Integrating green infrastructure into commercial buildings should be a norm

Green infrastructure and architectural design have multiple benefits, from environmental and economic to social, says Ajit Singh, Area Sales Director, Commercial Building Services, INDO and Sub Saharan Africa Region, Grundfos

Mitigation of climate change is an ongoing global discussion aiming to find sustainable solutions for tackling climate problems. Commercial spaces like hotels, hospitals, office towers, and airports have vastly different energy requirements. 

The UN Climate Conference held last year in November emphasized the priority of decarbonizing buildings, which are responsible for 40 percent of energy-related carbon emissions. According to S&P Global Platts Analytics modeling, global emissions from buildings must fall by 56 percent over the next 30 years to help limit global warming to 2 degrees[1].

In such a scenario, commercial projects must incorporate green infrastructure and shift towards becoming a low carbon intensity sector. Green infrastructure will help develop energy and waterefficient buildings that will provide improved comfort, long-term cost savings on energy use, and higher value to customers.

Ramping up green infrastructure Infrastructure in India has seen a rapid rise, including the commercial segment. Today, sustainability is a plan for both developers and consumers who are conscious of their environmental footprint—the critical objective for commercial spaces is to provide modern features and comfort while being sustainable. 

Green infrastructure and architectural design have multiple benefits, from environmental and economic to social. Furthermore, commercial buildings must transform their HVAC, water, wastewater management, and fire safety systems by incorporating the latest efficient and intelligent technologies. Adopting submersible wastewater pumps to take a Zero Liquid Discharge approach for wastewater recycling will also be a crucial aspect of green buildings.

In terms of HVAC systems, green buildings will need to focus on sustainable solutions – for example, evaporative cooling systems to save on energy. It utilises non-potable water that is not sent out but recycled and reused again and again. Intelligent pumping solutions with smart sensors can collect data such as indoor and outdoor temperature to provide actionable insights. These insights can even help the HVAC system identify temperature changes in real-time and make the necessary adjustments. For instance, Grundfos Building Connect gives users an overview of all their applications which they can monitor right from their desktop or tablet[2].

Grundfos also developed Distributed Pumping Systems, a paradigm shift in controlling chilled water systems. It allows consumers to eliminate control and balancing valves, replacing them with smaller, intelligent pumps that adapt to system demand based on the chilled water temperature. The Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore decided to revisit its HVAC system design based on a chilled water loop. Grundfos retrofitted the building system with Distributed Pumping, placing smart pumps throughout the building to automatically adjust the flow for the required cooling load. The outcome was a reduced pump energy use of 9.4kW to 4.3kW, resulting in total pump energy savings of 54 percent[3]

 

Technologies such as Grundfos’ iSOLUTIONS, enable real-time monitoring, remote control, system optimization, fault prediction, and preventive maintenance to achieve the highest level of performance and savings in cost, energy, and resources like water through E-pumps. For example, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre demonstrated immense energy savings of 50 percent with the installation of iSOLUTIONS and the Grundfos CRE pump for the building’s air-conditioning systems. 

 

The way ahead

 Besides mitigating climate change, green buildings are also essential for creating healthier community spaces. As an investment toward our future, adopting sustainable infrastructure in commercial areas will help positively impact the environment and promote a sustainable lifestyle for the common public. We need to push the building and construction industries to go green and make customers realize the value additions from a business, health, and comfort point of view. The sooner consumers realize the improvement in their quality of life through efficient use of resources like energy and water, the more the demand for green buildings will be in the coming days.

 

References: 

1. https://www.spglobal.com/esg/ insights/un-climate-conferenceseeks-concrete-steps-to-tackledirty-energy-hungry-buildings 2. https://www.grundfos.com/in/ learn/research-and-insights/highperformance-buildings 
2. https://www.grundfos.com/about-us/ cases/saving-operation-costs-withdistributed-pumping