LIVING BUILDING
SERIES
Q & A of Living Building Series
Near Zero Dialog #02.
The Big Picture.
Presenter: Hariharan Chandra. Trustee. PJMT & AltTech Foundation.
Session of April 16, 2020.
All that you wanted to know on cooling your buildings the Energy Efficient way.
GreeKnow brings you insights and directions to solutions from experts. You’re welcome to mail contact@premjainmemorialtrust.com for help. This is a listing of questions raised in the Living Building Series of online classes. This will make for more useful reading if you have watched the E Series of April 09, 2020. The questions [and responses from experts] are listed in no order of priority and are drawn from the conversation featured in that episode. Mail us at contact@premjainmemorialtrust.com for more, or at AltTech555@gmail.com.
There are many questions that were raised which we have featured, with no ‘answers’. Each of you is an expert if you’re spending time on these columns. You could offer examples of your comments and observations.
Q from Ar. Yuvaraj. Greenscape Studio: When we are trying to avoid plastics, how we can use that as fuel?
A. There are two kinds of plastics. The PET bottles that we use for drinking water. This is now threshed into granules that is recycled for polyester yarn. Industry sources affirm that over 90 percent that is collected by a pyramid of rag pickers and aggregators has a market that pays for the collection and for the thousands in every city who make a living out of it. The other varieties of plastic from chocolate wrappers and covers of various thickness that we still use despite every effort to avoid its manufacture or bulk sale has to be managed.
Yes. The mission is to avoid plastics altogether. But until that stage is reached what do you do with the plastic refuse we have? That is where the pyrolysis comes in. It costs about ₹12 lac for a system that takes 100 kg a day. Remember 100 kg is a lot of plastic for it is so light in weight. For a town of 500,000, scattered over 10-12 different points of dumping there will be no more than 50-100 kg. Which is why it makes sense to have pyrolysis plants that don’t need to manage more than 100 kg a day. What’s more, these plants are designed to self generate the energy they need for the heat they produce. Only about 20 percent of fuel needed for initial combustion has to be from a Genset or electric power. Rest is regenerative. The biofuel it generates is safe in its extraction and in its use. For more as details I’d suggest you read up on the web.
Q from Megha Ballari. Prestige Constructions: Plastic waste to fuel sounds very very interesting. Can we have more info on the same to take ideas where builders/developers can make these mandatory in coming days to adopt in the buildings as plastic waste is huge. Are there downsides of the biofuel from plastic waste?
A. There are no downsides, Megha. The safety protocols are sound. The pyrolysis plant needs about 300 sft. It stands about 3 meters tall. The storage of the plastic takes about 1000 sft of an open yard. It needs a power connection . If you do want to know more please mail.
Q from Sunil Agrawal: What is CAPEX and OPEX model?
A. A Capex model is where you buy the equipment with your own money and take an annual maintenance contract and run the equipment. It can be a waste water plant, a plant to make drinking water from waste water. Or it can be solar power generation in an apartment or your office rooftop.
An Opex model is where you don’t have the money in your apartment block or your office and yet you want the advantage of such power or water treatment. Then someone else invests and manages the plant operations and supplies you water or power at a cost per unit or per litre that you mutually agree upon. Want to know more please write in..
Q from Dr H Nagaraj, BMS Engineering College: Can you share few case studies where you tried to introduce water conservation measures?
A. I request you to read the Reference Reading material and the links provided there. Click on the icon Reference Reading for this Edition of the Big Picture next to this section on this web page.
Q from Umashankar S: Are there Energy market implications changes due to Covid-19 crisis which can affect sustainability investments?
A. The collective reading of many analysts is that the market impact for all solutions that reduce use of natural resources in our consumption of water or energy for residential or industrial or agricultural applications will increase. All green solutions will be in greater demand.
The need for marketing and educating consumers is very high. Over 90 percent of all urban consumers or farmers or small industrialists are not even aware of power supply impacts our forests or our rivers; how millions of species and sensitive tribal populations of over 120 million in India are threatened by coal mining for thermal power generation (which is every 3000 units out of 5,000 units for a modest two bedroom house!) or nuclear power or hydro power. To educate people on how local solar power generation in your apartment rooftop is better than big solar farms because of the losses in distribution of at least 5x to every unit you consume.
So what’s the impact of electric power we consume at home or office or a factory or a mall with all the central air conditioning and such?
This will need some explanation. And we believe every consumer should understsnd this. Specially professionals who create air conditioning systems or design high power intense lighting systems for buildings.
Let’s take the example of coal since 70 percent of power we consume comes from coal based power plants. Since 2015 many more power plants have been commissioned which have only sharply increased the rate of extraction of coal from forests in Indonesia and Australia also apart from India.
The maximum efficiency of conversion of coal in a steam cycle can never ever exceed 42.5% because of temperature limitations. The maximum efficiency in T & D is around 93% with losses in distribution around 6% and transmission 1%....this is based on helium cooling of cables, etc. The maximum efficiency of end-use varies from 65% in case of process heat to 15 % in case of lighting and everything else in between. If one were to take the higher limits of all that I have written , the efficiency of conversion of 1 unit of input will be 0.45x0.93x.65 = 0.28. That means for every 1 unit of output , you would require 4 units of input energy.
The question also is how many units of coal it takes to deliver 4 units ( kWh) of power. I guess it will be 0.8 kg of coal . Let’s test this assumption. The heat equivalent of electrical energy is 860 KCal per kWh. Since, as we had earlier agreed upon, it woujd take 860 x 4 Kcal or 3440 Kcal to deliver 4 kWh of end use energy. Since also the calorific value of Indian coal graded these days has deteriorated quite a bit, due to high ash content, etc, we can assume it to be 4500 kcal per kg. (In the 1970s it used to be 6500 kcal per kg. It has deteriorated to around 4500 kcal per kg - a drop of 2000 Kcal / kg over the past 50 years or 50 Kcal/kg/ year). So 3440 Kcal ie equivalent to 3440 / 4500 = 0.76 kg of coal. We can round it off to 0.75 kg of coal to deliver 4 units of power.
So what would your choice be on power options for the future.
Similarly the story on freshwater is no different. I’d recommend you to read the following links.
Reclaiming water through recycling the best way ahead.
https://thefederal.com/analysis/reclaiming-water-through-recycling-the-best-way-ahead/
and
How 'yuck' factor stands in way of India's wastewater treatment
Q from From Sunil Nandipati, Gitam Univ: How does Embodied energy of building materials effect the service life of buildings.
A. They don’t impact either way. As long as the performance parameters remain the same the energy saved upstream of product manufacturing is a net gain for Earth. Cavity blocks against solid concrete blocks. Floors with locally drawn material than say Italian marble. Natural flooring as against synthetic floors that claim energy. There’s no negstive impact. In fact there’s therapeutic value with natural floors which ease pains of those afflicted by rheumatism or arthritis.
Q : Can we minimize the Energy of building by using Agriculture waste by using bricks?
A. Straw bale blocks have been tried successfully but not on larger scale. The test is always whether a material is used by mainstream buildings and not by a few isolated buyers.
Q from Nazim Khan: Is it possibe that in future we will have an indian standard that residential building can apply as an overall package? Like a combination of all the Parameters discussed, waste management, air management, energy Management?
A. Gayathri, Nitte School responds. IFSC Code gives Indian-based Embodied Energy values & Carbon GWP values. Please check these out. Or mail us and we’ll ask her to offer a detailed note.
Q from Ashwin Thammaiah, RVCE, Bengaluru: Would like to know the quantification / significance of the embodied energy of building material (as a percentage importance) in making a building near zero building.
A. Ashwin. Check response to the previous question. Talk to Dr Gayathri. She’ll guide you. If you write back to us we’ll request her to offer you a comprehensive insight.
Q from Vindhya MP: How to protect the existing lakes? Can we alone do it!? Is it possible?!
A. Good question to ask. There are isolated examples of citizen groups having succeeded. Some Govt efforts, even rarer, have worked. This requires you to act. Can you get one apartment to act in your neighbourhood to go in for a Zero Discharge water system? Can you opt for a career where you evangelise such solution creation? If you’re committed enough we’ll make you an offer to join a job which is more a mission. If all apartments and bulk water users decided to recycle all water with systems that earn them returns that are three times their bank deposit rate, that enhance their water security infinitely and reduces dramatically ecological damage the apartment or factory or office brings to the city and the country … it is then that you’ll see lakes restored across the city and the country.
Q from Ar. N S Ashok: Is there a ‘Net Zero building’ in reality which is true to its definition in absolute terms -monitored and certified on a year on year basis.
A. Yes. You tell us the city you are in. And we will help you visit such a building. There are many across the country. Though it is far from the number that one would want it to be. If as a nation or as the world we are to be sustainable all buildings have to qualify as Near Zero building fall if not as Net Zero building. And if you want to know the difference between Near Zero and Net Zero, please look at Q&A for Edition 1 under the previous icon.
Q from Girish Hombal: It is predicted that this year also there would be floods like previous year. I would like to know that if any measures are taken to avoid flooding and at the same time any easy methods to store huge amount of water safely so that we can utilize it for rest of the year.
A. This is effectively watershed management with inundation planning. There are many systems that our traditional knowledge in India has offered. Bunds, revetments, boulder trenches, Swales and drains, tanks with discharge mechanisms, dug wells and recharge wells. There’s more. Contour planning to endure drainage for the discharge and saturation sides of the land. Choice of shrubs, plants and tree species that help prevent such inundation threats. Write to me if you want to know more. There is indeed a short program on this aspect alone of land management that we conduct.
Q from Apurva Shah: Sewage treatment technologies are suggested for reuse and reclaim of water. Post COVID-19 is there a risk in such treated STP water?
Tests done in some developed countries with advanced sewage treatment plants have confirmed that treated sewage has shown presence of RNA of Covid-19. Is there a real risk post COVID19?
Do you think appropriate upgrades of Membranes usage and the development of better media will remove risks of water contamination in normal as well as in such extreme times as this?
A. A panel expert on waste water, Rajesh Jain responds : Yes. The question is legitimate in the wake of the Pandemic fears. However, the fragments of RNA that have been detected in Sewage (in global reports that have appeared so far) are very quickly decomposed because they are inactive.
And as all evidence has made it clear, COVID19 remains stable only for 2-7 days if whole virus (with protein coat) is present in sewage. Probability of this is minuscule. Since they are inactive the molecular sequence is no longer conducive for replicating.
If the treated Sewage water is then processed properly with UV, the Virus’s RNA can be destroyed easily. Inactive RNA are not harmful as testified by all researchers.
Q from Leela Prasad Kalepalli, Hyderabad: What will be position of water availability by 2070. As per the prediction of our most respected president of India that wars will take place for water and how can we come out.
A. First, as a green business leader yourself you should promote the Composite Water Treatment Systems where we stop using fresh water just once and drain it into the city sewerage system. We will direct you to the right technology with high investment returns. Please mail us at AltTech555@gmail.com.
India already has the technology that is affordable and powerfully effective foe treating waste water to pure drinking water. If all apartments and all bulk water users in your entire city adhered to this, and recycled all water and used it we will have no water crisis.
You’re seeing the Ganga and Jamuna and all other rivers flowing with clear water. It shows how industrial users are major culprits. In your city of Hyderabad the old Musi has become a sewer. You can change it. Data of all the culprits who discharge water without treating will be available with the Pollution Control Board. Ensure all of them use such Composite Water Treatment Systems in their buildings. Let’s start the revolution. I’ll be available for any help.
Q from Daniel Albuquerque, Goa: The tourist state get phenomenal rains, yet the hotel industry suffers acute water shortages. A couple of ttips would help thousands of tourist establishments.
A. This is the tragedy of Kochi also. Both your regions secure 2500 mm rainfall. You’re blessed. Perhaps because you’ve plenty you have taken it for granted and depleted your groundwater tables, ravaged your forests with mines and logging of timber, depleted your rivers with little as effort to restore the upper reaches of your multiple rivers and their natural ecosystems. It is not one thing. It’s easy to blame the Govt and the politician. Solutions are available. It requires senior opinion makers and leaders to come together and form a group that takes up a massive signature campaign of over 10,000 affected citizens. From Prem Jain Memorial Trust we will then guide you with further support.
Q from From Sakthiveeran Subramaniyam: When is average net zero building coming to India and Bangalore…
A. It’s already in India, my friend! Three of them in Bangalore. Check IGBC.in for more details.
Q from From Ar. Shakuntala Ghosh, Kolkata: Why are governments at every level not setting carrying capacities for cities and regions? What can professionals do?
A. Secretaries and Additional Chief Secretaries respond only to representations of people. As a leader of IGBC you should take the support of the IGBC officers to run a major signature campaign with crisp recommendations that the Govt will turn to law. Not only that. A vigilance commission with an eminent incorruptible head managing violations with discipline would be next step.
Q from Ar. Ashok Bhairi, Hyderabad:Why are Urban Managers silent on the matter? Is it becuase of policies or vote bank. The subsidies on urban infrastructure is going to be a big problem. water cost, property taxes, road taxes, car parking charges etc.
A. Agree with you. As a leader and architect can you commission a few other architects to construct a document of no more than a dozen pages, to quantify the subsidies and the impact? This document should become the basis for 20,000 citizens of your city endorsing the findings. Then present to the Govt. They will be forced to act.
Q from Bhanu A. Bengaluru: Can architects advise clients not to insist on using reflective glazing in temperate zones like Bengaluru? If architects can educate their clients on the risks of reflective heat that cause localised heat island effect. If clients can be persuaded to reduce use of glass manufacture that is energy intensive. If institutons which certify green buildings discourage glass facades — Indians learnt from the Americans and legitimised glass facades for green buildings.
A. Agree on all three scores. If other readers reading this agree with Bhanu send a mail to us. Let’s aggregate opinion. Let’s make a campaign for change. We’ll support all of you.
Q from Deepak Sadashiva, Deep Consultants: Can you take up a case study of the building where you have designed and adopted energy efficient materials ?
A. Many of them exist already. Check Reference Reading and the links provided for this Edition. Click on the next icon on Reference Reading. Read of one building and the number of case studies.
Q from Student, Sri Sri University, Cuttack: Can we know of live examples of net zero building in india?
A. Read Q & A of Edition 1. It has enough examples.
Q : Can adding biophilia help to bring a building closer to a net zero building?
A. You know the answer is yes. There’s enough on the web to support your hypothesis.
Q from Faculty, Nitte School of Architecture, Bengaluru: What measures should be taken to lower the carbon footprint of a building?
What is more critical to approach to a building on effective solutions? Design first or water, energy, waste and other elements first? When do elements like daylight, economics of a project, aesthetics and form and such things come in?
Could you tell us a little bit about the circular economy?. What does it mean for the future approach towards strategic planning?.
Don’t you think, municipal bodies have to meter and charge for the waste water generated instead of water supplied?
As architects how should we have designed our urban areas to combat a situation such as covid19?
What is your take on a Net Zero Water Building? In our world today where climate change has led to failure of monsoons on a regular basis, are Net Zero Water Buildings viable?
We all know that water demand has outpaced projections for all cities....we are going faster toward scarcity. What can we do in cities for water conservation.
What is the future of dry construction/ metal frame structure (to cut down weight/embodied energy of the building) in Green Buildings of India.
How to do green building in domestic areas.
Q from Sanjay Ramanujam: Are there credible examples of black water being converted to drinking water. Who carries consequences in case of any drop in potable standards.
A. There are no examples of such turned pure water used for drinking. They have been used for central chiller plants which are highly sensitive to purity of water. As to consequences, every year we have many hundreds of cases of municipal water supply being contaminated. Have you been able to take them up. It has never happened to your home or apartment and so the need for you to act is less than the need for diligence on a new technology.
It’s akin to the story of the cat that needed belling. If all of us postpone the questioning of an outdated practice of using freshwater using just once and continue to badger the Govt to do the impossible— produce more freshwater —, we are pushing a dead end. Would we all prefer to do that?
Do we have a pay back for each green design we implement?
A. Absolutely. This is better discussed beyond this forum. Write to us. In future editions of the Living Building Series we’ll be inviting other green leaders who have proven this. Stay connected to the series and look out for such presentations.
Why is it that we do not have regulations on planting or retention of water consuming species eg eucalyptus
A. There is regulation in Karnataka and in all other states. In Karnataka all districts have eradicated eucalyptus and certain sub species of acacia that are high on water consumption in the wrong months of no rain. Tumkur and Chikkaballapur are two districts where the planting continues. This will also be repealed soon.
One of Nature’s marvels is that these alpine species draw the same one ton of water as a regular teak tree of the same adult age of seve years. However they draw it in the months that Australia gets rains which are our dry non-rain months. To have planted a tree not endemic to the region as part of such insensitive campaigns of the 1970s is the culprit in this case. Even forest departments have grudgingly conceded the colossal misjudgment that cost groundwater depletion for many regions across India.