Written By: Sumita Roy
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) of CII has spearheaded
the Green Building Movement in the country.
With the support from the stakeholders it
was triggered upon awarding Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre building in
Hyderabad with the Platinum rated Green Building Award.
Since this movement,
green building in India has gained tremendous impetus.
Today more than 2110 buildings are registered as green
building projects. The total area these cumulatively offer amounts to 1.52
billion square feet. This has made India one of the top 5 countries in the world
green building map.
In Mumbai, Vice Chairman of CII, Gurmit Singh Arora, said
that at present Mumbai has 295 buildings registered as green. These offer a
total of 229 million square feet of environmentally viable spaces.
As the number continues to grow, these not only benefit the corporate sector with
more area for offices, but also the environment.
Most of these building are endowed with modular construction
technology- making them efficient not only from the environmental point of view
but also from speed, quality, and efficiency perspectives. Let us check out the ubiquitous benefits of modular construction.
Modular prefabricated
technology offers flexibility of budget and layout
One of the pre-conceptions about environment friendly
building is they are expensive to built. This is not entirely true.
Using pre fabricated
technology for construction lowers one's budget, rather than the other way round.
First, you save on labour cost for an extended period of time. Second, the cost of material transportation. Third, you offer a healthy environment to the employees; and much more.
This also offers the flexibility of dismantling an existing structure and
reassembling the materials in another location.
In terms of budget, modular buildings offer the
option of renting temporarily or purchasing permanently depending on your
affordability. Modular construction technology offer made to order spaces where
you can meet the specific requirements. You can choose from a range of designs
and finalize the one that stays within your budget.
Quick construction does not imply compromise
on quality
The controlled environment in the factory in which each
model is built is closely monitored to ensure quality of the construction
material.
During the construction within the factor timely inspections are done
by engineers who ensure top notch quality for the finished products.
While
on-site assembling, state-imposed codes and regulations are there to which the
construction companies must adhere.
One example of such extraordinary creation is a 57 storey
building which was completed in 19 days in China.
This was achieved by combining quality
construction, effective and skilled manpower with minimum record timing.
Pre fabricated
buildings are energy and resource efficient
The defining feature for modular construction entails
resource efficiency. This entails lesser waste of time, material and energy as
compared to traditional construction.
It
reduces energy consumption by saving around 67 percent of the energy- it also
reduces cost of occupants.
Energy efficiency is taking over almost all kinds of
structures: schools, homes, offices, hospitals, shops, even prisons.
And energy
efficiency includes heat repellent glass for windows, geothermal system usage
(and not HVAC system) and installation of water heaters and solar panels.
The new creation in China named Sky City had used 200000 tons
of steel for construction so that it can resist earthquake damages of up to 9.0
Richter scale and withstand fire hazards for up to three hours.
On the positive side, this high rise
housing creation of 220 storeys has offered residence to 31400 and has used
just one-fifth of the entire energy required for building through conventional
methods.
Low maintenance
Energy efficient buildings are more durable as compared to
conventional form of construction.
Screws, instead of nails, are used and
joints are maintained through string adhesive glue to maintain structural
integrity during transport.
Around 10-20 percent of more lumbar is used to keep the
construction more stable.
Modular wall panels are made of durable
materials and require little maintenance apart from occasional surface
cleaning. Repainting and surface repairs are mostly never required.
Focus on greater
detail
Almost 60-90 percent of the office is built outside the main
site.
Since each module is factory built, in a controlled environment it is
easier to make them as per the exact requirement of the client-customized to the core.
Individual
construction makes it possible to pay attention to detail per unit.
Due to this
parameter, construction by using pre-fab technology is almost always better
than conventional form of construction.
Pre fabricated
buildings are recyclable
The materials used for modular construction is usually
recyclable. Whether it is glass, wood or metal- 100 percent recycling makes these
building environmentally viable.
Each module in this construction can be used
and re-used over and over again. Demolition of buildings does not occur in this
type of construction. Modular contractors and modular construction is still very
small, but is growing with each passing day.
Labour issues
Since this consumes lower energy, lesser days and consequently
smaller manpower, this will overcome the labour issues which is rampant in
India.
Almost 6 out of 10 buildings’ construction and delivery are delayed due
to lack of manpower.
Effective and skilled manpower would be readily available
if this construction technology invades the market. And since this requires
very limited time for construction, delays in project completion would be
completely obliterated.
Thus we see that India, with its growing awareness of the
necessity of eco friendliness, is embracing methods in the real estate sector
and construction technology, which makes them naturally viable. And it is just
a matter of time that the real estate industry becomes fully aware of the
multifarious benefits of modular construction.
