Natural & Green Buildings

By, Anish Antony Jessil Ummer Kiran Vijay

Natural Buildings Range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability Ensure sustainability by using material that are unprocessed or minimally processed Basis is the need to lessen the environmental impact of buildings and other supporting systems, without sacrificing comfort, health or aesthetics.

Types of Natural Buildings

Cob
Materials Needed : Clay, Sand & Straw Mix sand, clay, straw or other fibrous materials to create a stiff mud which is formed into small loaves (cobs). These cobs are then mashed together to form a monolithic wall on top of a foundation Clay acts as the glue, while the sand gives strength to the mixture and the straw gives the walls tensile strength once hardened into place Thermal Properties : Low insulation, Good thermal mass Best Application : Exterior walls in moderate or sunny climates; interior walls; ovens and hearths; benches; garden walls; greenhouses; floors

Cob
Advantages Highly sculptural Enormous design flexibility Combines well with other materials Disadvantages Labor intensive Goes up slowly, especially in cool, moist conditions Permitting may take persistence

Adobe
Materials Used : Clay soil, sand, straw or other fiber Sun-dried mud bricks stacked with a mud mortar to create thick-walled structures Best adobe soil will have between 15% and 30% clay in it to bind the material together, with the rest being mostly sand or larger aggregate Thermal Properties : Good thermal mass; low insulation Best Application : Exterior walls in moderate or sunny climates; interior walls; ovens and hearths; domes and vaults in dry, non-earthquake regions.

Adobe
Advantages: Adobe blocks can be made in one transported. When blocks are made, wall goes up fast.

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Disadvantages: Making and storing adobe blocks takes a lot of space and dry weather. Prone to earthquake damage.

Rammed earth
Use clay soil with high content of sand; often stabilized with cement & reinforced with steel First proceeding by setting up forms on top of an appropriate foundation (usually stone or concrete), a soil mixture with a clay content of 20% and a moisture content of 10% is then rammed Different soil types can be used to create decorative effects and the whole is topped by a concrete bond beam which then holds the roof. Walls do not need to be plastered & will last for hundreds, even thousands of years Thermal properties:Very good thermal mass; low insulation Best Apllication:Exterior walls in moderate or sunny climates; benches and garden walls.

Rammed earth
Advantages: Noise Reduction Fire protection Healthy and environmentally friendly Disadvantages Labor and machine intensive Expensive

Straw Bale
Uses baled straw from wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice and others in walls covered by earthen or lime stucco Build by stacking rows of bales on a raised footing or foundation, with a moisture barrier Bale walls can be tied together with pins of bamboo, rebar, or wood and plaster it Thermal Properties:Excellent insulation; low thermal mass Best Application:Exterior walls in most climates; quick, temporary structures

Straw Bale
Advantages Goes up relatively quickly Increasing pool of experienced designers/builders Increasing pool of experienced designers/builders. Disadvantages Very susceptible to moisture damage Unfinished building must be protected from rain

Wattle and Daub

Use Straight, flexible sticks (or bamboo); clay soil; chopped straw and/or manure The wattle may be made as loose panels, slotted between timber framing to make infill panels, or it may be made in place to form the whole of a wall Thermal Properties:Poor insulation; low themal mass (thick plaster increases mass) Best application:Used for building interior walls; unheated structures such as outdoor showers, sheds, etc.; exterior walls in hot tropics

Wattle and Daub

Advantages Flexible Earth Quake resistant Disadvantages Requires lots of straight sticks which can be difficult to find. Labor intensive. Prone to water damage.

Compressed Earth Block,

Earthen bricks compressed with hand-operated or motorized hydraulic machines Made of clay, sand and a small percentage of lime and/or cement that is compressed by machine Made by dry, screened soil and sand are mixed well, adding 4% - 10% lime and/cement to the mix if you are making stabilized blocks The soil is compressed and molded into uniform blocks in a hand-operated press or a mechanized hydraulic press, stacked, covered and cured for 1 month.

Compressed Earth Block,

Advantages use of locally-available materials Uniformly sized building components can result in less waste & fast construction Disadvantages Shall not be used in any building more than (2) stories in height Usage of cements

SLIPSTRAW
Slipstraw or light straw-clay is a material made from straw and clay slurry and used as an insulative fill between the studs of an essentially conventional framed wall Slipstraw offers fairly good insulation and can be used for interior and exterior walls Slipstraw is usually finished with plaster just like cob or strawbale. Thermal properties:Excellent insulation; low thermal mass Best Applications :Exterior walls in most climates; quick, temporary structures

How to construct
To make slipstraw, mix clay and straw until it is a slimy, sticky, mess Once the frame of the building is up screw plywood inside and outside Fill it with SlipStraw and remove plywood Make protective coating with earthen plaster Use little white wash for finish

Advantage
minimize use of nonrenewable resources and potentially toxic substances Disadvantages . Prone to water damage Wood requied for frame and forms.

Green
IGBC defines a green building as one which uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for the people living or working inside compared with a standard building.

Why Green Building?

The environmental impact of the building industry is significant. Green design measures also reduce operating costs Enhance building, marketability Increase worker productivity

IGBC
IGBC defines a green building as one which uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for the people living or working inside compared with a standard building. Energy saving of 30-40 % from day one Enhanced indoor air quality Higher productivity of occupants Potable water saving of 20-30% Enhanced day light and ventilation IGBC set up LEED India in 2001

What is LEED?
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) It is a nationally accepted organization for design, operation and construction of high performance green buildings LEED India Version 1.0,launched in 2006 Godrej achieved platinum rating in 2003

Green Building in india

one of the fastest growing and most environmentally aware construction industries in the world India began with a green property footprint of just 20,000 square feet in 2001 In 2010 it become 330 million square feet Now Green Building Footprint in India reaches 1 Billion sq.ft

Features of LEED in India

Voluntary, consensus-based, market driven rating system based on existing, proven technology & processes Evaluates environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building s life cycle Certification based on credits

Categories in the rating system

Sustainable Sites Water Efficiency Energy & Atmosphere Materials & Resources Indoor Environmental Quality Innovation in Design Regional Priority

Registration Process
Register in http://www.igbc.in Pay the fee and documents Do precertification if building is not completed and documented

Certification Credits
Certified 40 - 49 points Silver 50 - 59 points Gold 60 - 79 points Platinum 80 points and above

Factors preventing India s construction industry from adopting green practices #ixzz1m34TlPjo

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