Sunday, August 23, 2015

Green Utility Buildings

I inspected two sites, one in Action Area 2 and one in Action Area 3 where two more Utility Buildings will be built. Each with an area of 1,500 sq m. But each building will conform to the specifications indicated by the Technical Committee of UD Department made after the workshop on Green Buildings was held some time ago.

Two utility buildings are already completed; few finishing works are only pending. One segment of 2,000 sq ft has already been taken by NKDA  in the Utility Building of AA2.. A library and a post office will also be set up there. WBPDCL, Gour Banga University etc are also looking for a space there. On the other hand, WBERC (West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission) has officially expressed a desire to buy the entire building of Action Area 3. My model of creating infrastructure before demand is really working in this segment, I find. When some institution has decided to set up a new office, they won't like to wait for another 2 years or so to build one: a ready-built space is  much more convenient.  And the office spaces are in units of 2,000 sq feet, the most common space requirement of a branch office, and can be combined for larger space requirements in units of 2,000 sq ft.

The two new buildings will use all design criteria recommented by the Green Building Committee of UD Department. Its Chairman was Mr Ananda Ganguly, ED Hidco, while Chief Architect NKDA and Head of the Department of Architecture, IIT Kharagpur and others were members. The Committee recommended some of the following (and more) that will be followed in these two buildings:
1. Use two glass panes, with a layer of 6 mm air in between,to ensure good insulation
2. Use Autoclaved Aerated Concrete bricks
3. Have dual plumbing system with water reuse facility
4. Have more open space than the minimum allowed under building laws
5. Use LED fixtures and 5 star rated electric appliances
6. Use solar panels
7. And few more
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Here is a clipping:
Khabar 365 dt 23 August 2015
Times of India dt 23 August 2015

2 comments:

  1. Very nice initiative of the bird sanctuary, these are much better than confined spaces of zoo. But it has to be guarded well from unruly public who might throw pebbles at them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice initiative of the bird sanctuary, these are much better than confined spaces of zoo. But it has to be guarded well from unruly public who might throw pebbles at them.

    ReplyDelete