Applying “Green” Thought

Building: Wipro Technology

Location: Gurgaon, India

Build in area: 1,75,000SqFt

Architect: Ar.Vidur Bharadwaj

                  Design & Development

                  consultants

Significance:        Platinum Rated green building

Rated by:             USGBC-LEED (US Green Building Council -Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) through CII IGBC, Hyderabad

www.igbc.in 

Year awarded       2005                                                 

Points Scored       57/69

Energy consumption Statistics

·        Estimated cost of construction                     INR 36.69 crore

·        Increase in cost of construction                   8%

·        Payback years                                           5 years

·        Contract Demand                                     1040 Kw

·        Normal building electricity consumption     43,77,043 Kwh/annum

·        Actual building consumption                      21,09,000 Kwh/annum

·        Daytime building (12 hours/day)

·        Comparison between May-Sep 06 and May-Sep 07

Non-LEED building                           506 kWh /person /month

LEED rated building                          329 kWh /person /month

·        Reduction in energy consumption             48%

·        Annual energy saving INR in millions        10.2

                                               

                                                                  

 Architect’s design intent                                                                

The main focus of the design in WIPRO technology, Gurgoan is the inverted cone, the tip of which symbolizes the seed of this software world which grows both horizontally and vertically. This dynamic flower symbolizes the growth of technology. Wipro project was targeted for platinum with very little extra cost

About the project

The Wipro-Gurgoan center has a built up area of    1,60,000 sq ft built on a 1.12 acre plot includes two basements and G+5 floors. The Center houses 1,305 people.

Architect: Vidur Bharadwaj (Design & Development Consultants) Structural designs:  M/s. Juneja Structural Consultants L & T, Blue Star and Johnson Controls were others involved.

Energy consultants: CII was the LEED consultant supported by EDS    

Commissioning agents: Godrej & Boyce

                            

Building design

Project demographics

·        Gurgoan, NCR Delhi, India

·        2.0km from NH –8, corner plot

·        Orientation           South-East

·        Wind direction     NE-SW

·        Climatic Zone       Composite

·        The main circulation spines both horizontal and vertical and originates from this dynamic public realm.

·        This public realm forms a link between outside and the inside world. People meet in this realm to exchange ideas and information.

·        Meeting rooms, conferences, training room, library, cafeteria form part of this public area

Wipro Technologies Development Centre's courtyard design is inspired by the traditional inward looking haveli plan that performs varied functions –

·        designed to form a light well

·         acts as a micro-climate generator, thus reducing energy consumption;

·        mutual shading of the courtyard walls keeps them cooler than outside walls;

·        a big water-body and vegetation in the middle of the courtyard reduces its temperature by evaporative cooling.

·        free cooling method or blowing natural air that passes through air filters is used for         the building, again saving on electricity by not using air conditioners

·        AAC walls, insulated rooftops and terrace gardens that again reduce the solar gain of the building.

·        grass concrete pavers on the outside surface of the building area reduce storm water run-off and decrease the heat-island effect caused by asphalt pavers.

·         terrace gardens at various levels and the grass concrete pavers help to filter sediments and pollutants from storm water before it reaches the rainwater-harvesting pits.

·        channeling the direction of sunlight and wind, insulating walls and having the right kind of windows.

Glass Design

·        The overall Window Wall Ratio (WWR) for the building is 21.7%.

·        Glass specifications were developed very carefully in order to enhance available daylight in the space and maintain visual comfort for occupants

·        Requirement of high performance glazing with high visual light transmission to efficiently use the day lighting, allowing the natural lighting to enter into the building

Windows Shading / Recessed Windows

·        Exterior lighting shelves / slab projections to shade the daylight glazing. The west façade uses vertical Fins to cut-off the low sun angles during late afternoon.

·        Deeper Recessed windows with wider light shelves on south east and south west façade

·        Vertical fins to protect terrace and Windows from low west sun

·        Recessed windows with shallower light shelves on north east façade

·        Design of light shelves

·        Vegetation reduce temperature of the court by evaporative cooling

·        Design inspired by the traditional inward looking haveli plan.

·        Solid walls, with recessed peep windows, face outside

·        Compact building, greater transparency towards courtyard

·        Mutual shading of the courtyard walls

Glass solution for day-lighting & energy efficiency strategy

Saint-Gobain’s 5mm SGG Planitherm Pristine White - advanced thermal control glass with 12mm air gap and 6mm SGG Parsol Green was selected as the final glass solution after a detailed study

·        Visual light transmission    53%

·        Solar Factor SF                            0.38

·        U value                               1.8W/SqmK

         

Green Building Features

Varied features were incorporated in the building which helped it to go Green.

Materials and Resources:

·        With the increased concern over resource depletion, the concept of ‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ (3R) was the need of the hour

o   Resource Reuse: More than 10% of the building materials used was salvaged from the old building.

o   Recycled Content: Some materials used in the project, like fly ash based aerated aerocon (AAC) blocks, acoustic cladding, glass, ceramic tiles and MDF boards had recycled content in them and accounted for more than 10% of the cost of building materials that went into the structure cost comprises of materials with high recycled content.

·        Local materials: More than 95% of the building materials were sourced from within 500 miles of the project site.

·        Rapidly renewable materials: MDF boards were used for interior partitions. These were made from materials like bagasse, agricultural waste, etc.

·        Certified wood: More than 75% of virgin wood used in the building is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

·        During Excavation the top layer fertile soil was removed and reused for greenery purposes.

·        All the existing trees (57) were left untouched though they limited the workspace.

·        Vertical excavation was done to prevent the removal of trees. Since excavation depth was more than 9 m, L&T introduced state-of-the-art Nailing Concept for vertical excavation.

Energy Efficiency

·        Energy conserved was to the tune of 51% vis-à-vis ASHRAE 90.1 requirements.

·        Various energy efficient features incorporated in the building have made this possible. The building envelope is constructed of fly ash based AAC blocks, double glazed windows with high efficiency glass from Saint-Gobain.

·        75mm thick expanded polystyrene insulation is provided in the roof against heat penetration.

·        Other energy efficient features in the building are solar thermal heating for hot water, chiller COP of 6.1, double skinned AHU’s , VFD’s for fans, pumps.       

Water Conservation

·        Water efficiency too was an integral part of the building through the use of recycled water for irrigation in the campus and use of high efficiency irrigation systems.

·        A sewage treatment plant operating on extended aeration process treats the entire Waste water discharged from the building. 

Indoor Environment Quality

Some features which enhance the indoor environment quality at WIPRO Gurgaon are:

·        CO2 Monitoring Sensors are provided inside the air-conditioned spaces to ensure that the concentration is maintained within acceptable limits of 530 ppm differential with the outside environment

·        Low emitting material -The Paints, Adhesives and Sealants used in the building are low in emitting VOC

·        An internal courtyard provides extensive day lighting to the building occupants

·        A unique feature of the building is controllability of systems. To enhance occupant comfort, individual controls viz., temperature and airflow, have been provided. This is the first green building in India to have this facility

Storm Water Management

·        Rain water run-off is not discharged into the municipal drainage but used to recharge the ground water

Transportation

·        Parking, shower and changing facilities have been provided for the bicyclists

·        Reserved parking for car pooling

·        Bus pooling for employees

·        Battery charging facility for electric cars

Lighting

·        Managed exterior lighting with low height units to reduce disturbance to neighboring areas

·        Reduced energy consumption using energy efficient dimmable ballasts and movement sensors of Wipro lighting

·        Use of light shelves for increasing the natural lighting in the building resulting in low density requirement

The site was awarded “Certificate of Merit” for Zero Accident Rate during the year April 2004-March 2005. The clients commended ECC for maintaining quality standards, workmanship, timely completion and contribution towards LEED Certification.

Green points at Wipro Technologies Development Centre

·        82.2% of the total roof area is green, covered with terrace gardens

·        27% of the external area has concrete grass pavers and 17% is covered with vegetation

·        100% of the water is recycled

·        50% of occupants have personalised temperature, light and thermal conditions

·        75% of the area is daylit

·        95% of workspaces have direct access to outside view

·        46% saving in the electricity bill by channeling natural light and air

·        Wood used in construction of building sourced from shipwrecks from Jamnagar port

·        Cafeteria furniture hand-picked from chor bazaars (flea markets)

·        Leftover building material used for landscaping external area

·        Photocell-based controls automatically dim available light based on daylight, reducing energy wastage

·        Daylight Sensors The interiors have an access to daylight and this has been achieved with the selection of glass with higher visible transmittance. Energy model by using daylight sensors, which dim / switch off interior lights depending on daylight

Thoughts on sustainable concept

“Applying thought, Wipro’s positioning statement governs all our actions and guides to go beyond the ordinary. This guided us right through the proc ess from the original concepts to the final percepts,” says SS Ramesh – General Manager (Civil Infrastructure) Wipro. 

Team Members

Anand Pratap Singh                              Resource Engineer

N. Hariharan                                        Planning Engineer

Ar.Vidur Bharadwaj                             Design & development consultant

M/s.Spectral consultant Pvt.Ltd            HVAC consultants

M/s. Juneja Structural Consultants        Structural consultants

L & T                                                  Builder

CII                                                      LEED consultant

EDS                                                    Energy consultant

Godrej & Boyce                                 Commissioning agent

The building has been awarded the prestigious Leed Platinum Rating by the US Green Building Council and has the unique distinction of having received all the 57 points attempted.