. Vegetation, mostly weed is also found growing over older buildings. Water seepage is another problem which renders older buildings weak. Structural conservation involves making the foundation of the building strong again. Reinforcement work is carried out on foundations to restore the core part of the building. This also helps the monuments to become resistant to natural disaster such as floods and quakes. Repairs are also done on other parts of the building which includes ceilings, walls etc. Removing unnecessary vegetation from the premises also helps to contribute to the aesthetic value of the monument.

2. Chemical Preservation: Chemical preservation helps to protect the monuments from agents such as organic and inorganic gases like sulphuric acid, nitric acid and carbon monoxide. Chemical preservation also helps to eliminate moss, algae and lichens which grow on the monuments. Wood is cleaned with the help of some pesticides like Xylophene and DDT amongst others. The cleaning of terracotta objects and stone is done with the help of mixtures of mortar, slaked lime and brick dust.

3. Awareness Programs: The government has understood the criticality of spreading awareness regarding conservation of the different heritage sites in the country, and for this purpose, many events, seminars and workshops are organized pan India, where the knowledge about the ancient monuments, their historical and archaeological importance is shared with the participants to supplement the monuments conservation drive. Some of the actions which are encouraged include preventing the sites from being vandalized. Since the conservation process requires major efforts from experts, government agencies, monetary aid and significant time.

Q10) What are the elements of safety system?

A10)

There are many technological solutions which keep people and assets safe. Here is a long list of potential solutions, which all benefit from being connected to building management system for monitoring and control.

Elements of safety system