Connecting the dots of sustainability and building automation

Discussing the parameters for a sustainable master structure for buildings, Nilesh Barve, Director, Head Interior Projects, Barve & Associates highlights various reasons for mounting and recurring building developmental problems in India.

Can you please walk us through Barve & Associates journey till now?
The origin of our company goes back to over 5 decades, when S. R. Barve established S. R. Barve and Associates in 1970. Over the years, he has designed more than 500 industrial/commercial buildings in and around Mumbai. I, then took up the task of living up to the same commitment. Today, the company is equipped with a professional team of architects, engineers and interior designers. We have been successfully catering to the needs of government, semi-government as well as private sectors. Out of creative excellence, was born another wing- Nilesh Barve and Associates. We do redevelopment projects for betterment in quality of life of people, mostly sustainable development projects, such as the Lotus temple in Washington DC. From the very beginning, the focus has been to give our clients, so as to provide cost-effective solutions in quick time. Over the years, this commitment has remained unchanged.

How do you view the development of new building, infused with automation, MEP and sustainability?
Developing a new building comes with various factors; it just not affects the people using it but also the built environment which is around the building. Sustainability is a major factor; the future of our built environment is in our hands. We can decide in which houses we want to live, in which offices and factories we want to work or where we want to spend our free time. It is vital to foster more holistic thinking, connecting the dots between technological, environmental, ethical, legal, political and societal changes – not just within the built environment, but any aspect of life. This is the only way, we as a society can build a common vision for our future. If we aren’t creating any sustainable designs now, then it will be a failure for our future generation.

Whereas, one approach to achievie more sustainable buildings is with using technology. Automation would be a necessity now if we think to give a better future. For example, if there is sunset or sunrise, the machine are so advanced that it will sense it and accordingly change the fins of windows – open or shut and that is how it will control heat load that will save electricity cost, also they can sense the temperature and it will automatically change temperature inside and set it to control humidity inside the room accordingly. These are smart building technologies can save time in doing these activities. Automation is smart in itself.

Automation saves time and energy; the work will be accurate with zero error as man can make error but a machine can’t, it would increase our production in less time. Worker safety is an important reason for automating an industrial operation. Automated systems often remove workers from the workplace, thus safeguarding them against the hazards of the factory environment. Building automation system controls should be incorporated at every office building, industrial plant or commercial space to make energy systems easier to use.

The benefits of a building automation system are:

• Improved security
• Plug control
• Reduced energy costs
• Improved comfort
• Total control
• Ability to upgrade technology improved LEED rating

How do you choose parameters while designing a commercial or residential building with connected systems?
Industrial projects know the value of automated systems because it gives them more production in less time with quality products; this value is not understood by builders, they don’t think of the future generation bas they fulfill only immediate needs to settle down. Residential and commercial development is more dominated by builders and developers and they are not concerned with better quality of life. Developers have no value because they are looking at short term gain and no long term gain and seldom think about occupants because that will cost them. Occupants should be made aware so as to demand from the builder fire safety systems, building automation, MEP, and sustainability. First, we need to make people aware of what benefits they will be getting which will not only be for the timebeing but will be for many upcoming years.

After making people aware we need to start applying smart automation systems in each and every building making human life, cost, time and energy efficient. Few essential parameters to be considered for the occupants are:

• Energy conservation: Use of natural resources like solar to generate electricity and wind, to have better ventilation to reduce heat load and electric and water consumption, and doing rain water harvesting to raise the water table
• Water recycling: Filtration and use for flushing, gardening etc.
• Kitchen garbage: For making fertilizer
• Green: Creating more green areas like plantation, lawns, terrace gardens to create clean and pure environment.
• Garbage treatment and pollution control: All municipalities are insisting as well as a social cause garbage, collection and treatment is essential.

What are the possible neglected parameters that led to fire accidents in high-rise apartments?
High rise building is a building with more than 32m height. People are going for high rise because of increase in population. Mostly, accidents happen when the building is not planned according to development control rules and bylaws, which are must to be followed by every building. High-rise buildings, say an apartment, have a lot of people living in it. Given the multiple floors, in case of a fire accident, it makes evacuation very difficult as there are a lot of people who have to travel vertical distance on the stairs. As the firefighters have to travel a great vertical distance, evacuation becomes very much difficult.

As there is no awareness to fire safety, most often, the occupants do not know how to escape in the wake of an emergency. Violation of fire safety laws is one of the major causes of fire accidents in India. Every building in India needs to comply with the state guidelines and needs to adopt The National Building Code (NBC).

Violation of safety laws has a serious impact and a fire accident could lead to many fatalities. Fire department is unequipped and it doesn’t care for human lives, they don’t strictly inspect during the building’s approval stage. This inspection needs to be done as strict as possible. In our country, unfortunately finding loopholes is easier than compliance. There is a laxity in every level, not just the authorities but also the general public who do not take fire safety seriously.

What are your suggestions to prevent or possibly overcome such fire accidents?
There are fire norms provided for each type of building in development control rules, and that are must for any high rise building to work. Every state has different fire norms, however, every person’s life is same and valueable, location doesn’t matter; so, every state should follow NBC. We cannot stop fire accidents, they can happen anywhere anytime and that is not in our hands but what is in our hands is we provide safety systems in each and every building and plan it accordingly. Not just planning it but also using materials which are not combustible, providing fire safety staircases, minimum travel distance, using sprinkler systems so atleast we can save as many people as possible. For example, if automation and digitisation is promoted, then when a fire fighter goes inside the building in case of an accident, he should be provided with digital layout of the building and every change done in the building by authorities. During fire, robots can also save lives too. Green buildings prove an advantage for such accidents. Automation of building can also be helpful for fire safety system.

How do you position India, among global infrastructural standards?
India is one of the developing countries in the world. But you can see the fact that the speed of the development is not good as compared to the other countries that are already developed and are much superior to India. We just blame it is poor country or developing country, human value is same everywhere in UK as well as in India. We don’t care for ourselves and we need to change our mindset first that we are a poor country and we can’t do anythin, if we think it’s possible then we can.

Sustainability is a major factor; the future of our build environment is in our hands.
– Nilesh Barve, Director Head Interior Projects, Barve & Associates