Eastern zone convention of Architects concludes at Patna

Architect’s Eastern zone convention-2011 was recently hosted by Bihar and Jharkhand chapter of Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), on the theme of “Green Architecture”. Various architects from in and around state presented their ideas on how construction can be brought into a symbiotic relationship with the environment along with increasing the efficiency. With optimal weather conditions and optimal use of daylight, which prevents use of electric lights during the day, usage of wind and solar power for energy requirement of the building and recycling of water up to five times can contribute to save expenses and also conserve the environment.

“Green architecture means judicious and environment-friendly usage of resources including energy, water and construction material throughout the building life cycle, aimed at energy efficiency, least waste generation and healthier habitat of occupants. Today, when the natural resources are depleting at an uncontrollable rate along with vicious impacts of global warming, green buildings have become the need of the hour,” said Prafulla Gopinath Karkhanis, the president of IIA.

Around 300 architects from Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, north-eastern states and Bihar participated in the convention. Even students of architecture from National Institute of Technology, Patna, and Apeejay School of Architecture and Planning, Noida, participated in the seminar.

“The idea behind such conventions is to allow interaction among professionals, sharing of ideas, assessing the prevailing practices in the industry and also to provide in-hand learning opportunities for practitioners and students,” said C.S. Sinha, the convener of the convention.

Tanmay Tathagat, an accredited architect with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed)-India, made a presentation on “Energy simulation for building designs”.

“The green buildings may cost Rs 20-30 per square metre more than the conventional buildings but these are healthier to reside in as the material used have less chemicals and are therefore less toxic. Moreover, the buildings are developed in such a way that they conserve maximum energy,” he said.

He added that drinking water can be recycled several times and can be used in bathrooms and for gardening purposes later.

Leed-India is a green building rating system, which is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. There are 150 Leed-registered green buildings and 23 Leed-certified green buildings in India.