Green Building Materials and Technology

Dr. Debasis Sarkar, Asst. Professor, Construction and Project Management Dept., CEPT University, Ahmedabad

Local environmental factors affect the performance of a green building to a great extent. These factors play a significant role in selecting materials and technology for a commercial green building complex. In this paper, an attempt has been made to identify the local environmental factors that affect green building design and to study their effect on selection of green building materials and technology particularly for a typical commercial complex located in Ahmedabad. The major local environmental factors considered in this research work are surrounding buildings, industries, vehicles, population and other factors causing atmospheric pollution. Analysis for recommending materials has been conducted through general study of the properties of the material, their energy saving potential and the conditions in which these materials can be used related to their availability in Ahmedabad, and other site conditions. Energy simulation software "Energy Plus" has also been used to suggest the most suitable material for the commercial green building complex under study. After these analyses, the effect of the regional environmental factors on these suggested materials have been studied and the most appropriate material that can withstand the effect of these factors has been chosen.