VISIT TO THE GREEN BUILDING BY GRADE 9 (IGCSE) STUDENTS: REFLECTIONS

     

                  On the 30th of September 2013 the students of grade 9 IGCSE visited the Sohrabji Godrej Green Centre in Madhapur. This is the first green building in India and the third in the world. The State of Andhra Pradesh with its liberal labour laws, proactive policies, quality power with competitive tariff, large pool of technical manpower, rich mineral resources and specialized industrial parks with SEZ status is the preferred destination for investors. Andhra Pradesh is strategically located and is considered as gateway to East & South East Asia. They use many different ways to be green building and now are an authorised organisation who certified all the other 422 green buildings in India. I would like to see some of the ideas implemented our school.

                                                                                                            ----------   Meha Ray

    The CII the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is an association of Indian businesses. CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India. It is also offering advisory services to the industry in the areas of Green Buildings, Green Companies, Energy Efficiency, Climate Change activities, Environment Management, Renewable Energy, Water Management and Green business. Awarded with LEED Platinum for New Construction

It also has many green building features such as:

·         Rain water harvesting system to reuse storm water.

·         The building design was conceived to have minimum disturbance to the surrounding ecological environment.

·         Extensive erosion and sedimentation control measures to prevent top soil erosion have been done at the site during construction.

·         Use of Aerated Concrete Blocks which reduce the load on air-conditioning.

·         Double glazed units between the glass panes, have enhanced the thermal properties.

·         Energy efficient lighting design through Compact Fluorescent Lamps

·         Solar panels

·         Indoor Environmental Quality is continuously monitored and minimum fresh air is pumped into the conditioned spaces at times.

·         Fresh air is also drawn into the building through wind towers

·         100% day lighting

·         Operate able windows and lighting controls for better day lighting and views.

·         Swales for storm water collection

·         Electric vehicle for staff use

·         Car parking shaded with trees

These have reduced their electricity consumption by 25 to 30%. This was the first green building in the country. It was founded in 2001 and completed in 2004 and it was inaugurated by Shri A P J Abdul Kalam. And it is still encouraging other building to become green. They also have a dream of a greener Hyderabad. It was a lot of fun to know what a green building should have and why is it important. I hope the school also takes up the initiative to make it greener and I will totally support them. I thank my school for taking me to CII to learn something new and the importance of green buildings.

                                                                                                                        --- Manas 

        The trip to CII which is confederation of Indian industry was a really fascinating experience. Over there we learned how they use natural resources to produce energy and these natural resources don’t harm the environment. They use solar panels, which is a wonderful way to produce energy.  The way they have created the building is in a way they can be environment friendly to their surroundings. From the infrastructure inside to the tiles they placed outside everything was a way they could help the environment. I think if we have all the buildings built in the same way as the CII we can make this world a better place.

-                                                                                                                   -     Rithu Shebu